If value is the foundation, then colour is the icing. For most getting the colour the right value is not easy. Then figuring out how much colour and the right colour seems a mystery.
I often find students and others confused between light and bright. For example, when you look at a shape in full sun it is light (value), but it is not the brightest (chroma). A painter who dealt with this brilliantly is Aldro Hibbard.
West River
Winter Farm
These images appear full of light and colour. Look closely and you will see that Hibbard lowered the value (darker) in order to show the colour. It is easy to see this with white surrounding the images. This is also a form of compressing the value scale to bring the big shapes together for a strong design - the big look. How did he do this? Practice!
I am teaching a 4 session art course in February - each Thursday morning. It is called Oil Painting Foundation. It will be held at the Williams Mill in Glen Williams. If you happen to be interested, email me for the details. gperdue1@cogeco.ca
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