Yes, someone told me about and it and I went and watched. I thought that was very kind and generous. I left a message thanking him on his Instagram account.
That was a bit more in depth analysis of how our attention moves through the painting: loved it! Very informative and soothing to watch. So much to learn still... pfff. Thanks!
HI David, you know they call watercolor the medium of the masters because one most watercolor artists are looking for that nice loose look and using the accidents AND it takes a lot of planning so that is possible. But I'm delighted you find the videos helpful.
Loved how you led the eye to the center of interest way back and not only the value shifts, but the subtle color temperature shifts. This painting sings!
Hearing you walk through the composition of this painting was so helpful, Ian. I really appreciated learning about the choices you were making and what you were changing versus what you left in from the photo. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us so generously!
Great timing for me, with this video. I'm at the point in painting to learn these things. Not using values had been what kept my paintings from the next level. The way you've explained it in this video is so helpful and such an important thing for painters to learn. Especially when you point out "its the values WITHIN the painting that matter." Not the plein air in front of you, or the photo you're working from, but the painting. Its priceless information. All of your videos are great, but this one is really special.
Hello. This painting of yours suggests to me, yet again, the importance of knowing when to stop. For me, as a novice, my wife plays an important role in my development, especially when I'm painting outdoors. Namely, she tells me when to stop by sweetly saying in this coaching whisper of hers, "Stop messing with it or you're going to screw it all up!" Thanks, again, Ian.
Hi Daryl, it's true thought. You can get your head so into the details that you lose sight of the whole. And an outside viewer can see the whole and isn't buried in the weeds. With practice you start to keep both those visions alive at the same time - the whole and the parts. But one thing I'd say is spend way more time standing back and looking at how it is coming together because lots of things that you can get buried in you can't even see from 8-10 feet away. Viewing distance. But bravo to your wife's eye.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Early on, I followed the oil painter Mark Carder who said to regularly move back to 7 ft. and assess the painting. This is consonant with your advice. Some paintings just look better from a distance since the small flaws are less obvious. It seems that the trouble with submitting a photograph of a painting for a contest is that it is typically photographed in a close-up crop to the edge of the canvas. One wonders, then, if the judge will look at the photo from his/her desktop or from 7 ft. away.
This seascape 'design' creates a longing in me; the actual immensity of it is calling me to the place of mists and tides and mysteries. The values of which you speak are in full play here. ❣
This is so helpful. Perhaps I'm just getting dialled in, but listening to your thinking and watching paint go onto your canvas at the same time has really resonated for me this morning. I may try a 'copy' of this painting to reinforce the learnings. Thank you
Hi Joanne, makes me happy to hear the video resonated with you. Making a copy's a good plan if that idea inspires you. Good luck with it. All the best.
I have been watching you for over a year, you are my saving Grace as I struggle with value and light. You are the best with explaining. Your a beautiful artists and I admire you and your work. Thank you for taking the time to helping other artists. Bless you.
This really helped tremendously. I so often get stuck with photos trying to match values in frustration sets in and never finish. This is so exciting to know and be aware of. Thank you again for such an excellent video.
Simply helping to understand what is values but I think the composition of painting will be a very important too ? I believe my eye what I could see much better than photo. Thank you so much. Ian Roberts .
Just beautiful, Ian. I see your point exactly about serving the outcome of the painting not the photo. I see what drew you to take the picture, but your painting is just much more striking. LOVE IT.
My Tuesday treat whichI look forward to with a mug of black coffee - you have me well trained! A very good complement to last week's demonstration - this time you showed how effective blues and green/greys can be in creating a sense of distance. The sense came over of a misty warm autumnal day where the salt spray changes the visual and atmospheric conditions. Yet the foreground with its deep shadow, creates the sense of a sheltered nook away for the onshore wind. I liked you analysis of the different modes of seeing - what you see mediated through a lens, what you see when looking at a photographic print, what one sees after software in a digital or phone camera has processed an image and what the human eye picks - all these things are different. When painting en plain air you then have to cope with light changing and unless trained, the eye does not always pick up on the subtleties that you have brought out today.
Hi Ian. Glad you enjoyed the video, with your coffee. You nailed what I was trying to convey. It was exactly that, early morning autumn light with the thin layer of fog burning off. You bring out a good distinction. The advantage of the photo in that is doesn't change but looses a lot of information. And plein air where you have too much information but it is obviously accurate, but it's changing all the time as well.
The idea of using value to serve the painting is very valuable. My tendency is always to try and portray the picture accurately but this idea will really expand my compositional approach. Thanks
Beautiful painting, and SUCH useful teaching . . . . thank you so much Ian! Again and again youre helping me to remember that I'm doing a painting that works, not copying a scene or photograph. I'm really enjoying being a "member of your art school"!
This 11 minute lesson was more informative and powerful than watching a 2 hour demo in a workshop. Pure and without interruption and chit chat. I enjoy every Tuesday morning because of your lessons. Thank you.
Thank you, Ian. This may be the most helpful lesson yet. It is inspiring to see that a shift in thinking can lead to such subtlety in the painting-and yet such a profound difference in the satisfaction of creating it. This was very helpful.
WOW! I see the light! Thank you Ian. I have struggled with value for so long. I knew what value was but never explained to me how to use it. Instead I tried hard to make it match what I saw in front of me. Wasn’t working!
Absolutely scrumptious use of color, value and design. New to the channel but going back over the many different lessons. Big Thanks because your content is easy to understand and thus useful and engaging.
No-one has helped me more with helping to transition around a painting, you made it easy to understand and apply to my paintings with confidence! Thank you
Wonderful painting It's 100% working as a very adequate work about raking light/shadow and atmospheric perspective. Congrats. We're indeed painters, nót machines merely copying photo's or copying what we literally see. We interpret our sensations, we arrange and show how wé see the world around us. Very liberating thoughts ... Thanks
Thank you. I appreciate the distinction you just drew between the value needed for the painting vs being true to the photo. That is a leap I really need to make.
I'm an accomplished drawer. I even teach drawing and won a few prices. But painting is incredibly hard to master. No matter how hard I try, it always look amateurish and uninteresting. I understand what you say, I just can't put it in practice. You are amazingly talented, mister Roberts.
I am so enjoying Ian’s advice and find him to be an excellent teacher, as a person who’s been just getting back into making art after a very long pause. Thank you Ian
Wonderful demonstration of establishing and painting accurate values. You give affirmation and permission to the individual artist to determine the intent of the painting…..to create an interpretation of what is seen not an exact copy of a photograph, nor even an actual rendering of what is real, that which is being seen in person. The most important point is keeping the values appropriate for your vision, making sure that they relate to one another in the painting. The purpose of values is either to show contrast or gradation, and each painting determines to what extent these two factors occur. As you stated, the values must serve the painting, not the photograph, not reality. Value is subjective and relative, yet contemplated, intended. To me, it appeared, that you lightened the shadows in the foreground, and even the mid-ground…..they really weren’t as dark as what was seen in the photo reference…..a very similar result to what you achieved in last week’s painting. This approach allowed us to see more colors in the shadows, colors that were not evident in the photograph. You demonstrated value contrasts in half tone shifts. The values remain very close to each other with minimal contrast. The painting adhered more to your initial thumbnail sketch. Once again, illustrating the value of a preliminary ‘map.’ Also, it never ceases to amaze me at how dark initially a value needs to be painted, keeping the deep saturation, to create the greatest contrast for the light and details of highlights that will follow. Without the dark, there is no light! The dark values also give the painting its structure, with the lighter values leading the eye from the foreground to the background. We see the light gently dancing across the foliage, the fluidity of its movement as it glides across the landscape, slowly sweeping to the soft blush of the sky and the mist of the sea! I am excited for next week’s discussion of plein air materials! Happy Thanksgiving!🦃
Hi Ann Marie, that's a really good summary of the video. I am delighted all those ideas got generated from the video. Yes next week plein air painting and I hope you have a terrific Thanksgiving as well.
Inspirational! I can imagine the wind in this painting, just look at the waves and the trees in the background. Just the certain amount of light and "wind". I am learning a lot from you. Thank you!
Fantastic! This was the example I needed. I think I am finally getting how the lit-side and dark-side tension informs the human eye (brain) and moves us through a painting with interest and excitement. Your painting offers my eye the primal pleasure of beauty. Wonderful to understand how you do it. I have been watching your channel for awhile (and have read your books) but finally getting it. Very generous of you. Thank you.
This is one of my most favorite paintings. And the explanation of the relative values was very enlightening. I'm sure that you may have explained the same thing before, but this time, with this illustration, the light simply turned on in my mind. I understood the difficulty I've struggled with in some of my maritime paintings, and more importantly, how to fix it. Thank you.
Lovely painting, Ian. I liked your tip on painting the foreground shrubs...putting in just a few of the spikes instead of a larger mass of shaggy edges.
A simple, yet huge take away: ensure that the values SERVE the painting. Thank you Ian, for these gems of insight.
Well said. Thank you and glad you liked it Mark
The Painting Coach was singing your praises just yesterday if you haven't hear already.
Yes, someone told me about and it and I went and watched. I thought that was very kind and generous. I left a message thanking him on his Instagram account.
That was a bit more in depth analysis of how our attention moves through the painting: loved it! Very informative and soothing to watch. So much to learn still... pfff. Thanks!
Wonderful! Enjoy the process, and have fun.
This is amazing break down of values. Usually I got the impression that accurate value is what accurate like in real life!
As a watercolorist things are not as simple and require more planning but the essence of what you teach is still invaluable.
Ditto David, I work in Acrylics but yes, Ian's insights are applicable across materials
yes I apply this to watercolours too. He covers the basics of painting and visualising very well!
I agree. Composition and value are relevant to all media. Get lots from Ian's tutorials.
HI David, you know they call watercolor the medium of the masters because one most watercolor artists are looking for that nice loose look and using the accidents AND it takes a lot of planning so that is possible. But I'm delighted you find the videos helpful.
Delighted to know it Gerald.
A real artist. He knows well the craft. He is the one we should seriously learn from
Loved how you led the eye to the center of interest way back and not only the value shifts, but the subtle color temperature shifts. This painting sings!
Thank you very much! What a compliment.
Hearing you walk through the composition of this painting was so helpful, Ian. I really appreciated learning about the choices you were making and what you were changing versus what you left in from the photo. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us so generously!
You are most welcome. Glad you found it helpful.
Great timing for me, with this video. I'm at the point in painting to learn these things. Not using values had been what kept my paintings from the next level. The way you've explained it in this video is so helpful and such an important thing for painters to learn. Especially when you point out "its the values WITHIN the painting that matter." Not the plein air in front of you, or the photo you're working from, but the painting. Its priceless information. All of your videos are great, but this one is really special.
Thanks so much Alan. Really glad that idea hit home. All the best.
You are a genius when it comes to composition and colors.
Great lesson on where to place the contrast and stronger values. Thanks.
You are so welcome
no shenanigans. just incredibly helpful. what great resource you are. Thank you.
You're very welcome!
Hello. This painting of yours suggests to me, yet again, the importance of knowing when to stop. For me, as a novice, my wife plays an important role in my development, especially when I'm painting outdoors. Namely, she tells me when to stop by sweetly saying in this coaching whisper of hers, "Stop messing with it or you're going to screw it all up!" Thanks, again, Ian.
Hi Daryl, it's true thought. You can get your head so into the details that you lose sight of the whole. And an outside viewer can see the whole and isn't buried in the weeds. With practice you start to keep both those visions alive at the same time - the whole and the parts. But one thing I'd say is spend way more time standing back and looking at how it is coming together because lots of things that you can get buried in you can't even see from 8-10 feet away. Viewing distance. But bravo to your wife's eye.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Early on, I followed the oil painter Mark Carder who said to regularly move back to 7 ft. and assess the painting. This is consonant with your advice. Some paintings just look better from a distance since the small flaws are less obvious. It seems that the trouble with submitting a photograph of a painting for a contest is that it is typically photographed in a close-up crop to the edge of the canvas. One wonders, then, if the judge will look at the photo from his/her desktop or from 7 ft. away.
Fantastic demo !
Glad you like it!
This seascape 'design' creates a longing in me; the actual immensity of it is calling me to the place of mists and tides and mysteries. The values of which you speak are in full play here. ❣
Delighted that you found it useful.
This is so helpful. Perhaps I'm just getting dialled in, but listening to your thinking and watching paint go onto your canvas at the same time has really resonated for me this morning. I may try a 'copy' of this painting to reinforce the learnings. Thank you
Hi Joanne, makes me happy to hear the video resonated with you. Making a copy's a good plan if that idea inspires you. Good luck with it. All the best.
Wow the atmosphere created with the background is so amazing!!!
Thank you Paresh!
I have been watching you for over a year, you are my saving Grace as I struggle with value and light.
You are the best with explaining. Your a beautiful artists and I admire you and your work. Thank you for taking the time to helping other artists.
Bless you.
Great lesson thank you Ian! First time I've heard a Master say that the artist chooses the values🙏
Great demo of a complicated scene. Thank you!
such a helpful video...my takeaway just like Mark Donovan..."ensure that the values serve the painting". Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for the explanation about values in photography.
I am so grateful I stumbled upon your UA-cam channel. Your a gifted teacher. Thanks
You are so welcome Lucille
You are an amazing teacher. I learn something new, or understand something better, with each video lesson. Thank you.
A true master class. Just brilliant. Thank you, Ian!
This really helped tremendously. I so often get stuck with photos trying to match values in frustration sets in and never finish. This is so exciting to know and be aware of. Thank you again for such an excellent video.
Thanks. Clear. Concise. Instructive.
Glad it was helpful Glenda.
Simply helping to understand what is values but I think the composition of painting will be a very important too ? I believe my eye what I could see much better than photo. Thank you so much. Ian Roberts .
you're an incredibly good teacher and you help with genuine problems artists have, you're like a guardian angel😇
this place is a treasure, easily one of the very best (and in some aspects, actually the best) youtube painting channel
Thank you so much. That is very nice of you to say
Just beautiful, Ian. I see your point exactly about serving the outcome of the painting not the photo. I see what drew you to take the picture, but your painting is just much more striking. LOVE IT.
Thank you so much Martha!
Bravo , lm an accomplished painter, but l needed to see your work, l tend to get lost in detail, rather than the vital components, thank you so much.
You are a fabulous teacher. Thank you.
My Tuesday treat whichI look forward to with a mug of black coffee - you have me well trained! A very good complement to last week's demonstration - this time you showed how effective blues and green/greys can be in creating a sense of distance. The sense came over of a misty warm autumnal day where the salt spray changes the visual and atmospheric conditions. Yet the foreground with its deep shadow, creates the sense of a sheltered nook away for the onshore wind. I liked you analysis of the different modes of seeing - what you see mediated through a lens, what you see when looking at a photographic print, what one sees after software in a digital or phone camera has processed an image and what the human eye picks - all these things are different. When painting en plain air you then have to cope with light changing and unless trained, the eye does not always pick up on the subtleties that you have brought out today.
Hi Ian. Glad you enjoyed the video, with your coffee. You nailed what I was trying to convey. It was exactly that, early morning autumn light with the thin layer of fog burning off. You bring out a good distinction. The advantage of the photo in that is doesn't change but looses a lot of information. And plein air where you have too much information but it is obviously accurate, but it's changing all the time as well.
A gem of knowledge & simplified.thank you sir ian "GOD BLESS & TAKE CARE."
Very talented :) And you have a calm, soothing voice to paint to
These are wonderfully informative movies Ian. Thankyou for all your efforts.
Such well explained information. And your painting is way more gorgeous than the photo
You are an awesome teacher! What a lesson in subtlety.
Thanks so much Deborah.
The idea of using value to serve the painting is very valuable. My tendency is always to try and portray the picture accurately but this idea will really expand my compositional approach. Thanks
Delighted you found the concept so helpful. All the best
You make it look so easy!!! Aghhh. I love your work.
Thanks so much.
Thank you for clarifying the point of value 'in service of' the photograph vs 'in service of' the painting. Lovely painting!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent demonstration. Thankyou !
Brilliant tutorial!! 👏 thank you!!
You are welcome Bibi.
What a wonderful way to wake up! I really like Tuesdays, watching you paint and having my first cup of coffee. It’s a beautiful painting. Thanks👍
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy your cup of coffee. All the best
Love this painting and demonstration - thank you!
Super content as always! Thank you!
You are so welcome
Phew, so great a lesson. I think I'm going to watch it a few times. Thanks, Ian !
Glad you enjoyed it Tzipora.
Beautiful painting, and SUCH useful teaching . . . . thank you so much Ian! Again and again youre helping me to remember that I'm doing a painting that works, not copying a scene or photograph. I'm really enjoying being a "member of your art school"!
You are very welcome Jonquil! Delighted you are enjoying the videos so much
Excellent lesson and tips! I found this extremely helpful. Thank you!
This 11 minute lesson was more informative and powerful than watching a 2 hour demo in a workshop. Pure and without interruption and chit chat. I enjoy every Tuesday morning because of your lessons. Thank you.
Makes me very happy to hear. Thank you so much
Thank you, Ian. This may be the most helpful lesson yet. It is inspiring to see that a shift in thinking can lead to such subtlety in the painting-and yet such a profound difference in the satisfaction of creating it. This was very helpful.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you Don
Gosh I’m going to learn so much from your videos. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the color guide
Values are the pillars of any painting. Very informative Ian !!! Thank you.
Glad you liked it Kunal.
Simply a remarkable concept, game changing
Thanks so much James
Learning so much here. Thank you.
Brilliant. Thank you. I always learn so much. 🖼🖌🎨
Love your perspective book!
WOW! I see the light! Thank you Ian. I have struggled with value for so long. I knew what value was but never explained to me how to use it. Instead I tried hard to make it match what I saw in front of me. Wasn’t working!
Absolutely scrumptious use of color, value and design. New to the channel but going back over the many different lessons. Big Thanks because your content is easy to understand and thus useful and engaging.
Thanks you Ian for this demo. Look forward to next week.
You are welcome Kamlesh.
I’m so impressed, thank you so much.
That was excellent. I love your lessons. I think I am learning more from you that will help my painting then... well, possibly from any teacher!
Another beautiful moment- thank you for your generosity with your talent and skills- so helpful.
thank you! this is the second video of yours that i've watched, and i'm learning a lot.
If I had one wish, I just wish someone would see me draw like you. I really admire your talent, thank you for giving everyone a relaxing moment.
Thank you so much. That is nice of you to say
No-one has helped me more with helping to transition around a painting, you made it easy to understand and apply to my paintings with confidence! Thank you
You are so welcome Dom!
Yes! Preach it brother! Subscribed.
So excited to find this channel. Started watching last night and can’t stop - so super helpful and informative. Thank you!!
Nice tutorial, I think I recognize this location in Cambria. Great place for walks and painting!
Wonderful painting
It's 100% working as a very adequate work about raking light/shadow and atmospheric perspective. Congrats.
We're indeed painters, nót machines merely copying photo's or copying what we literally see.
We interpret our sensations, we arrange and show how wé see the world around us.
Very liberating thoughts ...
Thanks
HI Peter. Glad you liked the video. And yes, we are not slaves to copying.
So beautiful!!!!! I am really thinking about trying oils!!!!! Just to follow mr roberts!
You are simply the best!!
Thank you Ian , Brilliant!
Thx for listing the colors you use. Thanks for sharing your gifts with others. Blessings!
You are so welcome Marcus!
Value is so valuable.. great demonstration..! Thanks sir 👌😊
Thanks and welcome Mohan.
Wow, wow, wow! Great teaching. A new subscriber
Fantastic video! Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate the distinction you just drew between the value needed for the painting vs being true to the photo. That is a leap I really need to make.
Thank you Laura. I hope you find it useful!
I'm an accomplished drawer. I even teach drawing and won a few prices. But painting is incredibly hard to master. No matter how hard I try, it always look amateurish and uninteresting. I understand what you say, I just can't put it in practice. You are amazingly talented, mister Roberts.
Wonderful transition from a very dark composition through the different stages showing the lights and pulling us in…. Thank you Ian.
i LOVE your paintings!!! theyre so gorgeous!!
Really like it, much appreciated Ian
I am so enjoying Ian’s advice and find him to be an excellent teacher, as a person who’s been just getting back into making art after a very long pause. Thank you Ian
You are most welcome Brenda. Good luck reengaging. All the best.
This is really amaizing, thank you!
Wonderful demonstration of establishing and painting accurate values.
You give affirmation and permission to the individual artist to determine the intent of the painting…..to create an interpretation of what is seen not an exact copy of a photograph, nor even an actual rendering of what is real, that which is being seen in person.
The most important point is keeping the values appropriate for your vision, making sure that they relate to one another in the painting. The purpose of values is either to show contrast or gradation, and each painting determines to what extent these two factors occur. As you stated, the values must serve the painting, not the photograph, not reality. Value is subjective and relative, yet contemplated, intended.
To me, it appeared, that you lightened the shadows in the foreground, and even the mid-ground…..they really weren’t as dark as what was seen in the photo reference…..a very similar result to what you achieved in last week’s painting. This approach allowed us to see more colors in the shadows, colors that were not evident in the photograph. You demonstrated value contrasts in half tone shifts. The values remain very close to each other with minimal contrast. The painting adhered more to your initial thumbnail sketch. Once again, illustrating the value of a preliminary ‘map.’
Also, it never ceases to amaze me at how dark initially a value needs to be painted, keeping the deep saturation, to create the greatest contrast for the light and details of highlights that will follow. Without the dark, there is no light! The dark values also give the painting its structure, with the lighter values leading the eye from the foreground to the background. We see the light gently dancing across the foliage, the fluidity of its movement as it glides across the landscape, slowly sweeping to the soft blush of the sky and the mist of the sea!
I am excited for next week’s discussion of plein air materials!
Happy Thanksgiving!🦃
Hi Ann Marie, that's a really good summary of the video. I am delighted all those ideas got generated from the video. Yes next week plein air painting and I hope you have a terrific Thanksgiving as well.
eres un colorista fabuloso! amo tu trabajo. Gracias por compartir tus conocimientos
Inspirational! I can imagine the wind in this painting, just look at the waves and the trees in the background. Just the certain amount of light and "wind". I am learning a lot from you. Thank you!
You are most welcome Selma.
So glad you have a copy of Patrick George’s painting on your shelf. A great British painter, Andrew Wykes
Fantastic demonstration. I truly love your channel. Thanks a lot Ian.
Thank you! Like
Thank you! Glad you liked it
I really enjoyed this video and learned a lot about painting shadows specifically! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Fantastic! This was the example I needed. I think I am finally getting how the lit-side and dark-side tension informs the human eye (brain) and moves us through a painting with interest and excitement. Your painting offers my eye the primal pleasure of beauty. Wonderful to understand how you do it. I have been watching your channel for awhile (and have read your books) but finally getting it. Very generous of you. Thank you.
Thanks so much Mary Ann. I'm delighted you are finding the videos and books helpful.
This is one of my most favorite paintings. And the explanation of the relative values was very enlightening. I'm sure that you may have explained the same thing before, but this time, with this illustration, the light simply turned on in my mind. I understood the difficulty I've struggled with in some of my maritime paintings, and more importantly, how to fix it. Thank you.
As always.Helpful and engaging . Now the fun part, trying to put it into practice.
You can do it! Have fun and enjoy the process
merci pour tout ce que vous partgez en veritable professeur, j"ai enormement appris de vos enseignements😊
Lovely painting, Ian. I liked your tip on painting the foreground shrubs...putting in just a few of the spikes instead of a larger mass of shaggy edges.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow... incredible
Oh wow, I always love your drawings - as evocative as your paintings.