At this point, I’m just working slowly on this figure painting from the top down. Her back is mostly in shadow so I’m working on the subtle nuances of value and color in shadow.
These values and colors are so close that I have to constantly put down a stroke of paint and ask three questions.
- Is it too dark or too light?
- Is it too warm or too cool?
- Is it too intense or too dull?
Ahh, the basics of color and value… Yes, it is a constant battle. I feel that no matter how good I get at this art thing I will always be reviewing the very basics.
Value, Temperature, chroma, in that order. This is how I look at everything now. Honestly, it’s the only way that I can figure out what I’m seeing. This is not like grade school when it was easy to pick out secondaries and name them. Heck, I even think looking at the PMS color system with its hundreds of swatches of colors would be easier.
I find it very interesting that skin doesn’t look right unless there is a little blue and green in places.
