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Five Minutes. Go!

Composition #12, working on value masses.
Today I challenged myself to create my value composition in five minutes. The goal was to construct a landscape, loosely based on a photo I took at Arches National Park, with a focus on distinct value masses. I set my timer and got to work. When it buzzed, I took a few more minutes to see if I had a "papa, mama, baby" distribution of lights, darks, and mid-values. I didn't, so I reworked the composition a bit until I did. Success. Papa: mid-tones. Mama: white. Baby: black.

My finished landscape. 
I then worked out a color palette for my small (5"x7") test painting, choosing a triadic color scheme of yellow ochre, naphthol red, and both phthalocyanine blue and ultramarine blue. I added in titanium white and that crazy baby blue I'm using up (see it in the sky), and started painting. My goal: staying true to my value plan.

Overall, I'm pleased with my little painting. I think it holds true to my value plan, the color is attractive and holds true to the triadic scheme, and it's a pleasant scene. My only issue is that it doesn't express what I was feeling the day I took the photo, so I'm back to the studio to try a few different versions. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

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