Values are one of the most essential aspects to think about, especially early on in our painting journey. The wonderful thing with tonal values is that we can quite simply measure them and adjust them accordingly. Once we have our benchmark light to dark and warm to cool our paintings begin to take on a scientific approach. We only become creative with values when we start applying the actual paint.

The other element to consider is deciding whether the painting will be more about values or color. An excellent example of this is when looking at the same scene on an overcast day vs a bright sunny day. For us to have the best chance for success with this type of subject matter we must consider our dark-to-light values first and then our color. This applies whether you choose to paint in oil or acrylics.

Lastly, we must also understand our warm-to-cool values. This will give us depth in our paintings. I like to approach my paintings as I would a pencil drawing, thinking in terms of dark to light initially. Then I will actively search for the most interesting dark shapes, this evolves into my overall tonal plan. The main reason that I place such high importance on my tonal values, is that if this is correct I can easily adjust my shapes and edges to complete a successful painting.

- Colley Whisson

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