Strong Values

Photo from Jennifer McChristian

Painting is all about making value judgments. And I don't mean the type that concern good and evil!  In painting, "value" describes the relative lightness or darkness of things. Good values are the strongest determinant of the success of a painting--more so than even color. 

If you're not familiar with the concept of value, start by thinking of a black and white photo. The darkest areas are a low value, and the lightest areas are a high value.  Every color has a value, in addition to a hue. The image just above shows a value scale, marked to show values numbered from 1 to 4--a handy tool for the painter.

Demonstraton value study by Jennifer McChristian

It's important for painters to learn to see the world in just a few values. Seeing in just three of four values helps you organize the canvas into a pleasing array of shapes. In fact, some painters always do a value study before they begin a painting. It's a way of problem-solving, before you delve into the canvas. Jennifer McChristian does sensitive and beautiful value studies. She often uses markers in varying shades of gray (see top image). She also uses gouache, such as the value study immediately below. 

Value Study, (c) Jennifer McChristian

Taking a tip from McChristian, I took Copic markers with me to Paris one year. I didn't have time to execute complete paintings, but I did a number of value studies. My favorites became the basis of larger paintings back home in the studio. You can see one example below. The first image is the value study, followed by the finished painting. I tried to stay faithful to the values when laying down the color. As they say, "Color gets all the glory, but value does all the work."  So true!

Value Study, (c) Lesley Powell

"Across Pont des Invalides"
14 x 14, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2017
(SOLD)

Seeds of Inspiration

"The Point"
Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

I wrote recently about destroying a number of old paintings. One group of paintings that I would never consider destroying are my small plein air paintings. I must keep these, whether they are "successful" ones, or remain unresolved. They are the fruits of my working outdoors, interacting directly with the subject, and "seeing" with all of my senses. Some of them are pictured in this post. No photograph could inform me, no snapshot could inspire me, as these paintings do.

"My Covenant"
Oil on Linen, 14 x 7
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

I often work from these paintings to create larger works back home in my studio. I am not alone in this approach. Charles Movelli has written in his essay "In Praise of the Painterly Painter" that so-called "painterly painters" prefer to work directly from their subject, or from sketches done on the spot. They call these pictures their "brains". Interestingly Morvelli notes that painters rarely sell these pictures. In that regard, he quotes the great English landscape painter John Constable, who said "I don't mind parting with the corn, but not with the field in which it was raised!"

I'm hoping to cultivate these fields even more this year...

Going Big

Many times I paint a small painting that, when finished, continues to intrigue me with further possibilities. Perhaps there were more elements to the subject than I could capture in a single painting. Or perhaps the light changed so much during the course of my painting session that the afternoon presented an entirely different subject than the morning did. Or perhaps it is as inexplicable as

Fields of Inspiration

"Field Study"
6 x 6, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2014

I have a growing stack of small plein air paintings that I dare not part with. They are the fruits of my working outdoors, interacting directly with the subject, and "seeing" with all of my senses. Some of them are pictured in this post. No photograph could inform me, no snapshot could inspire me, as these paintings do.

"Study of White Church"'
8 x 6, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2013

I often work from these "sketches" to create larger works back home in my studio. I am not alone in this approach. Charles Movelli has written in his essay "In Praise of the Painterly Painter" that so-called "painterly painters" prefer to work directly from their subject, or from sketches done on the spot. They call these pictures their "brains". Interestingly Morvelli notes that painters rarely sell these pictures. In that regard, he quotes the great English landscape painter John Constable, who said "I don't mind parting with the corn, but not with the field in which it was raised!"

"Hilltown Study"
(c) Lesley Powell 2013

Amen to that sentiment. Here's to the inspiration and cultivation of many more paintings from the acres of my little "fields"!