Last week we talked about the importance of value. Much more so than the color. Again it's not to say color is not important. What I want to establish is a fundamental understanding that color should be added feature to a good value painting. This is especially true if you are to paint a believable painting, not a abstract one (which I have nothing against abstract painting. I am simply sharing what I do).
Now let's talk about how value can help you to achieve depth. I painted the above painting a few days ago. Just so happen that this is a very monochromatic painting if you discount the red tail light. I am sure you can tell how the value push and pull the depth in this painting. As the objects go into the distance, they got covered by fog more. That makes them lighter in value. On the other hand, things that are closer to us will be darker and with more contrast. So here's a simple rule:
Lighter and low-contrast in the distance
Darker and high-contrast at the front
Now if you make the painting into complete black and white, the painting should still works in terms of depth.
The red is now gone, your eyes might shift to the left car which has the highest contrast in the painting. It is still in the foreground element. Now let's look at some other example.
A black and white beach painting, you can still identify the foreground foliage and palm trees. Although is not a misty scenery, the lower contrast of the distance land still push it back.
It's a bit tricky because it's a sunny day in the golf field. But you can still see the left tree is darker than the res and that pull it forward.
A very busy NYC street. When you look on the top half of the painting, you can still see how the buildings fade into distance.
Of course, value is not the only thing that contribute to the effect of depth. There's also edge quality, scale, details, and of course the color. But it all starts with value. Don't just look at my work. Let's look at the master watercolorist Joseph Zbukvic's painting.
I think it's very self-explanatory that Mr. Zbukvic is a value painter. The above 2 paintings shows perfectly how value creates depth. They will still work great when turn into black and white. The little colors he painted in only enhance the depth by attract your eyes to focus point. Next week I will be talking about how value creates form. Now for your viewing pleasure, here's a timelapse video of the painting.
New Painting video on YouTube!
After much work, I finally get to get a new video made. In this video, you get to see me paint the painting - Hollywood Blvd.