triptych

Here is my value set-up for my next triptych. The plein air work (small, above) was  which was completed last summer when I was in the San Juan islands. It was those glorious moments after sunset. That is the time when the land masses have close values (and low value) and the light in the sky is still tremendous (high value). The color is saturated. It is imperative to squint when painting outside as it eliminates all those insignificant value shifts.When creating the value study I just look at the strong value shapes and mass them together.
Now, a triptych is a whole different challenge. Here the whole painting, all three pieces must hang together as one piece. In addition each smaller square must be viewed as a separate unit and be able to stand alone. The squares are 24x24 making a total of
24x 72.

cloud study in value

9x9 pastel on somerset paper

Evening cloud study, this time I worked just with value. I played with wiping and erasing to make subtle marks.
Even though it is just a value study, I still needed to follow "the rules." Group the values into interesting shapes. Remember the land will always be darkest (exception- snow). And if you want skies to feel light you need to always keep in mind that skies are light built in a sphere. To show this the value and the strokes are very important.
This sketch was actually  a lot of fun to do. Clouds are simply fascinating!

Last night I was enjoying the beautiful photos on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Check it out!  Here is the link.