Drawing tone and colour 17th november

Tone and colour   17th November

Today’s lesson was a study on tone and colour. We were given a photo of a portrait and a copy of the same painting, but it was only an outline. We then had to paint in the tone using acrylics. It was a good warm up exercise focussing on creating tone using paint.

I started with the darkest parts, adding one layer of paint, then using water to gradually blend the darker layers into the white paper. Using this method I continued layering on paint, creating the gradual tone to mimic the shadows in the painting. It was easier to make the differences in tone blend together with a smooth transition from dark to light using the paint in this way.

 

After finishing the first study, we moved onto a larger painting of a still life, continuing a focus on tone. I roughly mapped out each one of the objects, making sure I concentrated on measurement and proportion. The main part of the drawing was the outline of the object, adding only a minimum amount of detail as I would be adding that with the paint. With the sketching done, it was time to add colour and tone. Much like the first exercise, I started with the darker areas and blended them with water to make a gradual tone change from dark to light. While painting I continually noted the different tones and textures on the objects. Even though they were in the same light, the various objects were casting different shadows on each other. I had to make sure all the tone I added was consistent. I also had to ensure there was enough contrast so the individual objects didn't merge into one. I did this by making sure there was a defining shadow, or a small change in the tone, so you could see that the objects were in front, or behind each other.

Using tone is important because it can define a subject as well as make it look three dimensional, being able to depict tone when using colour is an important  skill. Without tone, the drawings and paintings would look flat.