Looking for things to paint I decided to challenge myself beyond just cups and spoons. I had on my shelves an old toy of mine as a kid that I could never part with, a Ford Tractor 4600. Panic set in after just looking at it as I saw about 6 to 7 values of blue in just the tractor alone....well, screw it, turn up the music and just start paining.
My set up...trying to get a good idea of composition. Once I figured on this composition, I moved on to my value map drawing to establish the number of total values I will need.
Started out by doing a value map first...(prior to the panic setting in)...3 to 4 values was not working...at this point I realized that I was going to need 6 to 7 values for this to work given the blue and the type of light I had on the tractor. The value map time took me about 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish.
Going against the recommendation of my books I have read, I decided to just go in and start painting.
The biggest and longest part of the painting to me is transitioning what you are seeing to the panel. This has taken me a long time to master and keeping one foot firm to the ground (and not moving it) key to keep your view finder in the same spot. Once I get the proportions correct, I can start to paint. Drawing on the panel took about 20 to 30 minutes (after several erases - but it is better to erase in this stage than in the painting stages).
Onward, with value...lets do this!
Onward I go, to the next painting...
Things learned:
1. Taking your time is key!
2. Scrape it off if it isn't the right value.
3. Paint what you see, not what you think you see - struggle with those mid-dark values. (next time).