On Value and Color
...Regarding value & color I will explain a little bit of my understanding will explain it as simply as possible.
This understanding came to me From 'Johannes Itten,Andrew loomis, Edgar payne,Charles Hawthorne,John Carlson,Paul Strisik, David Leffel' and many others.I am a student of those great Masters.

About 'VALUE'

There is a room. Dimension of that room, Say it 100 square feet or some thing. You call it a space. In that space you want to put few objects, may be seven or eight. So you arranged these objects in that space.
Light is the key. Without light we won't see anything in this physical world. So if you want to make your objects visible to the eye, there you need some light. O.K. We can imagine that light is coming from a window of that room. Imagine. Whats going to happen now? That light will fall in the room or in that space. Light falls also on the objects in the space. Now they are visible to us.

How they will be visible to us?
More light falls on the objects nearer to the light source. Less light falls on the Objects which are a little bit away. Objects which are far way,almost they will be in the dark. Because light is coming only from one source,( Single source of light will be preferable,to avoid confusion) Opposite side of the objects will be in shadow( they will get reflected light).Because of this process you will see light & Shadows. You call these light & shadows technically 'Values'.This value arrangement is the key to composition.

Size of the subjects and their textures are all part of this play. This value, you call it a 'value scale'.Divide it from lightest, light to darkest, dark tones. It's better if you limit this scale to 5 - 8 values.
When you are doing a painting in black and white ,experiment with these values. Let one of those values, I mean either dark or light values, dominate your picture. Otherwise confusion will arise. Make it simple. Avoid details. See them as big masses. Details will appear on their own.
Study those variations of values carefully. Which objects are getting more light, which are getting less.
Because of their textures every object will appear different. And because of their colors...
Some objects will reflect more light, some will absorb more. Study them carefully. Study them as a whole.

This is the Key. Human eye sees the things this way.

About 'COLOR as a value'

Color. Honestly I am telling, It always confuses me. Whatever I learned It still remains a mystery to me, like John Carlson 'LANDSCAPE PAINTING" book. Paul Strisik said in his 'Capturing light in oils' book. "I read Carlson book many times. But still there is some thing remains which I do not understand." I also read Carlson many times, I feel the same. I understood that nature always remains a mystery however much you may know. COLOR also like nature. In reality we are recognizing everything in this world through color only. So understanding color is always a difficult thing.
To understand color we will go with some simple process. You see color wheel. You can see this color wheel in any art book. In that wheel opposite colors are complementaries. (this is not the time for discussing about the definition of complementaries) Complementaries means they will interact with each other comfortably like an understanding couple.

Suppose if you take yellow as your predominant color, violet will be the complimentary. Then take two adjacent colors of your predominant color, yellow; those colors will be 'yellow orange and yellow green' .Paint a picture with these combinations,you will get color harmony. If you want go one more step, take two split complementaries instead of complimentary, that means ' blue violet and Red violet'.By using these You will bring some extra energy into the picture. This extra energy will give some dynamic effect. Because they are split complementaries. You won't learn these things over night.
If you try hard to learn, over a period of time you will know. In different methods you can experiment with the wheel.

I am coming to the term 'COLOR AS A VALUE'. Here everybody feels a problem in learning stage. Of course, still I am facing it like a beginner. Because I have not grown in an environment of art. Every color is having it's own value. To understand, open a image editing software , such as Adobe Photo shop. Turn colors into grey scale. Then you know the value of each color. But before doing this enjoy the painting as if though computers do not exist. Children will do this way. That's why they will get the pleasure. Why don't we? Of course, again it's my opinion. Everybody will have their own way.

Once you experience the colors, their interactions, experiment with their color values. Of course, again its personal. I never did that way. I know it. But I don't want to do it. I want to enjoy painting. Selling paintings is not my goal. Not that I don't needed money, in reality I am not wealthy. I always lived in misery and financial problems. But most of the time, I tried to live through other ways than by
selling paintings. Still I am living that way.

O.K. again coming to the matter, Study the cool and warm colors. In outdoors, shadows are always cool, In interiors its opposite. In interiors highlights will be cool. So shadows will be warm. This is not the place to explain all those things. Always use thick impasto for light ares. Because those areas you are seeing. In shadows again its opposite. Because shadows should be transparent. You are not seeing them. You are seeing the light only.Light is the mother of colors. Colors are children of light. Know this truth.

Values should not jump, except if you have a purpose. Composition, design, rhythm all are one.
Value is the key to open that wonder house. Not only value, there are many things needed to step into that beautiful house.
Every color is beautiful in given circumstances; as individual its only a pigment. To turn this pigment as light (because this is the light which make us to feel the colors as objects) you have to live with that. I did it. But still I am groping in the dark to know them.

As for theory some colors forward and some will recede but same theories will tell you it depends upon situations. So there are no hard and fast rules. Learn them. Follow them if you want. If it won't suit you, change them. Change is the essence of truth. Truth always changes with circumstances. I believe it. I learned this truth from wise people who understood the life. Life and art are one. Thats why art is precious. Precious things won't come to you cheaply. So work hard. You will become an artist. That's what I believe. I am telling what I am believing.

I am concluding this. I learned the things in a hard way. I know the struggle and agony of genuine art students. For them I have written this. If there are any misinterpretations in this, I should be excused for my innocence...

Thank you to this forum, for giving me this opportunity to understand myself.....Bye to you all.

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