Values and lighting

[mekare]

Do you know any helpful exercises or tutorials for practicing values and lighting? I really want to improve on these things this year.
amberdreams already gave me the tip of using monochrome versions of my references to better see the values. Do you know of anything else?

Comments

[ratcreature]

James Gurney's book Color and Light is really good. It doesn't have tutorials as such, but it explains many light and color effects and how to paint them. He also has video tutorials that show his processes but I haven't bought any of those, just his books.

[mekare]

Thank you, I'll definitely check that one out.

[dirty_diana]

Jen Bartel recommended this video a few months ago. It's more about colour with value as a component, but it seems good and easy to understand.

[mekare]

Thanks, that is a very helpful video!

[razielim]

I don't know how intensely you would like to study values, with what sort of balance between fun and challenging, but a rigorous exercise for studying value fundamentals is...

- Set up a simple still life. I use kid's wooden building blocks when studying values. Avoid fluffy, reflective, or transparent surfaces.

- Set up 7 values - White, lightest grey, light grey, medium grey, dark grey, darkest grey, black. (Looks like you're painting mostly with watercolor? In which case, we're talking 6 wells with different concentrations of black, using the paper itself for white. Test the values until you're satisfied that they look like an even progression. For an opaque medium, you would use actual white paint to lighten your black. For pencil, unless you have a full range of grey colored pencils, reduce the number of values and decide on a pressure/hatching system with black pencil. Use a key to place the correct value. Maybe your lightest grey will be half pressure single direction hatches, your light grey will be full pressure, your dark grey will be hatches in two different directions, your darkest grey will be hatches in three directions, and your black will be fully filled in. This will depend on the type of pencil you use - color, charcoal, or graphite- just try to make them evenly transition.)

Practice painting your still-life in a dark room with a spotlight, in a sunlit room, in a room with the windows open while it's grey outside. (Start with a light pencil sketch to make this exercise easier.) Identify the lightest and darkest values you see and stick within that range - if you don't see any real bright white, don't use white. Use the value closest to what you see, trying to break down each form into light and shadow so that you can simplify.

DO NOT BLEND OR USE MULTIPLE WASHES. You can soften edges between values a little, especially on rounded forms, but the whole exercise hinges on trying to make the best choice out of the values available to you and being forced to GROUP values that are close together even if you'd like to differentiate them. Compare how the lighting conditions change the range of the values. (For example, in overcast lighting, you likely won't see a lot of pure white or pure black, but in a dark room under a spotlight, you'll have to use the extremes.)

If you're using different colored objects, pay attention to how white/light objects in shadow can appear much darker than black/dark objects in light.

Note 1 - This exercise is a little easier if using an opaque paint like acrylic or oil because you would have more chances to see what you did wrong and repaint over mistakes. With watercolor or pencil, it might be a pain, but it would probably be better to start over if you feel like it's not looking right. Making these studies small and simple will make it easier to avoid getting too attached.

Note 2 - Unfortunately if you're not hype about trying it out, studying from still-lifes can be less fun that doing fanart. I don't recommend doing anything that is more challenging than it is fun and intriguing since that can lead to art-avoidance. To keep yourself motivated and happy, you can adapt this exercise as best as you can to painting from photo reference.

Note 3 - If you do decide to try this or adapt it, just do it for a few days at most, then go back to doing stuff for fun. Even if you don't feel like you've nailed it perfectly, you'll have already benefited just from trying. (Also nailing it "perfectly" doesn't exist because your values are so limited and you're only interpreting what you're seeing.) You can always come back to try it again later if you feel you're ready for more. :) As you grow confident in not overestimating how light/dark something is, you can experiment with using more values than just 7 or starting to blend those values as you apply them to create new values.

Phew! That was a lot. If it's helpful, I'm glad. If it's not what you were looking for, I hope you find something more appropriate. :)

[mekare]

Thank you! I'll try a small scale version of that. :-)