"Paintings With Personality"

Robins built a nest on our deck rail

       Robins have built a nest against our house right next to the front door. They chose the deck rail for their creation. How could they have missed seeing us going in and out the door? Didn’t they know the rail was low and offered no protection from predators? The deck gets very hot in the afternoon sun, why couldn’t they feel that? Had they thought about it ahead of time they wouldn’t have built the nest in that particular spot. If they had been capable of planning ahead they wouldn’t have built in such a hazardous place.

            Many artists are just like the robins. They are in such a rush to get started painting they ignore planning with a value sketch, thus skipping a very important step in creating a work of art. We can save time when we plan our values first, we unify the design, there are fewer mistakes, and any potential problems are resolved. With the values decided we are free to think about other design elements while we paint.

    Beginning painters often see objects rather than a pattern of light and dark shapes. Sometimes they can’t tell dark middle value from dark value. When we aren’t sure about our dark value we can always compare it to something from around the house that is totally BLACK. The finished painting should be closer to the value study than to the actual scene or photo.

One of the real pitfalls of using photographs is thoughtless copying of everything in the photo. We are repeating the confusion and disorder that is in front of us. We may be brilliant copyists but we haven’t organized the light, middle and dark values and the painting will not be unified, nor will it be an original artist designed painting. We might think it is a beautiful photo that can’t be improved upon but the painting can always be made better with an organized value plan.

Here are a few suggestions on how to make a value sketch:

 1. Use a three value system, light, middle and dark.

 2. Make your sketch the same proportion as your painting.

3. A detailed drawing isn’t necessary. Organized blocks of value are what we are looking for and what you leave out is more important      than what you put in.

4. Focus on the largest shapes, they are the most important.

5. Glance at the sketch during the painting process. It is not drawn in stone. If as the painting progresses we see something happening        that calls for a value change then we make the change.

6.  Use the middle and dark middle values to lead the eye around the painting and to the focal point. Only a little of the very darkest           dark is needed in the focal area.

    No matter how beautifully we might use color, value is still needed to create unity and organization. When we begin to add color it is difficult to stay with our value study. If we are using different colors of the same value it is better to lose the hard edge and let the colors merge. The value sketch helps us get over the uncertainty we have when painting and helps us be more confident in our painting process.

            As for the birds, ‘Honey’ had considered getting rid of the nest before there were any eggs. I suggested he put up a patio umbrella to protect them from the elements. Turns out we didn’t have to do anything at all. The robins abandoned their nest when they saw how many people were going in and out the front door. Too bad they didn’t plan ahead; they could have saved themselves a lot of work. Instead they had to trash the nest and start all over.

            What do you think? How many paintings have you trashed because you failed to plan ahead? Do you design a painting or copy a photograph? Do you think it is all rubbish?

I would like to hear from you.

My value sketch of the robins nest. I brought the image in closer, added some blocks of value to improve the abstract shapes and kept my lightest lights and darkest darks in the focal point.