ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Join us tomorrow, April 27 at 2 PM Eastern for our monthly Live Chat on YouTube when I'll be showing you that painting under overcast skies can be exciting.

Check out my new book HERE. You can review the first few pages by clicking on Read Sample below the cover photo.

Think about it:  Without the groundwork of our ancient ancestors, our modern world would be empty, like a huge bubble made invisible with a single pin prick. It's as true in painting as it is in everything else.

We painters have been taught the importance of controlling values in our work. For those of us whose visual expression is rooted in observation of images, the behavior of light and shadow is a significant tool undergirding those values.  

Photo of original scene.

We understand that the darkest dark is the absence of light, and the lightest light is absence of dark. In between those extremes are the degrees of value that bridge them. 

Full value rendition of scene without color

 The ancient Japanese sages gave us a concept for unity of opposites within their expression of notan (pronounced NO TAN), a simple idea that can give us a meaningful value structure composed of a 2-value pattern of lights and shadows.

Notan of the light and shadow pattern of the scene

 And that structure can be used as a guide for creating a painting with value unity--full circle from the original image, through the painter and into the work.  

Painting using the notan value structure

 We build our shadow expressions within the dark value of notan, and our light expressions within the light of notan.  

Notan overlay of painting showing how the value structure fleshed out

That one gift from those ancient sages can open up unlimited ideas for today's painters!

Light and Shadow: The one thing that lets our eyes see.
Visual Movement: What our eyes do when images are visible.
Seeing Beyond the Image: The possibilities beyond just describing what our eyes see.
Freeing the Artist Within (Curiosity): Finding our individual interpretation to what our eyes are seeing. 
Composing:  Finding ways to put together all that we discover.
Drawing:  Searching the potential of images.
The Craft:  Continually forging our skills to visually communicate what we continue to discover with our eyes, mind and soul.

And the eighth:

The Art:  The results when all the above are working together.