Moving right along...

Here are two more plaster cast paintings, (around 16 x 20"), from Kelly Carmody's class. Raw Umber + Ivory Black were mixed together to create a relatively neutral dark and then Titanium White was added to create discreet piles of light to dark values. Once the paintings were blocked in using the 5 values, strings of light to dark paint were created and used to model form.

Learning to paint well involves learning to see and it really takes time and practice! These types of studies require constant comparisons of lights and darks. It's critical to keep the "lights with the lights" and the "darks with the darks" in order to achieve the effect of light falling across the form. It was challenging to judge the values. The darkest dark was not "black" and the lightest light was not white.

At many painting ateliers, students work on just one of these studies for months. Although I certainly understand how that approach can lead to great understanding and control, as an older, eager painter, I'm moving along very quickly, learning as much as I can from my imperfect studies.