Great to hear from you! Yes, this painting will eventually be finished, even if it takes me 3 years! Regarding the Munsell value scale, I’ve found, both from my reading and my personal experience, that 10 steps of value (you have to count pure white as a value) are all that you need for painting.

If you think about it, there are infinite divisions in value, but our eyes can only perceive a certain amount of those divisions.Painting is about simplifying, right? Using the 10-step scale will give you all the tonal divisions you need to simplify the form into basic planes of light and shadow. The subtleties are created when you blend the paint between these planes, or “smooth out the form.”

For example, if you were painting a white sphere, your initial lay-in of paint would almost look like rings going from light to dark. You then take a very soft sable (or equivalent) brush and blend the planes together until they look seamless.

To see some really good examples of this, you should visit http://www.rationalpainting.org and check out the posts regarding the Munsell value scale exercises. You will most likely think they take painting WAY too seriously, but the goal is to become as proficient at rendering the form as possible. When I joined, they made me submit some examples of my work before being allowed membership. I’m not sure if they’re still do that or not.

I was just reminded of your blog today and had a look if by any chance you found the time to post some new work. Yes you did! I am glad you have ressurrected both your blog and this wonderful painting. Thanks for your thoughts and explanations, very illuminating and methodical as always.

Question: I don’t really understand the benefit of the 9-step Munsell value scale, except for initial block-in. The tonal variation in a face are so subtle they would have to be measured in 1/4 Munsell steps maybe, so how does a mere 9 step scale give you enough accuracy for matching your skin colors?

Congratulations to you and Rachel for being new parents!
Susanne

- Dan

Thanks for your comments! Regarding the Bargue course, yes, it’s true – I’ve only done a bunch of eyes. In fact, I haven’t even finished the first plate entirely! However, it really did make a difference in helping me to observe better and be more patient.

You have to remember, I didn’t just draw those eyes quickly and then move on. I worked as hard and as slowly as possible to match the original drawing EXACTLY by using the sight-size technique. Those eyes took hours and hours to complete, and I even did some of them twice. After I was finished, I would make a copy of the original on tracing paper and compare it to mine. If it was too inconsistent, I would do it again.

I think it’s more about the amount of effort you put into the Bargue course that makes it truly helpful – but that’s true of any educational pursuit, right?

I’m glad to see that you’ve gotten the oil-painting bug! You need to e-mail me some photos so I can see what you’ve been working on lately.

your description of the process was a captivating read as always, thanks! It is inspiring to read about the thinking process and techniques that go into a good picture. What a wonderfully creative piece this is, and you really achieved the poster vs. real person effect. I am really surprised how well this works together. Her expression is great, and you managed the difficult areas (shirt, eyeglasses) well. Your drawing is (to me) very professional-looking. I could never work that patiently in black&white, now oil is a different story.
You say you did benefit a lot from your Bargue exercises. Come on, how many have you done – just a bunch of eyes, right? Did it make that much of a difference?

Say hi to Rachel for me!
Susanne