"Seeing Values Clearly" Workshop

"4 Color Fred"  12x9" Pastel  nfs

Here I have used Photoshop to render the color out of the image, 

leaving the values to indicate shape and form.

Since the day I started teaching workshops on art and pastels, nearly all of my students have told me that values were the hardest thing to understand and get right in their paintings. This had me thinking that perhaps there is a big void in the education of painting and art.  No, I'm not talking about how much a work of art is "worth", although that could be a topic for another blog post. I am talking about the lights and darks and all shades of colors in between that give a work of art volume and shape, providing atmosphere and depth, as well as mood.  So I have decided to offer a one-day workshop on "Identifying Values Clearly" for a mere $95. What a value! The class will be a offered at Sequoia Gallery and Studios in Hillsboro, OR. in February of 2014.  Click HERE for more info and registration. Hope to see you there!

Above, this is a study using only values as the method of creating an image that I had done in a workshop with Kitty Wallis. This was my big "ah ha" moment as my work began to take shape and improve dramatically once I understood how to control this important aspect of painting.