It's day one of a three-day workshop with Ray Roberts, and today we did several color studies plein air. This first exercise is to encourage emphasis on the relationship of the color planes, rather than relying solely on absolute color and value. The top painting is normal key, color and value (intended to be) just as observed. The painting is then re-done in high key, such that the darkest value is 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. This is my result. All the studies done today were done quickly, to record the color notes as observed.
And pictured below is Ray Roberts' result. I only just found out about this workshop three days ago, and it's here in San Diego! I'm excited because the topic is specifically what I've been wanting to tackle: how to use field studies to create a more developed studio painting. For the next two days, we'll be working in the studio using the color studies we painted today, along with photos we took of the scene as a reference for composition. We will use image manipulation to help construct a source for a final result.
