Watercolor Painting: A Comprehensive Approach to Mastering the Medium (15 page)

Knowing what needs to be reserved from the previous layer and remembering to do it are skills that come partly from practice and partly from taking responsibility. The benefits of practice take time to be seen, of course, but being in charge produces results immediately.

The language of watercolor requires a way of thinking that eventually becomes second nature. Meanwhile, timing is everything. Remember to ask:
What needs to be reserved?
And make sure to ask it
before
the next layer is applied, as this establishes good habits and eliminates the need for the paper towel and the scrubby.

Although the darkest darks usually go on last, it is a good idea to identify them early in the process of getting to know your subject. Make sure to ask yourself:
What is the darkest part of the picture?
Seeing the full
value range gives you a basis for comparison when you are learning where on the relative scale each element of the picture should be placed.

D. ALANSON SPENCER,
OATMAN, ARIZONA,
DATE UNKNOWN
WATERCOLOR ON PAPER
22 × 30 INCHES (56 × 76 CM)

The butte in the background has enormous presence, even though it has been simply stated. Had it been lighter, it would not loom over the valley, but had it been darker, we would not feel the space between it and the mine buildings. Spencer seemed to know that the value of the butte had to be about halfway between the lightest and the darkest parts of the scene. Could it be he just got lucky? The slim white roof of the tallest building suggests otherwise.

In
Oatman, Arizona,
shown above, D. Alanson Spencer makes decisions about the value he assigns to each shape according to its ideal location in the range between the lightest and darkest parts of the image. To take full advantage of the role value plays in establishing a convincing illusion of light and space, it was important for him to identify the lightest light and the darkest dark right at the start.

It is possible to study the value range and dark/light balance without having to first paint the picture. The various forms of sketches and studies discussed in
chapter 2
quickly reveal the relationships and the roles of the darks and lights. On
this page
is another exercise that can help increase your sensitivity to value. At the same time, it provides some insight into how to simplify the infinitely subtle range of value that is often present. By exploring which elements of a complex subject are essential and which are optional, you can discover where you must be attentive and where you can be casual. I use a colored-glass cup, but a shiny metal pot or a burnt-out light bulb would also work well.

Although the three-
value study has none of the subtle tones of the real cup, it still looks like glass. This suggests that the many middle-value shapes are not essential to the illusion. When I stare at the cup and move from side to side and up and down, the subtle shapes change size and location dramatically. In any position, however, the cup still looks exactly like a glass cup. How critical can it be, then, to get those delicate values in just the right places? Moving and looking again, I see that the lights and darks stay in roughly the same spots.

Evaluate the subject.
The blue glass cup displays a broad range of values—bright highlights, deep dark accents, and a host of subtle middle values. How accurately must these be duplicated?

Create a middle-value study.
Using a single middle value, make a simple silhouette of the cup. Try using a big brush, and
painting
the shape, rather than drawing an outline and coloring it in. Let go of accuracy of drawing—it will help you pay more attention to value. An assessment of the study shows that without a range of values there is no substance to the cup, and it is certainly not yet made of glass.

Create a middle-value study, with highlights.
Make another version of the cup, this time reserving the lightest lights. Paint the whole shape a middle value, except for the parts you determine are closer to white. Squinting helps round down to white or up to middle. Saving lights adds noticeable substance to the shape and begins to suggest that it is shiny, if not quite translucent.

Add the darkest darks.
When the new version is dry, add the areas that are closer to black than a middle value. With only three values, the cup now appears to be made of glass. Apparently, the darkest darks and lightest lights are doing the majority of the work.

The mid-value shapes seem to be a function of the cup’s surroundings, which are subject to change when the point of view shifts. The lights and darks act more like features of the cup itself. I suspect that the mid-value shapes can be almost arbitrarily located, while the highlights and the darkest darks occur where they do for a reason. When it comes to revealing the nature of the object, one is essential, the other optional.

TOM HOFFMANN,
UNCHAINED,
2009
WATERCOLOR ON ARCHES COLD PRESS PAPER
11 × 15 INCHES (28 × 38 CM)

Looking at the nearby shapes, it is clear that the strip of purple that goes up the sides and across the top of the picture needed to be lighter than the main brown rectangle but darker than the light triangle in the foreground. That range leaves room for refinement. The purple strip could probably have been a little darker or a little lighter and still have been seen as a white wall in shadow.

How dark is the part I’m about to paint?
This is the essential value question, because it invites the artist to consider the
relative
dark or lightness of every element of the picture. And the answer is always the same:
Compared to what?

I like to look for nearby shapes that establish the value range within which the new shape will work. I want to find something that is darker than what I am about to add and something that is lighter. Basically, I want to know how each element will fit in the overall continuum of
values. This will not tell me the precise value that will do the job best, but it gets me in the ballpark. Then I can usually tell whether I would like it a little lighter or darker.

It can be tricky to remember to think about value when most of your attention is on another variable, especially when the other variable is color. Developing the habit of
bracketing,
or locating each new part of the picture in its place on the range of values, keeps the distractions from causing you to lose track of what you have deemed essential. Do whatever it takes to remember to locate each part of the painting on the range of values. It should be the last thing you think of before your brush touches the paper.

DON MAREK,
TRUCK STOP,
2010
WATERCOLOR ON PAPER
21 × 28 INCHES (53 × 71 CM)

While this may appear to be a painting all about intense, saturated color, it is attention to value relationships that quietly makes it possible for the artist to have some fun with color.