Demonstration of Wide Range of Values Observed in Light and Shadow

Observing a house across the street from my house, as I squinted looking toward the house, I noticed that the sun shining on the black roof caused it to appear lighter than the white carport in shadow. I had always known that a white piece of paper appeared black in a dark room, but I had never thought that black in bright sunlight would appear to be a light gray. A painter must always keep this in mind because your mind tells you that white is white and black is black. To produce a good painting, you have to paint what you see in this case rather than what you know. Notice the matboard device that I made to demonstrate the wide range of values that I observed between sunlight and shadow. I use this device in talks presented to art groups.

If other artists would like to use this demonstration in their art talks, they can receive a high resolution image to use in their hand-outs by emailing me at tommy@tommythompsonart.com.

Tommy Thompson--"Morning at Maggie Valley"

Maggie Valley, North Carolina, is located near the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is known for the 318 curves on the road through the Valley. It was on this road that we found this rustic barn and silo. "Morning at Maggie Valley" is a studio piece that was created using a field study painted onsite. The field study was critiqued at Old Lyme, Connecticut by Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) artist, Ned Mueller , who praised the small painting's "color harmony and its good use of principles." I created the studio piece using the smaller field study and reference photographs. I used a simple pallet of red, yellow, blue and white (cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, alizirin crimson, ultramarine blue, and titanium white).In his book, Landscape Painting: Inside and Out, Kevin Macpherson emphasizes what I have also found to be true. "Color harmony is almost automatic when you use a limited palette," says Macpherson. "Once they (the primaries) are mixed, it becomes possible to find harmonies among the mixtures." This 16 x 20 oil on canvas painting sells for $950.00 and can be purchased at this link.