Mastering Color

[Richard Robinson]

Anything to do with the Mastering Color course goes here. Post your images up or ask questions - anything!

[Roena King]

I have been working, and am only now (after 10 attempts) feeling like I am getting somewhere in seeing the values. I still do a lot of homework comparing my 9 value cubes to the color ones I am going to paint. I have been painting on an 8"x10" canvas board so the pictures are really small. By the way, have you seen Lori H. red and yellow apples that she has on her gallery? Really good. And have you seen Paulo Ruvalcaba's self portrait? He mentioned he was going to do gray scale work for 6 months! I am not sure I was planning on that long but I admire him for the determination. Comments welcome on my attempts......Ro PS. You can click on the picture and it will get bigger to see it if you want.

[Richard Robinson]

Great work Roena - that's what it's all about. Hard to analyze your paintings against the photos because we can't trust photos or even the photos of your paintings. I've found it quite useful to view the scene through my digital camera set on black&white mode too. Every little helps. Have you tried compressing your values yet? That's pretty tricky too. All good.

[Roena King]

Hi Richard, Thanks for looking and commenting. I "just" discovered that my camera would do the B&W pic for instant value checks while painting. The final check though I put on the computer so it is bigger and I can see it better. /// When you say compress the values are you meaning USING ONLY 5 VALUES like we did on the 2nd apple? I am in chapter 4. Or, are you thinking to compress the values as in the chart? I have not tried to compress the values per the chart, but I have been thinking of how to work with it. My goal is to be a landscape artist, and when I get the mixing colors thing figured out some, I would like to try my hand at plein air.

Richard Robinson said:

Great work Roena - that's what it's all about. Hard to analyze your paintings against the photos because we can't trust photos or even the photos of your paintings. I've found it quite useful to view the scene through my digital camera set on black&white mode too. Every little helps. Have you tried compressing your values yet? That's pretty tricky too. All good.

[Roena King]

Hi, I have done another gray scale painting. I think I am really enjoying doing them too. Richard, this is my attempt at compressing the values to 3-4-5-6-7 and reserving the 1 and 9 until the very last. Am I even close to achieving the compressing idea? I would appreciate some comments, and I would encourage others to post here too. Thanks, Ro

[terry clare]

Just too beautiful, and you enjoyed it as well. Can you do it for me again and again Ro to reinforce it, with variations off course, then you will automatically remember it when you add some colour. How about some lost edges as well, Terry
Iwan Warega said:

If you add any colors to these fruits ,I'm taking a bite.

Roena King said:

Hi, I have done another gray scale painting. I think I am really enjoying doing them too. Richard, this is my attempt at compressing the values to 3-4-5-6-7 and reserving the 1 and 9 until the very last. Am I even close to achieving the compressing idea? I would appreciate some comments, and I would encourage others to post here too. Thanks, Ro

[Roena King]

Thanks for the comments VERY MUCH Iwan and Terry......Great......now lets talk art! Terry, I have never done a close up such as this before. The middle pear has the other pear's stems pointing toward it, and it was the lightest so I made that the subject by sharpening up the edges of the center pear and softening the edges other two. I am not sure "WHICH" edges to lose on such a close up. Please be very specific. .............. Also, This was an exercise in compressed values so my background was as light as I could make it-value 7, but then I added some of the lighest white toward the end behind the pears trying to make them just show up. COMMENTS on the background please............. I also think I "should have the lightest side of the back on the left and the darkest on the right as the light was more behind my left shoulder/head height. It was daytime, but I did try to cover up all the lights from windows and all so that the spot light was the only real light to consider.
..........To me, this is just a OK painting. I want it to have PUNCH and when it pops up on the screen everyone will go.....wow. It is not that, and I dont know what I need to do to make it do that!!!! Any ideas? Ro
terry clare said:

Just too beautiful, and you enjoyed it as well. Can you do it for me again and again Ro to reinforce it, with variations off course, then you will automatically remember it when you add some colour. How about some lost edges as well, Terry
Iwan Warega said:

If you add any colors to these fruits ,I'm taking a bite.

Roena King said:

Hi, I have done another gray scale painting. I think I am really enjoying doing them too. Richard, this is my attempt at compressing the values to 3-4-5-6-7 and reserving the 1 and 9 until the very last. Am I even close to achieving the compressing idea? I would appreciate some comments, and I would encourage others to post here too. Thanks, Ro

[Gail Runciman-Nicholls]

Hi Ro,
Great looking pears! With that said...I must add - I like the way you have used the stems on the pears to keep the eye "in the picture".
As we have a tendency to read a painting starting on the left and following the artist's guide lines; that one little pointer(stem on the right pear) back into the picture, keeps you going back to view the other parts.

Gray scale values look pretty good on my screen too. I think it is color on our screens that we shouldn't trust.

[Roena King]

Thanks for pointing that out to me Gail. I kept messing with the placement, switching them around a lot. Finally settled on this arrangement. I am all ready to do the next one. I need to buy more pears as we ate these. LOL

[terry clare]

,
This painting Ro, is good enough to sell as it is. You want to go a step further to improve the 3D without adding the touch of colour or with black and white. A change in composition maybe. Ambition is such a wonderful thing. A need for 3D is 3/4 angle lighting on the subject either behind or frontal and a more receding ground shape maybe a corner or something, with the fruit overlapping in front and behind, and if possible not round. Find some apples with planes. The lost edges I mentioned, were in fashion once, sorry about that one. One of the backgrounds has only to be the same tone as one or two of the edges. The advantage of still life is you can arrange everything to suit. Plein air on the other hand, is WYSIWYG to which though you can import your still life effects later for interest. I like to think of your pears as, See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil, but don't get juice everywhere when you eat me. Great job, Terry
Roena King said:

Thanks for the comments VERY MUCH Iwan and Terry......Great......now lets talk art! Terry, I have never done a close up such as this before. The middle pear has the other pear's stems pointing toward it, and it was the lightest so I made that the subject by sharpening up the edges of the center pear and softening the edges other two. I am not sure "WHICH" edges to lose on such a close up. Please be very specific. .............. Also, This was an exercise in compressed values so my background was as light as I could make it-value 7, but then I added some of the lighest white toward the end behind the pears trying to make them just show up. COMMENTS on the background please............. I also think I "should have the lightest side of the back on the left and the darkest on the right as the light was more behind my left shoulder/head height. It was daytime, but I did try to cover up all the lights from windows and all so that the spot light was the only real light to consider.
..........To me, this is just a OK painting. I want it to have PUNCH and when it pops up on the screen everyone will go.....wow. It is not that, and I dont know what I need to do to make it do that!!!! Any ideas? Ro
terry clare said:

Just too beautiful, and you enjoyed it as well. Can you do it for me again and again Ro to reinforce it, with variations off course, then you will automatically remember it when you add some colour. How about some lost edges as well, Terry
Iwan Warega said:

If you add any colors to these fruits ,I'm taking a bite.

Roena King said:

Hi, I have done another gray scale painting. I think I am really enjoying doing them too. Richard, this is my attempt at compressing the values to 3-4-5-6-7 and reserving the 1 and 9 until the very last. Am I even close to achieving the compressing idea? I would appreciate some comments, and I would encourage others to post here too. Thanks, Ro

[Gail Runciman-Nicholls]

Hi Ro & Terry,
Terry - I think your comment to Roena on "The lost edges I mentioned, were in fashion once" is still valid.
I like to use lost edges even in landscape and still life. It is a great way to add depth and keep the eye on the focal point.

[Roena King]

Terry I want to thank you for all the information you have given to me. Plein air on the other hand, is WYSIWYG What does WYS|WYG mean? I am very excited and can hardly wait til I can get to the store to buy some more fruit/veg/?? to paint! LOL Ro
terry clare said:

,
This painting Ro, is good enough to sell as it is. You want to go a step further to improve the 3D without adding the touch of colour or with black and white. A change in composition maybe. Ambition is such a wonderful thing. A need for 3D is 3/4 angle lighting on the subject either behind or frontal and a more receding ground shape maybe a corner or something, with the fruit overlapping in front and behind, and if possible not round. Find some apples with planes. The lost edges I mentioned, were in fashion once, sorry about that one. One of the backgrounds has only to be the same tone as one or two of the edges. The advantage of still life is you can arrange everything to suit. Plein air on the other hand, is WYSIWYG to which though you can import your still life effects later for interest. I like to think of your pears as, See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil, but don't get juice everywhere when you eat me. Great job, Terry
Roena King said:

Thanks for the comments VERY MUCH Iwan and Terry......Great......now lets talk art! Terry, I have never done a close up such as this before. The middle pear has the other pear's stems pointing toward it, and it was the lightest so I made that the subject by sharpening up the edges of the center pear and softening the edges other two. I am not sure "WHICH" edges to lose on such a close up. Please be very specific. .............. Also, This was an exercise in compressed values so my background was as light as I could make it-value 7, but then I added some of the lighest white toward the end behind the pears trying to make them just show up. COMMENTS on the background please............. I also think I "should have the lightest side of the back on the left and the darkest on the right as the light was more behind my left shoulder/head height. It was daytime, but I did try to cover up all the lights from windows and all so that the spot light was the only real light to consider.
..........To me, this is just a OK painting. I want it to have PUNCH and when it pops up on the screen everyone will go.....wow. It is not that, and I dont know what I need to do to make it do that!!!! Any ideas? Ro
terry clare said:

Just too beautiful, and you enjoyed it as well. Can you do it for me again and again Ro to reinforce it, with variations off course, then you will automatically remember it when you add some colour. How about some lost edges as well, Terry
Iwan Warega said:

If you add any colors to these fruits ,I'm taking a bite.

Roena King said:

Hi, I have done another gray scale painting. I think I am really enjoying doing them too. Richard, this is my attempt at compressing the values to 3-4-5-6-7 and reserving the 1 and 9 until the very last. Am I even close to achieving the compressing idea? I would appreciate some comments, and I would encourage others to post here too. Thanks, Ro

[Roena King]

So Gail, WHICH EDGES would you suggest to apply the lost edges to? Can you be more specific? I think I have used the lost edges in landscapes, but I did not know what to do with such a closeup as I have never painted anything like this before. Thanks, Ro
Gail Runciman-Nicholls said:

Hi Ro & Terry,
Terry - I think your comment to Roena on "The lost edges I mentioned, were in fashion once" is still valid.
I like to use lost edges even in landscape and still life. It is a great way to add depth and keep the eye on the focal point.