Contrast equals focus in picture making.

That is why the dynamic duo of our lightest light and darkest dark are always under scrutiny while composing our picture. Where is the focus? That is the question. What do you want to tell your viewer? Do I want to make it soft? Do I want to make it strong? These are all our cards we play with while creating pictures.

I like to view creating art like playing many games of chess on top of each other all at the same time.
1. Creating compelling pictures

2. Using line, shape and tone to create your elements.

3. Story telling. Moods and feelings can be conveyed by seeing your art as a communication of a feeling, an emotion or a mood as a criteria of emphasis in your picture making process.

So your playing three games right there, all complex in there own right, building pictures with form and space thru line, shape and tones along with controlling how you want the picture to look, and feeling or mood of the piece, all at the same time. I think artists seek to find the place where this all comes naturally and the experience is as enjoyable and fulfilling as seeing the results of a well thought out piece.

Bob Peak created this image. I just think it is a fabulous example at what a master Bob was of so many picture making techniques like storytelling, using contrast to enable a strong focus along with such a sophisticated and tasteful sense for shape making. Also apparent in this example is how Bob always was in control of his picture and left beautiful negative spaces in his art. He was able to carefully eliminate the unnecessary elements to make the picture that much more visually appealing. While all artists can struggle with creating the perfect picture and increasing sensitivity while creating art, let us not forget that the journey is just as important as the final product. Many times just letting the viewer see how your picture was created by giving them the clues that you left for them to discover. Your creative process becomes evident and allows the viewer to take the journey and explore your vantage point. Your multi layered game is visable even if you don’t quite know all the different levels. Enjoy making art.

Grey your way to great portraits

As always there are a ton of factors which create great art IMHO. Making a portrait is fun and challenging and for me I would like to offer a few insights into some techniques which took my own efforts to the next level and maybe can help others with their efforts as well.

Pencil and charcole on paper

Greys are the second most important factor to deal with in this discussion. First would be the darkest dark and the lightest light. The dynamic duo. These important reference points are always in the mix when concentrating on our grey values. Here is how. Greys are the point from the darkest dark to the lightest light. There can be hundreds of them represented to show the information relevant to your picture.

Picture making is only made up of three things: Line, Shape, and Tone (color being tone). So tone is a pretty important tool to get control over in our toolbox for a complete artist. Beginning and advanced artists can both benefit from more acute awareness of the subtleties of the grey tones and how to manipulate them at will with precision and ease in any media you prefer to work in.

For beginning students I will explain some of the simple drills to practice to gain mastery of tones.

The ol’ 10 step grey chart. 

Go ahead and make a rectangle and create ten boxes in there. The first box will be the lightest light (white) and the last box will be the darkest dark (black or close to it). Now for the drill. Create the different shades of grey to show value between the first square to the last square. There are many ways to get the tone in the square, (with pencils we have the option of hatching, cross hatching, stippling, scumbling). With charcoal (the beast to conquer on many drills) attention is needed to the sensitivity to create the desired result.

Pencils- A Brief Explanation

4H, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B

With these five different pencils we can get an incredible range of grey tones.

4H- Your lightest light value after white. Your hardest pencil we are going to work with on this exercise. This pencil is great for beginning stages of execution as it is easy to erase and control. Your easiest pencil to create tones which fade to white

2H- The next hardest pencil. Also good for early marks and tones which fade to white.

HB- The standard pencil which is the middle hardness of all pencils. Great all purpose pencil as it can get dark and light.

2B- now we are getting into the softer pencils which get darker but also create more grain on the paper.

4B- Our darkest pencil for this drill. Creates our darkest dark and the fades from that point. Also give the most texture as it reacts to the texture of the paper differently than the 2H and 4H.

Pencils-Hints

Use each pencil for what it was meant to be used for. Use soft pencils (HB, 2B, 4B) for darker marks and blends. Use harder pencils for lighter tones, fades to nothing and as a smudging value.

Try not to use your finger in blending. (I have always been caught breaking this rule, claiming to brings more connection to the piece, but…)smudging with your finger or hand spreads oils to the surface of the paper which has a negative effect. The oils bind to the surface and acts as place where the new pencil marks cannot get to easily. Try instead to use a harder lead to create a smoother tone overall.

Don’t get to dark to early. No matter what media you are working with this tip helps. Work your light values and fading to nothing. Only after the lights are complete will the darks compliment them in the final rounds.

Keep your pencils sharp.

For lightest marks try holding the pencil farthest away from the lead holding it with your thumb and first two fingers as lightly as possible. Using a motion fast like a hummingbirds wings paying attention to the sensitivity to how light a mark you can achieve.

So after our grey chart is mastered and we get control of exactly how to put down these subtle grey tones we move on.

Tones to show form.

Tones will allow us to show light on object and make the form believable to a viewer by making them solid. Our grey chart showed us how many different values there are to express light, now we will take it to the next level and by placing the tones naturally we can develop believable shapes. Lets try it with a round shape we will call the ball drill.

Imagine a light source and shade that ball to show the shape of that circle in space. We are going to take our grey scale drill and put it into shapes. So just like the grey scale drill it took time and attention to build the right shades, here too it will take some effort and thought to shade the ball with the subtle grey tones we just worked with. The more greys the better. Try to concentrate your greys fading off to nothing and greys fading off to your darkest dark.

Pencil, charcole and pastel on brown paper

Oill on paper

Charcole on brown paper

Charcole on brown paper

Pencil and charcole on paper