I had a great day at Golden Gate Park yesterday, finishing two good studies.

This view is the other side of the Golden Gate Pavilion peace pagoda, that I painted last week. There are some color harmonies here that I’m really happy with, and likely to use in a larger painting. In particular the left third of the painting, particularly the reds, distant greens and roof-top tile greens. The bushes in bright sun to the right in front of the red beams that worked well too. I wonder if the red tree to the right needs a little bright greens in there? I kept the bushes–just about everything, actually–very loose. I think I’ll go back to this spot tomorrow and try a larger canvas.

Golden Gate Pavilion - Oil on Linen - 9×12

This is the bridge that leads to Strawberry Hill in the middle of Stow Lake. Built in the 1890’s, it survived the 1906 earthquake.
It was my first painting, a warm up I guess for the one above. I also want to repaint this as I feel the rocks lost a little too much definition. I wanted to keep it abstract–yet representational, I’m always seeking that balance. In terms of color, I’m happy with the green water, and in fact that flat area of color is really needed to support the complexity of the bridge above, otherwise, I think the composition would have been too busy.

One particular challenge was the right underside of the bridge, where the tunnel doesn’t get direct sunlight, but reflected light from the water. I think this works well as painted, and in fact when I view the painting in grayscale it does read as expected. Nevertheless, I want to tackle this one again, perhaps this weekend.

Bridge to Strawberry Hill - Oil on Linen - 9×12

By the way, Gracie was with me all day. She had a blast following the tourists along the shore as they road the paddle boats around the lake, then chasing squirrels–her favorite pastime!

“It is in the contrast of light and dark that design happens.” - Helen Van Wyk

Petaluma Farm - Oil on Canvas - 8×10 (SOLD)

This is part 7 in my series of 10 “top observations” on painting…although I think a few more may crop up

First a definition: In art, “value” is the range of grayscale from white to black, generally thought of in a 1-9 scale (1 being white, 9 being black). It has been said that the eye can discriminate no more than 9 distinct grays. Why are values important? The root of our visual system is value, not color. We saw in grayscale before color (according to the evolution of our visual systems).

Control of values is the most challenging technical aspect of painting, at least for me. I’m continuously learning and honing this skill. Values are important for two reasons:

• Design. A strong value structure forms the basis for a good composition/design (see “Work in Abstractions”);
• Representing Reality. you can’t truly have fun with color unless you get the value right. I’ve had more than one colorist master tell me, “it doesn’t matter what color you paint something, as long as the value is right”. I’ve found this to be true: if you’re values are correct, the painting will “read” correctly.

When I’m having a problem with a painting, I’ll often go through the process below to determine if the values are correct. This can be done both plein air using a digital camera in the field, or in your studio on a PC.

1. Take a digital photo of your subject, being careful to get a good balance of values–eg, center your view on an area with both darks and lights, to get a good average. This is more difficult that most realize. Cameras–even digital–tend to over-darken the darketst darks and white out the lightest lights. Taking a digital photo with the correct value balance is an art in itself.
2. View the photo in grayscale. Most digital cameras allow you to modify your image on the camera in this way. If not, transfer the image to your PC and use photo editing software to convert it to grayscale.
3. Take a digital photo of your painting, again, being careful to get the right balance of values.
4. View your painting in grayscale.
5. Compare your painting and reference photo in grayscale. Do they match?

Although I’ve included the color versions below, the key comparison to make are the black and white images, the reference photo on top, my in-progress painting below. This schene is basically a simple three-value design, with some highlights (light) and accents (darkest darks) here and there.

This is the first layer of paint–I expect to add one more. The key question I had when I decided to analyze this painting was: is the value of the light side of the bridge correct? Is the value of the cast shadow on the water correct? Reds are particularly challenging to paint in the correct value–don’t know why, but that’s my experience.

Compare the value of the distant hills with the bridge in light, bottom left of the black and white reference photo. They’re almost exactly the same. Surprising, when you see my color version, which has a distinct vibrant difference (probably due to the red/green complementary color change). Because the colors were so vibrant, it was difficult for me to tell if the red was the right value, turns out I got it right. The cast shadow of the bridge (which I think makes this painting interesting), is also the correct value when seen in grayscale. What’s incorrect–and this surprised me–was the concrete pier base of the bridge in the foreground. It’s not nearly light enough. Knowing this, I can correct the painting’s value structure and finish it off with bridge rigging and other possible detail.

Reference Photo - Color	Reference Photo - Black & White
My Painting - Color	My Painting - Black & White

Here are some of my own paintings in grayscale, to illustrate the value of a distinct blocks of value in painting to build strong design. Color versions are also available, as well as some reference photos when available.

(Large B&W) - (Large Color)
(Large B&W) - (Large Color)

(Large B&W) - (Large Color) - (Reference Photo B&W)

Other resources on this topic

• Virtual Art Academy [SPONSOR], see “Notan” section
• The Importance of Tonal Range in a Painting (Marion Boddy-Evans, About.com)
• Scott Burkick Demo, “The Letter”
• Tonal Value (HandPrint.com)
• Luminosity function (Wikipedia)
• Handy chart that maps colors to the value scale (PDF)

I painted the Golden Gate Pavillion peace pagoda (see comment below) today on Strawberry Hill, on the bank of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. There’s a neat virtual tour of the structure here.

According to Wikipedia, a peace pagoda is a Buddhist stupa designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds to help unite them in their search for world peace. Nice. The structure is a gift from the people of Taipei to the city of San Francisco as a confirmation of friendship and cultural exchange between sister cities, and to commemorate the struggles and contribution of the early Chinese settlers in California. UPDATE [9-22] as pointed out by Alan Freebury of the Maitreya Institute, this structure isn’t actually a peace pagoda, but I left the definition here for benefit of my readers. Please see his comment below.
This was fun to paint. A bit of a study in various greens, and balancing with reds. I a complementary color study. UPDATE: There’s interest in my setup above, so if you click the picture, you’ll find a closeup of just my equipment and palette.

Peace Pagoda (Golden Gate Park) - Oil on Linen - 12×9″ (SOLD)

Hey, I won an Honorable Mention last night! Nice surprise. The show was judged by Sarah Besarra, of the Plein Air Scene. My personal favorite, “Trash Day” won the award. The funny thing is, Julia Seelos painted the same house from a different angle, and won an Honorable Mention as well.

My next plein air event isn’t until October (San Luis Obispo Plein Air), so I’m going to focus on my own projects the next couple of months, including my series of views from San Francisco’s Buena Vista park, as well as other studio work. Cheers!

I gave the Epperson Gallery two paintings this morning: “Trash Day“, my personal favorite and “First Avenue“. I needed one more painting to meet my quota, so went for a drive in the hills to balance my two town paintings with a country.

Here’s my setup. I started with a 12×16 linen canvas toned with Yellow Ochre.

And the finished painting:

Carquinez Hills - Oil on Linen - 12×16″

Vahona Plein Air is a short, three day paint-out for which I only need to paint 3 paintings. I did well today, painted two good ones. If I can get one more done tomorrow, I can skip Sunday (and just come to the reception at 4).

Both of these were painted on the same street, a half a block apart. Between the two I took a lunch break a drove around the area–only to return to the same street! I guess I am enjoying painting architecture lately, particularly doors/windows with plants, usually bougainvillea, which is in bloom everywhere in California.

“Trash Day” - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

The reds don’t look right in the photograph above. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need a new camera!

First Avenue (Crockett, CA) - Oil on Linen - 12×16″ (SOLD)

I painted this Sunday in my studio from a digital image I captured in Telluride last month, projected on my MacBook screen.  I just love the color harmonies of forests and exposed red rock.

I’m very happy with this painting, which I’ll probably paint larger.  I painted 90% of it without my glasses, which again is a great way to abstract out a scene and focus on color, value and composition.  Damn the details!

Telluride Valley, Oil on Linen, 8×10 (AVAILABLE)

Do you feel the light on the grasses on the hillside, the forest and cliffs?  I hope so.  Enjoy!

Saturday I spent time roaming around Buena Vista Park looking for something to paint, plein air. I found great views on the windy side, but it was too windy to set up. The side with no wind, no luck. So ended up coming back home and taking Gracie to the “Scent Garden”. Turns out the light was perfect, at home all along!

I’m really happy with this one. I keep a good combination of textures (heavy paint and transparent), and I think the feeling of light is just what I wanted to convey.

Window View - Oil on Linen - 10×8