I am going to put myself on the spot and tell some thing every artist should know.
1. Tonal value is the
most missed element in paintings. What is Tonal Value. It is the dark, medium and lightest tone. Easily seen in a black and white photo. See the photo below,,, Now squint at it and you will see the dark, medium and light tones.
Here it is in black and white. See how the tonal value is not related to the colour but the intensity of pigment.
2. Edges in a painting are important. You need a few lost edged in your painting so the subject is part of the landscape.
See how Bill's face on the left near the chin and up at the top in the hat disappear into the background. This makes him part of his surroundings. His glasses near his nose also disappear.
However there are hard edges at neck and ear to make him stand out. Too many soft edged make the subject look blurry and too many sharp edged make him look stuck on. This is a common mistake made by artist painting birds and butterflies.
Lets see how we did with Bill in black and white. Not bad, some of his inner face could have had better tonal contrasts.
Try painting from a black and white photo, it will improve your paintings.
Book recommendation: Harley Brown's Eternal truths for every artist
