As I have now gone back to work teaching my weekly classes I do not have the time to paint everyday on my personal work. However, I do need to prep my classes as I demonstrate in each class, each lesson. A new term means learning something new or maybe re- visiting a technique or painting process which we have already covered. I have some new learners in classes this week so I have taken the opportunity to look at tone and colour value. These drawings and painting is my prep for my Acrylics class this evening, drawing black and white tones first and then painting them. I chose the magpie as the tones are quite easy to see as he is naturally black and white. Here I have worked from a black and white photograph.
As I mentioned in a previous post I do not use black out of the tube in any of my painting mediums, oil, watercolour or acrylics. I make it, with mixing the primary colours together. This gives more depth in the painting by creating hues of black rather than taking something that is manufactured out of a tub. Mixing my blacks means I can control the density and hue (blue black, red black, etc).
I teach this to all my students, at first they do question it, but when they see the results in their work they are soon converted.
Tonight will be practising colour mixing blacks and greys as well as drawing and shading tones with one pencil (4B).
Back to basics, that's all you need ...
except keep the black in the tube, my art cupboard and draws are full of them!
We may move on to painting this bird in full colour in another week, I will ask the group what they want to do.
Coming back to tonal value is a really good exercise to do as a painter, colour sometimes over takes our attention. Tonal value is the bones of painting, what gives us that wow factor! Without them the world is a far duller place. I found this quote during the week, I think it is a general quote, I do not know who said it originally but I think its very true.
"Colour gets all the glory and tone does all the work"
Good to keep in mind :)
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