Tonal Values (in Watercolor Painting)

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Do you resort to a pen to 'rescue' your paintings? :-)

[@valeriegehling4358]

No, haven’t yet resorted to pen work on water.

[@valeriegehling4358]

No not yet used a pen.

[@1msfit]

This reminds me so much of Ansel Adams’ beautiful work in black and white photography! He developed what he called the Zone System in order to attain a full range of tones in his monochromatic photographs, which are astounding. With your instruction, Michele, I hope to eventually attain at least a degree of that skill in my watercolors. Thank you.

[@robinmoreno3610]

Boy, I really needed this reminder about tonal values. Usually it’s just instinctual for me, so I never check by changing in to black and white. I recently did a painting all green bamboo forest. I’m going right to it now and check the values. Thank you

[@pamelashoemaker1614]

I remember this exercise from 2D art. We developed a gray scale. Thank you, Michele, you are a great artist and valuable teacher. You give so much to us.

[@chrislora8895]

Excellent advice. I wouldn’t have truly understood all of this about tones/values a couple of years ago when first starting in watercolors, but now these ideas are very helpful. Thanks again, Michelle, for your useful, clear, and well-prepared videos.

[@BrazenSpirituality]

Happy 2023! I am still working my way through your video library, learning more every time. Thank you for being such a good teacher!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Happy new year! You are very welcome :-)

[@deborahthomas1549]

You are an excellent teacher. I take notes and put them in my mixed media book. It is more of a reference book with drawings, paintings, quill and ink and informative notes. Thanks

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you Deborah, the book sounds like a work of art in itself!

[@OneTrueWord1988]

Deborah Thomas: I take notes also - are you a teacher too? 😊

[@millydaisy29]

Wow, you’re a good teacher Michelle. This is such an important subject and you have given us not one tip, but ten tips. Plus, now I know why I picked up my black liner pen to “fix” my very poor tonal contrast. Thank you so much for sharing 🌸

[@jerrincurless5249]

Thank you for the ton of information you consistently provide us!! I'm so happy we can revisit each lesson, there is so much in each to learn!!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Happy to help!

[@vincentcasados146]

i just went back to a winter snowy scene and was amazed with the difference tonal values made following your teaching, now near is NEAR and distant is so readily apparent! hello from the high Rockies near 10,000ft., in Frisco, Colorado.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad to help! Sounds a beautiful place :-)

[@dorisheffernan4145]

I just started watercolor painting, and you taught me a lot. Thank you. Doris Tucson as usa

[@kimohara7868]

I’ve struggled with tonal values and your tips have made me seen the light (and dark😊). Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad I could help!

[@leslie-annepepin8927]

I am going to give all of these ideas a try! Thank you!

[@dianakoeppel3492]

Thank you for this! Very helpful for this beginner! 👍☺️

[@annettefournier9655]

Thank you Michele. Just went back to a painting and added contrast. Much improved! Much more interesting. Thank you.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Brilliant, so pleased it helped!

[@randyebastian8186]

Absolutely priceless tips for understanding tone! Thank you for sharing these with the clarity that an extreme novice, like me, needs.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are very welcome Randye :-)

[@JosefinaH33]

Absolutely agree!!!

[@JosefinaH33]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber awesome tips ! Indeed priceless!!! 🙏🏼thanks !

[@dixieoswald1234]

I love the enumeration of your videos

[@monopinion8799]

I respond very well to your teaching approach and voice. You are great. I’m relearning watercolour and it is amazing how much I lost. I’m older but not done yet. Please keep on teaching in this fashion. For myself i speak only, I need you to go on in a querelle. Again thank you very much.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome ☺️ I will be making lots more videos!

[@TeaAndFloppyDisks]

Great tips, as always! I have more practice with sketching and even there I realise that when I look again at a drawing that seemed fine before, it might look a bit too faded and I need to darken the dark areas to make it look a lot better. I bet with colours it's a lot trickier to see the tones!

[@leslie-annepepin8927]

Thank you! I start d watercolour during lockdown, so only have KZbin videos to learn from.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are so welcome!

[@abassage655]

Like so many of yr videos, this one is rich in content! Will take me some time to follow all these great ideas. Thank you!

[@rosehenry3903]

Excellent , very helpful .

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks Rose!

[@kathyhall668]

My goodness I never thought to use my view finder to gauge value, thanks!

[@suel4269]

I tried to paint some pink flowers today but struggled with tonal values. I think I need your Flower course. 😉

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Haha, coming soon!..

[@duanapearson643]

This was incredibly educational for me. Thank you! 😘

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I'm so glad!

[@OneTrueWord1988]

Tonal values were right up there with perspective, for topics I previously avoided. 😄 Thank you so much for your excellent and detailed instruction! I am a teacher, (not art, lol,) so I really appreciate your thorough explanations. I learned a lot, and look forward to applying these helpful techniques! Donna

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome Donna ☺️ If you are a teacher then you know we should do the things we avoid, and they can be the most important lessons 😉

[@OneTrueWord1988]

In the Studio with Michele Webber: You are so correct! It’s interesting; just yesterday I read a quote that goes along with what you said: “Sometimes the distance between what we want, and what we fear, is the width of an eyelash.” I like that, and it is so true! Have a blessed day! Donna

[@raybeaumont7670]

Excellent advice and information here Michele. Thanks for highlighting the darks (if you know what I mean}.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

No worries!

[@cydtaylor]

Another great lesson 👏

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you liked it!

[@abassage655]

Your first swatches reminds me of Rothko. Love it!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Oh thank you!

[@carolynnixon7095]

Very helpful! I'll be watching this until I get it right. Thank you!

[@sonoJess]

Your videos are totally underrated. You teach in a very understandable way. I hope more people discover you so your knowledge has a wider audience.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I appreciate that, thank you :-)

[@colleenmcchesney1482]

Thanks for sharing this video of great tips on tonal values. I use to do that on some of my artwork before I took the Drawing for Beginner course. I need to get or make viewfinder for my toolbox of supplies.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That's a great idea!

[@cristinacuenca4176]

Brilliant tutorial!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you!

[@annepercival7814]

Also excellent advice

[@evelyne7071]

Thank you, again.

[@ellencha5975]

I was taught to use a piece of red acetate . You put the red sheet on top and it blocks out your darks and you see the light colors. If you don’t see a mixture of tones your painting doesn’t have enough variety. It is very shocking for me and I end up making much darker colors to correct my work.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That's a good method!

[@DayByeDayChristine]

I have seen the square with the whole cut in it and I think it does help.

[@WideAppeal]

Been struggling with tonal contrast. Well done on this video... absolutely brilliant tips.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful!

[@valeriegehling4358]

Useful use of our eyes, we don’t use them to full, so important for our paintings. So many good comments on tonal effects on our work. Thanks also to your followers.

[@goofeymaloofey]

Thank you so much for providing such thoughtfully presented videos! I have to control myself from binging. If i do, then I won't keep all the information you offer!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome, binge away, guaranteed calorie free!

[@MrPuddinhead61]

This video was invaluable to me. Thanks so much!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're so welcome!

[@michaelthornton5113]

Excellent presentation as always, Michele. Will rewatch while taking notes or I will forget what you said. Don’t be afraid to use words like chiaroscuro, those of us who don’t know that one should. What did you say to that poor kitty to get that look. And when are you going to do a cat painting tutorial?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Cat painting hmmm, maybe when I get a new cat next year :-)

[@celirondoni7717]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber oh, so sorry to hear, Michele 💔 she's a real muse

[@weirdalski3352]

Such a useful video, thank you I will practise your advice! Unrelated but would it be possible to reveal what lipstick you are wearing in the video?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Sorry, I had a look but it's not one I have anymore, can't recall! Could possibly be by Revolution UK, plus some kind of gloss.

[@caroles5258]

Very helpful thanks

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

No problem :-)

[@mackoliver6605]

thank you!

[@annepercival7814]

Your voice is so calming.....quite refreshing after so many harsh American KZbin voices

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks 😆 I like American accents but some KZbinrs are a bit high energy for me 😉

[@OneTrueWord1988]

anne percival: 😊🇺🇸

[@65sunnyday]

Oh, you mean thefrugalcrafter? I have to have a little nap after one of her tutorials, but that's one of the things I love about her!@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber

[@ewacollier4760]

Thank you Michele for another excellent video. This is an area I’ve struggled to understand for a very long time, your open sentence gave me the clue why at times I’m not happy with my work. I’m definitely going to prepare a tonal value strip.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

So glad it helped!

[@aprilstark8887]

Great video, thank you! Very few artists on KZbin go into "value" on their channels.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks April, pleased you liked it!

[@101FERNANDES]

Very good tipos! Thank you! 😊

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you like them!

[@jennifermayer5092]

Hah, the squirrel reminded me of drawing a squirrel with graphite in an art class. It was a grayish squirrel on a grayish branch, so everything I drew was gray. My teacher kept telling me to push the values, and I think I worked on and showed her my tonal range about 10 times before it really clicked!

[@jennifermayer5092]

Oh, and for graphite, I have sworn by the Prismacolor Ebony pencil for 30 years. I'm able to get really deep darks but it's soft enough to allow soft light tones as well.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Interesting, thanks for the recommendation!

[@tracypowell2459]

Brilliant video, very well presented, it’s helped me a lot, thank you

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're very welcome Tracy!

[@dshe8637]

Dried acrylic paint brushes can be cleaned with equal parts of isopropyl alcohol, liquid handsoap and water. I put some in an old lid and leave brushes in for half an hour. Then I take them out, squidge them under the tap and repeat if necessary

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks for the tip!

[@marcwheeler4406]

Second time watching video...thanks fir doing these videos...mikelle weary newyork mom ....😷👏👍🦋🎨

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Stay safe 🙂🙏

[@annakoch9972]

OMG! I squinted with my eyes when that ginger cat was in big frame in the video and when I open my eyes there was Michele again. When did the change happen? 😃

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I am cat woman. Or woman cat... x

[@JoNicolaas]

Hi Michele, thank you SO MUCH for this! I subscribed immediately. I’m fairly new to watercoloring so excuse my question. Point 3 you talked about making a strip tones to use as a reference. Say I drew something and I take out my strip to decide which tone I would like to use...copying light tones are easy, but how do you duplicate a dark tone on the strip to use on your drawing? I hope you understand my question 🤭 Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks for subscribing Joanne, I really appreciate it. To get those very dark tones you just need to layer a very soft pencil, you can even make tiny little circles it pushes the graphite into the paper. With watercolour you just use a strong colour with very little water. Hope that helps!

[@suzeaa]

Vital!

[@karenirving7088]

Do you ever use red glasses to judge tone?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Haven't tried it no!

[@65sunnyday]

I have a real problem judging 'tone' (or value) in my paintings. Are there any exercises (of any kind) that could sharpen this skill?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

The absolute best one is to paint a scene or still life in a single paint colour. Choose something dark like Sepia or Prussian Blue :-)

[@celirondoni7717]

There are 2 of Michele's excelent tips that helped me a lot with judging tones: squinting your eyes and taking a pic in black and wight of your theme and afterwards, of your painting. All the rights and wrongs will be clear before you. Now, to adjust it and 'voilà' 😁😁

[@bharathischittipottikadhal1141]

Love u michelle mam❤️

[@zofoblueszofoblues8339]

How about a Notan ?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Good idea, I haven't worked like this, but lino printing is pretty similar and I used to do a lot of that :-)

[@poke_n_around]

I promise NOT to reach for a pen 🖊 unless it’s in the planning ✋🏻😀😀

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

But how will I know :-) :-)

[@kathyhall668]

What's not to like ? Grumpy ,negative, rotten unhappy people need to stay off!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Bless you Kathy 💕