How to Improve Your Art - UNDERSTANDING TONAL VALUES

[@julietatro9700]

Thank you for the wealth of knowledge 😉

[@DtroitDinosaur]

You are welcome. I hope it helps.

[@dssaura]

your painting demonstration of the cowboy in black and white was by far the absolute best demo of what you were trying teach. This clearly showed what you were trying to convey in words. That was a great lesson which directly taught the watching viewer starting with black and gradually working up to white. Thank you very much . I appreciated this lesson sir. Don Sylvester, Houston, TX

[@DtroitDinosaur]

@@dssaura Thank you. I appreciate it.

[@wyatt2000]

This dude needs more subs!

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you Wyatt I appreciate that.

[@flyfisherman3649]

Great advice! Gonzaga art instructor would only let his students use black and white for the 1st Semester so they would learn values. Everyone wants "color", but without understanding values they will run into issues pretty quickly.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Agreed! The majority of problems with paintings have their roots in understanding tonal values.

[@maryjostrain9295]

Another great video. Thanks!

[@ericswain4177]

Your right about one knowing the "Rules" before "Breaking" the Rules. I think it's one of the key reasons why there is so much contemporary art out there today that will not stand the test of time. I am a collector of art, not an artist and as a collector, and as such I facilitate the dissemination of art in and around its many venues. I implore novice artists to visit galleries of the great artists and really spend time with a single painting, at least an hour, and really look at it, texture, tone, color, size, composition. Up close ! Fare away ! Different angels ! See how the ambient light changes as your perspective of the artwork change along with the texture, tone, color, Etc... When I consider a artwork for my collection I do this.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

That’s great advice. When I was in art school I spent the first two years spending hours in the Detroit Institute of Art. My time there by myself was one of the most important elements of my education. It shapes the way you “see”. Thanks Eric.

[@avialbersbenchamo4797]

Super great ❤🌈

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you.

[@davidteeramusic5461]

The best explanation of tonal value I've heard in a while! In my experience, most people will often over think it. And, I have been guilty of this myself now and again (especially with hyper realistic water).

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you David. I appreciate you taking time to comment.

[@RGBSupremacy]

I work with pencil and not paint but I can still see this exercise being incredibly helpful. Love the encouraging tone in your videos, thank you for teaching this method , especially the cardstock! :)

[@DtroitDinosaur]

I’m so glad you find it helpful!

gRACIAS Maestro: he estudiado o investigado cosas de arte desde que tuve 16 años. Han pasado 50 años ya y no despego, pero esto me gusta. El concepto de valores tonales. Gracias sinceramente.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Usted es bienvenido. (I hope that Spanish is correct.)

[@TheMattybake]

Great explanations and practice exercises, thanks for doing these, very useful.

[@azaz-ty1bn]

Use steam punk red lenses glasses, and you'll see black and white/gray values easily.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Hey that's great. Also I sometimes convert color reference to B&W. Thanks for the tip.

[@gregorysmith1759]

Thank you

[@imcrimson8618]

One of the best videos on tonal value’s I’ve watched thus far. It scratches the itch of “why” instead of just the how

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you. I hope you find it helpful.

[@imcrimson8618]

@@DtroitDinosaur indeed it was

[@JamesKunz-v9l]

You reminded me so much of what I learned 60 years ago in my college art classes. Thanks so much.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Right on. The basics never go out of style! :)

[@cliffberry1900]

Wow! What an all encompasing and jam packed video. Tone is exactly what I've needed work on. This really helps. Thanks.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thanks Cliff. All the best!

[@arizonakoi1980]

Great work and a beautiful reference photo to help demonstrate tonal values.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Hey thanks. I appreciate that.

[@margieartist]

awesome explanation

[@DtroitDinosaur]

@@margieartist Thank you. Hope it helps.

[@TheRon0mac]

Thanks for the tonally rad video! Great information!

[@dgrizzley]

Great video very informational thank you

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you John. I appreciate it.

[@thatta1901]

thank you very much, this will help me a lot!

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Hey great! Thank you.

[@jillleigh7378]

Great help. thank you

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you. All the best with your studies.

[@waleezeart4295]

Enjoying this. You really deliver content. And reminded me of an old basic exercise I've neglected for too long Thanks We never outgrow our need for basics.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you. I liken it to musicians practicing scales. Have to do it to stay sharp.

[@davinsrandom3142]

Great exercise.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thanks man.

[@charlesa3374]

Excellent video! Value is the most important aspect of any undertaking, and you've described it perfectly! And....great hat!

[@MuriloAIto]

Epic!

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you. Hope you find it helpful.

[@brycenew]

Really excellent James! And your last tip is priceless! Many thanks mate 🔥

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you.

[@sadananddbankapur2444]

Superb way of explaining!!! Very complex subject yet very well explained...Thank you ..Liked n subscribed 🌹

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Thank you for the kind words. It means a lot.

[@Notmypie]

This was great. Thanks! Im going to show this to my year 10 students 🙂

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Oh terrific. I hope they find it helpful.

[@barriemeredith907]

Great stuff mate thankyou

[@vincentcooper9139]

great video.

[@CindyBaertson]

Question- I understood the premise of what you are saying, but how does this transfer to color? Lets say I want to do a predominately blue painting, do I have to do an 11 point blue scale to figure out which blues to use? That seems like a lot of unused paint.

[@DtroitDinosaur]

@@CindyBaertson Hi Cindy. I would say it’s really an exercise for training your eye to discern tonal values more accurately. Think of it like a musician doing scales. Being able to judge the tones in your pieces is the key to most problems. I quite often do paintings in sepia and the practice is the same. It may help you to go ahead and do some preliminary exercises in whatever color you want to use just so you are warmed up before you start your painting. Preliminary work is never wasted time. Hope that helps.

[@Static_stasis]

Hello Mr.Owens! Do you have any tips for graphite drawings? I'm trying to work with graphite and tonal values, but I'm having a hard time with it since I'm used to acrylic/oil paint and fineliners

[@DtroitDinosaur]

Hi. I think I would do the same exercise with graphite that I demonstrated with paint. You will probably need multiple pencils to get the full range of tones. The more we understand about the limits of our chosen medium the better. Also maybe switch up the way most people think about “drawing”. Focus less about line and more on blocks of tone while constructing you piece. I hope this helps. All the best.

[@Static_stasis]

Thank you so much! @@DtroitDinosaur

[@lapainting2010]

Tonal values? What, are there some other kind of values in painting? No. There are just values. Use of the words tone, and tonal can be very confusing because they are not well-defined terms (like chroma, saturation,etc.). Tone means different things to different artists, leading to a lack of clarity.

[@ojuolapeamusa813]

If i do the assignment of painting in monochrome, can i send it to you to critique? Please what is your email?

[@DtroitDinosaur]

@@ojuolapeamusa813 sure I’ll take a look at it. [e-mail]