In the second of four articles on loosening up in watercolour, Tom Shepherd helps you get to grips with tonal value
My previous article was all about learning to look for shapes (not things), and how a handful of larger shapes provide the underlying structure of a painting. As long as shapes retain their integrity, the painting will w ork and we can do whatever we like with the paint itself. This shift in mind-set to creating a jigsaw of shapes composed of washes and brushmarks, is the foundation of loose painting and comprises the definition of painterly watercolours.
We also touched on tonal values, since they are directly related to shapes. In this article I want to explore tonal values more deeply. Not only what they are and what to look for, but also how the y provide us with a fantastically simple watercolour process for any subject. This process, combined with painting shapes, acts as a launch pad for loosening up our watercolours.
Most of my past students will roll their eyes every time they hear the phrase ‘shape and tone’, but I (and most other artists) are always harping on about them because understanding tonal values is absolutely crucial, whatever your experience level, whatever the subject and style of painting, and when combined with shapes are the gateway to that elusive loose style.
If we think of composition, the arrangement of shapes, and the shap es themselves, as the foundations and the building blocks of painting, then we can say that tonal values are the cement or the glue that holds them all together. They are literally how we see the world and our subject, providing light and shadow, form, depth, atmosphere, mood and much more.
Better still, whilst tonal values are one of what I call the four primary principles of watercolour – and if I was really put on the spot, potentially the most important one – tone does not have to be complicated. Understanding tonal values can be surprisingly straightforward. It is a combination of how we observe our subject, and then the physical process of translating this into a painting.
Tonal values and how can we identify them
In simple terms, tonal value (often called tone or value) refers to how light or dark an area, or part of a subject is. Start by imagining your subject in black, white and grey (easily done with the click of a button on a device but takes some practice by eye when colour is involved). Sticking with greyscale for a moment, the two extreme ends of the scale are easy: black and very dark greys are the darks and white and very light greys are the lights.
Where things ca
