01-29-2020, 10:08 AM
I think you'd benefit a lot from paying attention to the larger values rather than trying to dig out all the half-tone transitions you can see. It's very easy for your attention to go to the details and the half-tones, but if the big values aren't solid, that rendering is going to harm both the light and overall sense of form. I think all your value studies suffer from this, where the big values are muddied by trying to cram in as many half-tones as you can, even when there isn't room for it.
When something focuses on the large light and form instead of details, it preserves a sense of dignity that I think a lot of people respond positively to. This is a significant difference between traditional realism and photo realism. Traditional realism seeks to represent those fundamentals whereas photorealism often seeks to only copy the surface details that cameras are good at capturing. I'd make the value judgement that the former is more interesting and skillful than the latter and if you're interested in working out of your head to some degree, the former is very important.
Working from life is a good way to study this because cameras are fairly bad at capturing the broad values of what we see. Squinting down often helps organize the values you see, removing details and limiting the light hitting your retina. That being said, it's not always convenient to work from life so if you have to rely on photos, be very careful in selecting the reference because if it doesn't represent the values of life well, it's much harder to learn something valuable from them. Even with photos, try squinting down when looking at them so you can focus on the important stuff.
When working, painting with large brushes will also help keep you from noodling away at small details and instead focusing representing the big impression. It is almost cliche but if you can use big brushes well, you'll save yourself a lot of pain and frustration, even if it can feel awkward at first.
Example of a more ordered set of values on this monster hunter looking lady.
When something focuses on the large light and form instead of details, it preserves a sense of dignity that I think a lot of people respond positively to. This is a significant difference between traditional realism and photo realism. Traditional realism seeks to represent those fundamentals whereas photorealism often seeks to only copy the surface details that cameras are good at capturing. I'd make the value judgement that the former is more interesting and skillful than the latter and if you're interested in working out of your head to some degree, the former is very important.
Working from life is a good way to study this because cameras are fairly bad at capturing the broad values of what we see. Squinting down often helps organize the values you see, removing details and limiting the light hitting your retina. That being said, it's not always convenient to work from life so if you have to rely on photos, be very careful in selecting the reference because if it doesn't represent the values of life well, it's much harder to learn something valuable from them. Even with photos, try squinting down when looking at them so you can focus on the important stuff.
When working, painting with large brushes will also help keep you from noodling away at small details and instead focusing representing the big impression. It is almost cliche but if you can use big brushes well, you'll save yourself a lot of pain and frustration, even if it can feel awkward at first.
Example of a more ordered set of values on this monster hunter looking lady.
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