Some of my Favorite Tools

Hey Guys! I just thought I would share some of my favorite tools with you this week.

1. Color Reducer - Value Finder

The first thing I think you have to learn to do either in drawing or painting is understanding value comparison.  This is one tool that is really great for that because it cancels out all of the color into one color, in this case red (sometimes comes in green too). So that you can look at your scene and your painting with it and make your comparisons.  This is just to help you learn to see value instead of color, as some colors can really fool our eye into thinking they are either lighter or darker.

You can purchase this particular one here: http://www.cheapjoes.com/cheap-joe-s-value-sketch-and-composition-finder.html

 2. A Value Finder-  I like this one because you can hold the little cut out holes over an object to judge what value it truly is.  Simultaneous contrast is especially something that can make us misjudge a value. For instance when you are staring into a shadow that has a brilliant reflected light, the more you stare at it in that isolated way the brighter and lighter the reflection will look. Always compare it to something in the light to get the true value or brilliance, but if you just can't see it resort to a tool like this to reveal the truth.

You can get it here: http://www.dickblick.com/products/gray-scale-and-value-finder/



 

 

 

 

 3.  A Good Ol' Color Wheel - This can help you come up with pleasing color schemes for you painting or can help you if you are struggling with judging your saturation levels or hues.  A lot of times student may resort too much to white to lighten and they lose the brilliance of the color. You can hold up the scale to the object that you are painting and to what you painted to see where you are off.  Also, it's a good idea to go through paintings by artists that you admire and just see what kind of color schemes they are using. A lot of times they are altering reality to fit into a pleasing color strategy. I like this particular color wheel because of the gray overlay and that it gives you some color theory education too!

They have this one here: http://www.amazon.com/Cox-3389-Creative-Color-Wheel/dp/B005F6S0BU or if you have a Hobby Lobby they have them there too.

Okay. That's it!  I also want to thank everyone who has been supporting me. All the MINI sales, likes, comments, shares, watching you tube videos and purchasing video lessons at www.openstudioonline.com  You all keep me able to live the dream as a full time artist and I am so grateful to you!

 

HAPPY PAINTING TO YOU ALL!

 

 

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