Great books! From the Aristides Classcial Atelier.

I finally picked up the second book from my mentor and instructor Juliette Aristides:

This book covers the painting part of the curriculum at the Aristides Atelier where I studied.

I feel honored to have been one of the charter students in the program, and I treasure the time I spent there; the knowledge and skills I gained, and the friendships created.

The first half of the curriculum - drawing - is covered in her first book, which includes some of my artwork:

Value Step Scales!

The next step in my continuing education is to hone my skills in determining - and executing - values, this time in paint.

I had an idea last night to create a grid for mixing gradations between two colors, then mixing tints with white and shades with black. This way, as I go along I am creating an ever-growing catalog of color mixing charts, that will fit into a binder for easy access and handy reference. All the while, I will be honing my ability to see, evaluate, and mix accurate values.
I created this; along the way I also realized the the best starting point is with a simple value scale, so I also created a grid for the three stages of making a 9-value scale.


Value Scales in Bone Black and Titanium White; Acrylic, 8.5 x 11"

Now, to create the value scales themselves.
First I create a 3-step value scale. Starting with Black and White, I mix a middle tone, attempting to make the gray halfway between the black and white. This will be useful for creating 'Notan' studies using a simple black/white/gray division.
Next, I create a 5-step value scale by mixing intermediate grays between the middle value and white, and between the middle value and black, adjusting each as I go. Again, the aim is to create even steps between the values. This will be useful for doing 'Poster Studies' with a limited-value palette.
Finally, I mix intermediate values between each of the 5 steps to create a 9-step value scale. This results in adjusting the initial value steps, to create even gradations between the 9 steps. This will be useful for doing full-value black-and-white studies.