How to simplify values with a GRAY chart

Art school students used to begin their education by drawing with pencils or charcoal. Working in color was postponed, sometimes for years, until the student learned to see everything in values of gray. This excellent training was transposed into “under painting” with neutrals and then to finally painting with color. When painting a watercolor, values are adjusted with the use of more or less water. The novice often makes the mistake of altering the color itself, or blending the values into oblivion.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Black watercolor paint or black ink
• water
• brush
• pencil
• scrap paper

1. Simple Value chart The best way I have found to keep values under control is to make a value chart.
2. Color values: "China" w/c by Janice Edelman To make a value chart begin by drawing seven rectangular boxes.
   Label the first box 100% and fill that box with black paint.
   Label the next box 85% and use a small percentage of water to approximate the value of 85%.
   Continue: 70%, 50% 25%, 10%, and 0%. You can adjust the amount of water to paint ratio on scrap paper first, and then proceed to fill in the boxes.
3. Gray values: "China" w/c by Janice Edelman You can actually do a crisp painting with only three values; light, medium and dark, however, seven values (including black and white) affords you a more generous amount of complexity.
4. Color values: "Quilt still life" w/c Janice Edelman Make whatever adjustments you need until ( when the paint has dried) you have a visually pleasing scale of seven boxes.
5. Gray values: "Quilt still life" w/c Janice Edelman Seeing, transposing, and maintaining clearly defined values will result in radiant washes whether they be in gray or in color.
   Happy painting!