All Things Fine Art

Hello Alan. Thank you for your interest in notan and the use of the value swatch. You raised a question that my students often ask.

To begin with, do not confuse the painting of value shapes during the painting process with the broader idea of value usage in planning with three to five values. In the latter case, one value represents a "range" of values. Conversely, in the process of painting, we actually create and use all values within that range....often in miniscule variations. I refer to these miniscule variations as color value shapes.

If you think of that swatch of mid-value as a second on the clock and you were to remove that second from the other 59 in an hour would you miss it? Probably not. Now, think of the many values in one of your finished paintings and consider how often you used that EXACT SPECIFIC value. In most cases during the process of painting you created values that were ever so slightly to a lot lighter or ever so slightly to a lot darker. Your chances of hitting that exact, specific value will be slim. So it makes sense that keeping shadow shadow by staying slightly to a lot darker than the swatch works.

We humans tend to try to make things more complicated then they really are. I assure you if you match your color value mixes against this swatch and keep them at least slightly lighter or darker, you will find your light shadow registration in painting will improve.

Always check to relativity of a value against the swatch. To answer the second part of your question, the shadow on a light object maybe lighter than the swatch...but to what degree? The same as to what degree the light is above the swatch.

I use this swatch in class for students who struggle with value and consistently confuse shadow and light passages. Their work generally ends up with all values registering in the mid-range and thus rather boring without contrast. Using the idea of the swatch helps them immensely in creating good light and shadow contrasts in their work.

Hello Alan: On a light object such as an egg, the shadow may well fall within the light side. This is where you need to decide to what degree is the shadow from the swatch...the same way you would figure for the light side of the egg. In notan, all things are either below or above the swatch meaning of course they are in the white side or the black side of the notan. That swatch is the fine line between white and black. EVERYTHING must be placed in one or the other in a notan. In representational art we stay within the confines of natural law. It is therefore, in notan, entirely possible that the form shadow of the egg would be placed above the swatch. You might want to take an egg, a lamp, etc. and play with it using a mid-tone swatch to see where the shadows fall on a white object vs. a darker object such as a red apple. You'll see the difference by visual comparisons. Learning something intellectually is important but for the artist, visual learning is a MUST.

Remember this Alan...in learning new concepts, if there is a way to make something complicated, we humans will find it. Notan is the ultimate in simplicity. If you are having trouble getting a grip on this concept then most likely you are trying hard to make it more complicated than it is. Believe me, you are not alone. That is a totally normal reaction to abstract ideas and to concepts that are ultimately simple in their structure. We make them difficult by reading too much into them. For this reason, begin doing some visual comparisons and you'll find that these concepts will make sense to you.

Hello Alan:

That's an excellent question. My general approach is to use local color but cool it and gray it in a block in so that when I add the light struck areas of the subject the warm intense color pops from the original color note. In this way I receive more contrast and excitement for the eye. There are no hard and fast rules on how gray or cool a block-in color note should be but I try to drop those notes about 1/2 to one step on the value scale in value. The key is that you want CONTRAST. To achieve that, I sometimes add a small amount of the light intense color to the canvas or on a scrap so I can compare it to what I am using for the block-in. In that way, I can tell if I'm getting the amount of contrast that I want. The amount of contrast is relative only to what result you want for your painting.

Students are often stuck in a rut of copying exactly what they see. In reality what you should be aiming at is visual beauty and contrast. It's all about the painting not copying exactly what you see. You want the painting to be better than the reality.

One of the greatest compliments I receive is "your painting looks better and is more exciting than the scene". It's like dressing up on Sunday to go to church. We look a bit spiffier on Sunday than we do the rest of the week. Your painting should look a bit visually spiffier than the reality....and, only you can determine how far you should push that. That is the "you" in the painting.

I hope this helps. We are talking here about the aesthetics of a painting and what makes it artistically personal and therefore exciting to the viewer. Not what is true to a copy of the subject. It is issues like this that takes a painting out of the ordinary and puts it into a professional category.

Practice this with some small studies. The more you practice the easier a concept is to handle in a painting performance.

Alan: Relative refers to the value of the actual area (or shape) in your subject and how far it is from the swatch on the value scale. In other words, its percentage of difference either up or down on the value scale from the swatch.

Hello Alan:
I'm not sure I will be able to straighten out and clarify for you with words the confusion you are experiencing. That is where the advantage of classes or workshops have it over the written word. I'll give it one try but beyond that, you'd have to attend one of my classes/workshops.
Let's define local color so we are both talking the same thing. Local color is the orange color of the orange, the red of the red apple, the yellow of the lemon, etc.
You may be confusing what I said with your own previous perceptions; an entirely normal occurence when one is trying to add new information to what they already know. Try to block your own perceptions for the time being and read and understand only what I say for its pure content. You will merge my ideas and yours together later.
To understand color, one must essentially understand light. The sun has the strongest candle power and the results of direct light from the sun is most easily seen in nature. Therefore, looking at a brightly lit object you will find that the closer the object comes to the source of the direct that the color diffuses. This is why we have hot spots known as -highlights” which are almost entirely without color. Conversely, in deep shadow, the farthest away from light the less color we see because our eyes do not see in dark well). Therefore, it is obvious that the truest color (local) is usually found in areas of or near nearing areas part way between the lightest struck areas and the darkest in shadow.
So, given this, my process is one of setting a stage to arrive at the results of what I am seeing ACCORDING TO LIGHT.
My Process:
I work in stages on my painting then pull the results of these stages together later.
Stage one: I block in all shadow colors everywhere on the painting. To do so, I mix the local color of the surface the shadow exists on, then alter it so it is SLIGHTLY GRAYER AND COOLER than it may read in the final painting. This sets the stage for future additions and alterations to come that will be truer to color as actually seen also providing a bit of pop to future layers of lighter, warmer more saturated color. Please note….some of this grayer and cooler color will always show. I never fully cover it. It serves two purposes, the -pop” I've already mentioned and it helps to create harmony throughout the painting.
Stage two: I block-in all light struck surfaces keeping the colors SLIGHTLY darker and less saturated than in the final version. Again, this allows for future pop of warm bright intense color where needed.
Stage three: I adjust the shadow side of the painting adding slightly more intense and warmer color where needed for accurate registration of shadows. This also helps to coordinate and harmonize the shadows with the light and gives the shadows interest and life
Stage four: I adjust the light side of the painting adding more intensity and warmth where needed.
Stage five: I adjust all edges and restate drawing where needed and adjust values as may still be needed in the finesse stage of the painting then sign the painting….done!
Now: regarding you last question regarding the swatch and how a light shadow might register.
Yes, of course, you may run across a shadow that is lighter than the swatch. In this case, I usually treat that shadow as a ½ tone in light and not as a shadow value.
For instance: the black spots on a white cow in sunlight….the black in light may actually be lighter than the white in shadow and vice-a-versa. For this reason, the swatch really works. Discipline yourself to keeping your color/value shapes registering above or below the swatch and your painting will read correctly.
Try this on a few small studies before trying to coordinate it with what you already know. Allow this information to work for you in its purity. Once you have, merging previous information and this new concept will come much easier with less confusion.
Perhaps you might benefit from coming to one of my 2015 workshops.

Regards, Sharon

I'm glad that you are progressing and that Notan is working for you now, Alan. It's a great tool and one you'll find especially helpful in the future. Keep in touch.

Sharon