This is my photo:
I use a color print and a grayscale version of it.I start with Wallis paper, toned a pale neutral color, and draw the values in charcoal, as well as using a white plastic eraser to establish the whites:
I then use the color photo and carefully select the correct value in a complementary color. Here you can see that the pale blue sky is a pale orange sky:
I fill in one layer of all the correct values in complementary colors:
Then I use the grayscale print, so I don't get confused looking at the 'real' colors, and continue painting with the complementary colors, which results in this:
And for my final painting, I go back over the entire thing with the colors of nature, the 'real' colors, to create a lovely tonal painting with wonderful, rich color:
Mesa Meadow
pastel on 17x11" Wallis sandpaper
$500 delivered to you ready to frame
4 comments:
I love this - the mesa is just beautiful.
Thank you SO MUCH for the tutorial! WOW - can't wait to get home to try it. Do you have your color wheel and grayscale next to you when you paint?
Thanks, Karen! Yes, I keep my simple color wheel in one hand when putting down that first layer of opposite colors so that I don't get too confused. It's pretty easy to look at blue, think orange, and then find your hand going right to the blue! I keep a finger on the orange section of the color wheel so I can check.
I paint entirely from the grayscale, after establishing the first layer of complementary colors. Sometimes I keep the color photo tucked away until I'm through with the whole piece, having reinterpreted the real colors from the complements, while other times I use the color photo to see and record the colors of nature on top of my complements.
I also use a grayscale card to teach this, holding one of the kind with the holes over the colors to help people understand their values, or making little swatches of a color and holding it over that to check the value before plugging it into the complement underpainting.
The point is to exercise those decision making muscles so you can begin to see value. Using complements also strengthens your color understanding. What is the complement of a green that has a lot of gold in it? What colors would you have to use to make the golden-green, broken down into primary and secondary colors, and what are their complements?
It's really fun and you learn a lot--hope you enjoy it!
Deborah
Thanks for showing this lesson Deborah. And the final stage resulted in such a beautiful painting!
Thanks, David. Glad to see you around! I like this one a lot, too. I think it will be gorgeous when it's framed...
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