Colored Version of Grey Scale Painting Value Study

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Comment by Linda L. Kano on November 17, 2015 at 4:42

Thanks Michael for your critique. I always appreciate your helpful advice but I understand that it is time consuming. I always hate to ask...so I'll leave it up to you whether you see something which you want to remark. This assignment was from vaa. I'm finding it impossible to see the work you did on the same assignment. The website is not set up like this one. I'm right at the last 2 assignments of part A. Slowly learning but the more I learn, the more I realize what I don't know:))) But I'm having fun!!!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on November 16, 2015 at 18:43

Hi Linda.  You can put quite a lot of warmth in any tree ....please do not equate darkness with a lack of warmth.  On the mountain ..ask yourself if it is the correct value and does it have an ambiguous light source upon it?  Here is a good foundation "rule" from John Carlson about values.  The sky is the lightest value, the upright planes are the darkest, the flat planes are the next lightest, and the slanted planes are the second darkest.  Notice I said a "foundation rule" ...does not mean it cannot be broken ..because it can.  Now, check your painting and see if you have followed what Mr. Carlson said.  Take a close look and analyze your light and shadow patterns on the background hill.  One more thing Linda, the left edge of your mountain .. try to avoid those plunging lines going out of the picture ..   Just to let you know, I am not doing many  critiques anymore.  If a painting really grabs me, I will try and tell why it does ..but no more critiques from me  unless specifically asked.   

Comment by Silvana M Albano on November 16, 2015 at 2:34

Wow Linda! You are working hard and the paintings show!!!

Comment by kevin miller on November 15, 2015 at 7:25

Linda, I really should not have said anything then because the next several workshops will get into this.  However, your comment on the value thing is very true.   I am in workshop C and I continue to struggle with value.  However, I have found it is probably the single most critical thing to get right.  That and a good notan design to go with it.  Just keep at it and practicing with value studies and notan sketches prior to every painting and you will improve greatly.  You are off to a great start.

Comment by Linda L. Kano on November 15, 2015 at 7:06

Kevin, I'm nearing the end if A. I appreciate your help. I know my background mountain is too dark. Since it was a close wooded trees mountain it threw me off. Then it threw the forward trees values off. So I tried lightening tha background which only helped a little. Boy this value thing continues to be my worst problem! Then I wondered how much warmth can you put in evergreen trees since they are usually darker than regular trees. Maybe I should have had a cooler mountain. So much to learn but this VAA training is very good. Keep up the good work and I'll be watching for your paintings. Love it when Michael gives his input in our work, don't you! Thanks again!

Comment by kevin miller on November 15, 2015 at 6:29

Looks like you did a pretty good job on sticking with your values from before.  Which VAA workshop are you on? Some helpful tips for future reference which you may not have been exposed to yet depending on where you are with VAA.  The background mountain could be a little lighter.  If you warm up the foreground trees a bit and use variations of a bit more high chroma green, it will create a better sense of depth.  When doing groups of trees like these, be careful of repeating tree shapes and equal spacing.  I struggle with this all of the time!  Anyway, looks good and onward we go with our next VAA assignments!