1. SHIVA'S CROWN
    Oil on canvas 28"W X 20"H

    This painting is a study in seeing shapes and color value in a complex subject. The stretched, gessoed canvas was painted with a neutral-toned oily wash. The paint was applied using a limited palette: Titanium white, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Pthalo Green. 

    The drawing stage was completed with a 1/4" bristle brush using a mixture of burnt sienna and cadmium red, shown below.



    You will notice a set of diagonal lines and a diamond pattern drawn on the canvas. This is a method that I learned from Brian Keeler to identify the static points of a painting to be used for the placement of active/dynamic subjects. I will leave it up to the jury to determine if this was an effective placement of pictorial elements or not.

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  2. Intimation - oils (20 X 16")


    In week two of Rita Roberts' class 'Understanding Clouds" we have moved to mixing values and completing a monochromatic painting using oils. The limited palette is: Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, French Ultramarine Blue and Pthalo Green. All of the greys were mixed with this palette, i.e. no black paint was involved.

    My reference photo is below:


    The assignment also involved experimentation with a colored ground using oil washes. I used a mixture of yellow ochre, cadmium red and titanium white. The laying in of the dark value and mid-value looked like this (the underpainting is showing the places where the light value will be placed):


    After applying the lightest value and then painting back into the wet paint using mid-light and mid-dark values, mixing colors directly on the palette and on the canvas I lifted some paint back off using a rag to expose the underpainting. This entire painting was completed in less than 2 hours.


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  3. An artist should never underestimate the importance of having a plan of action before starting a painting. The value study is just that, a plan of action that delineates the values of darks and lights in a painting using only monochrome graphite, charcoal or paint.

    I am taking a course with ArtistsNetworkUniversity.com entitled "Understanding Clouds" taught by Rita Roberts, a wonderful artist living in the San Luis Valley, Colorado.


    The first assignment in the course was to do a value study from a reference photo using charcoal or graphite,  to train the eye into seeing grey-scale values. I used the reference photo above. The darkest value is the blue sky to the left and top left of the image. The lighting is quite complex in this scene but I have been fascinated by roaming dark clouds floating above and to the foreground of  white sunlit clouds.

    My charcoal study, completed on Arches 22" X 30" hot-pressed, watercolor paper is below. 


    I have simplified some of the detail found in the reference photo in the interest of the value study.  I was somewhat restricted in my supplies as I only had one stick of dark vine charcoal, though I had several of the middle and light values. The Arches paper was not ideal. It did not  have a strong enough tooth to easily hold the charcoal. I have endeavored to rectify these shortcomings by ordering a roll of Italian charcoal paper and charcoal for future studies. 
    I really enjoyed working full scale on the value study as I could get my whole arm and upper body involved in the process. The paper was taped onto a large plywood board and secured to my studio easel. I had to put 4 or 5 sheets of the 140lb Arches paper underneath the drawing surface to overcome the texture of the plywood board underneath. 
    Any ways you can be assured that there will be many more value studies to come. The next lesson in the course is using oil paints and mixing greys without using black paint. Stay posted!


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About Me
About Me
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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
I am a Canadian author/illustrator of fiction and non-fiction for both trade and educational publishers in Canada, the US, and abroad. I have written 4 trade books for Orca books, illustrated and written over 2 dozen picture books and am coauthor/illustrator of an environmental middle-grade fiction series for Harper Collins Children's Books in India. Email: steve@stephenaitken.com
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