Achieving the Correct Tonal Value in Painting

There are many amature painters who fail to recognise the importance of co-ordinating the component parts of a picture. Whether the subject is dull or brightly coloured there must be unity of tone covering the whole painting. No direct progress can be made until the artist conquers this problem-good draughtsmanship and clear painting are of no avail when not allied to a consideration of tone.

Professional painters with experienced knowledge of fine technique in various media often miss artistic success through their inability to master complete unity in the presentation of their work. Tone, therefore, is of paramount importance and must be given consideration by the ambitious artist; otherwise one evolves a sense of frustration. Like other terms used by painters, tone is not easy to define. By tone we mean the weight of a colour, the degree of darkness or light it registers. It is tone which decides whether the general impression of a picture shall be light or dark, and lack of tone makes a painting insipid. Tones may be divided into pale, middle or dark. In painting a picture you should take a particular tone, perhaps the middle tone, as a key and let the other tones depart from it in either direction.

In order to register tone out of doors, half shut your eyes; you will then be able to get an over-all impression of the tone or depth of the colour in the scene before you. In this way your eye can register the weight of the dark colours in comparison with that of those colours adjacent to them. Alternatively, use a pair of sun glasses (not coloured ones). When you are halfway through the painting it is a good idea to check up on the tone values again by and looking through your sun glasses, to make sure that your painting is keeping the tone values of the scene before you.

A failing often seen in landscape pictures, especially in those painted by amateur artists, is the amount of attention given to the sky, at the expense of the landscape. The normal mistake in a sunny subject is to paint the sky too light in tone. Assuming the artist has been successful in copying the brilliance of sunlight from nature associated with the sky, it does not follow, for artistic reasons, that he should retain it in the final painting, as consideration must be given to the unity of tone of the whole picture. If in a landscape the sky occupies a small area, it should be painted in a low key, as it is minor importance to the major theme of the composition.

A simple but effective method can be used for outdoor painting in oil colours;

First: cover the whole white canvas or board with yellow ochre, generously diluted with turpentine, so that the colour will run downwards, giving the appearance of water colour painting.

Secondly: paint the whole scene commencing with the sky with ultramarine blue and flake white.

Thirdly: suggest the distance in strict relationship to the lighter tone of the sky above.

Fourthly: the middle distance should be painted and finally the foreground. The scene being suggested in blue only in four tones, i.e: sky, distance, middle distance and foreground, it becomes a comparatively simple problem of assessing correct tone values of the entire subject.

A blue foundation can be quickly changed into local colour without loss of tone. For instance, a dark blue tree assumes a naturalistic tint by painting over it with viridian mixed with cadmium yellow. Brilliant orange, pale cadmium, red, or any bright colour can immediately transform an undercoat of blue into local colour.