USING YOUR OWN JOURNAL

In the next few weeks, I want to use this journal to create, start to finish, all the processes that you go through to create a painting. It will help prevent mistakes later in the painting process. At first it seems to add to the time in creating, but in reality, it makes the painting process smoother, since much of the decision making has been done already.

So the first thing to do was find a picture I wanted to paint. Everyone had some great ideas, but mine is this funny little elephant we photographed at the Columbus Zoo six years ago.

First up was to create THUMBNAIL sketches on drawing paper. (This drawing paper will be handy for not just sketching, but for protecting other pages in the sketchbook). Thumbnails don't take long, but allow you to quickly see good patterns and placement of things in your picture. Easy to eliminate the unwanted or unnecessary. You should make at least 3 to give yourself options in composing.

GOOD QUESTION: Do I always do all these steps? Answer: No. I always try to do a value study and resist the temptation to dive in and just paint the colors I see. The one I skip most, and usually regret, is the first thumbnail sketch. It doesn't take much time, but it saves a lot in the end. And it gives you choices in composition that you may not have considered before.

Next is to make a small more detailed, but not VERY detailed sketch. I made mine on tracing paper. I am going to make at least 3 copies of this same sketch on watercolor paper from my journal.



Next up is to make a value study on the first piece of watercolor paper.
If you are painting the value study, use a color that can go from very pale to very dark. (I used dioxazine, but burnt umber, indigo, and paynes gray will do) Some people use wettable graphite.

Look at your value study and adjust it. Is your center of interest where you want it? Are the shapes
interesting? Is there a good path of light and dark? Is anything getting too much attention?



THIS IS WHERE I TELL YOU ABOUT NOTANIZER.

There are some technologies out there that simplify this process for you. One is called Notanizer. Notan is a Japanese term which means "light dark harmony." Artists use notan studies to explore different arrangements of light and dark elements in a painting, without having distraction of other elements like color, textur, and finer details.

You can download a simple notanizer for $1.99. You will probably consider it well-spent money. Mine has a symbol of yin/yang on it. You simply choose the photo from your phone and can convert it to a black and white photo, a 2-value notan, or a 4-value notan. A slide scale at the bottom of the screen lets you adjust each value. Then you can save it or print it.

When you print out your value study from the Notanizer, use a dark pen, a gray pen, and a white pen to adjust the values you want even further, eliminate unwanted shapes, or add highlights.

There are other wonderful tools out there that help construct a good composition. This ones cheap and easy. I like cheap and easy.