By
Armand Cabrera
The biggest problem most painters face is value. More than
anything else, poor value keeps their paintings from having a sense of light.
One way to train your eyes to see the whole image and therefore the value
relationship of light to dark is to start by dividing the image into light
and shadow, one value for each group.
This posterized version will not only simplify
your work but forces a decision about which elements belong in light and which
belong in shadow. Once established you have a template to guide your color
choices for the rest of the painting. Anything in the shadow must read as
shadow from then on and anything in the light must read as light. Keep reflected lights as part of the shadows, reflections must read as whatever they are reflecting.
Whatever details get added they should never obliterate the initial poster
shapes. This is the tricky part because
as people add details and describe forms they lose track of their values and the
big divisions of light and shadow sacrificing them for more information. Instead
they should describe the elements within those values set in the beginning.
