One of the things I'm a real stickler for, in my own work and as a teacher, is getting the values right. I'm not concerned with getting the exact colors, because the type of painting I teach is not about photo realism. I encourage my students to explore and take lots of artistic license with color - with one stipulation - the color has to match the value. Before they start painting, my students all do a value sketch, in charcoal. This serves as their roadmap to how they have translated the subject into 3 or 4 values. Whenever there is a question as to why something is not working, we look at the value sketch and its usually apparent. Most often, when there is a problem, it is because they have strayed from the value sketch, and re-interpreted the colors, switching values.
I wanted to post a painting that one of my beginner students did a couple of weeks ago. This is a perfect example of working within the values, determined by the charcoal sketch, and working intuitively with colors. A perfect example of, "if the values are correct, the painting will work regardless of color". Bravo, Susan - well done!
