In Painting II, we’re focusing a lot on value and using limited colors to do so. We started with a greyscale painting and, using the palette knife, created our compositions. From there, we switched over to collage. We painted sheets of printer paper in four different values. From there we cut out shapes and assembled them on the canvas with matte medium. We needed to only focus on the large value shapes as a whole, rather than little shading details. It was a task that I struggled with at first. From there, we did a similar project with a different still life. This time we put the paint directly on the canvas with a palette knife. We started by mixing the darkest values first, which was very different for me. I am always used to mixing my entire color palette at once before painting, especially when using oil paints. After we blocked in our darkest values, we moved onto the next value and kept building until all four values were done. I usually think out my color schemes before I paint, as I study whatever it is I am painting. However, for this project I focused on one color at a time. As I slowly built each value up, the painting finally started to come together. 

Overall, I feel that this painting was successful. It looks different than my other paintings, because there is little blending. However, I think I turned out nice and I learned a lot while creating it. I was really able to focus in on the different values and shapes rather than the object itself and not get caught up in the details.

Until next week!

~Jordan