One Color Value Study in Oil

Doing a small value study painting with one color is quite useful. It helps us to isolate and focus on the value-composition issue and find the unique solution for each painting project. Some artists use digital technology to do this exercise. These days, Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter are among the popular computer software for value study and color study with the convenience of not involving actual paints and cleanup work. I actually like the real painting exercises with the traditional tools and materials.

In this value study exercise for a sailboat oil painting, I am using a small, 8-inch by 10-inch canvas panel, with a gray color mixed from the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. It is an experimental process, and it requires the artist to try different possibilities for the value and contrast between the big masses at the beginning and between the small areas later. After setting the values that you are happy with for the big areas, start the study for the smaller shapes. It is important to keep the balance for the whole.

For the first step, I use a brown colored pencil to draw the composition. If you draw with a graphic pencil or a charcoal, then the graphic or charcoal powder will blend into the oil paints when I start painting. I draw the position of the shapes of the sails first. When you think of the big shapes, there are only the sails, the island, the water, and the sky. The focal point of the painting is the sails. I pay full attention to the balance between them.

After I finish the composition step, I start applying a thin layer of the mixture color. I don’t use white to lighten the color; instead, I dip a little Turpenoid (a thinner) with the tip of my brush to dilute the mixture for this step, and I will build up the thickness by adding white in the mixture after this first step. I keep adjusting the value between these big shapes until I am happy with the result. Don’t be afraid to try things out. For example, I know that the sky area needs to be a bit darker to make the sails stand out more, so I start putting a value of about 40% to the area. I had a very brief thought that it may be too dark, but I do it anyway so that I can see this color in place in the context of other colors. However, after I evaluate the color afterward, it is actually a right value for the sky area.

I keep the process very experimental and playful. I am searching for the right balance, and I go with my gut feeling, while being exploratory and critical at the same time and not afraid to change.