Shades of Gray

Painters have strange habits sometimes. One of those would be saving boxes full of almost used tubes of paint.

Digging around in that box for some white, I was miffed by how much white I had in the form of almost used tubes.

Then I had the idea to paint them and to paint them in black and white.

Tubes of White

8x6"

Oil on Linen Panel

©Kelly Medford

Now I don't actually own a tube of black paint, but "black" can easily be made and made wonderfully rich by mixing darker colors together.

I learned a lot from this painting today, mostly to keep my values clear and separate! (values meaning the range on the gray scale between black and white) This is the most important thing after drawing and is what helps to create the world of 3-dimensional space.

I remembered another important thing today while observing and painting: that often times rich dark tones and bright lights will occur next to each other without a huge transition in between. I remember observing this for the first time really when copying a painting by an Italian Macchiaioli painter.

These past few days of rain have been a blessing and have allowed me to slow down and observe carefully but then paint freely. 

What a joy.

You can see or purchase today's painting here from my website

See all other paintings from the 120 Day Project here.

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August 21-28

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October 12-20

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