Fleming's Class 4: Contrast

This class was about contrast and doing several layers of painting, going from light to dark. The darkest sections received the most layers.
What I learned:

• Make adjacent shadow areas the same value. For example, when the red shirt meets the brown neck, both tints should be the same value.
• Integrate the figure with the background and do not let the background overpower the figure. Texture, contrast and color attract our attention. If the background is dry brush, high contrast and super bright, then it will detract from the figure.
• Practice practice practice - I've been doing one 5-minute figure sketch each day which helps me draw faster (we only get 20-30 mins per painting in class).
• The joy of using Raw Siena, Burnt Siena and New Gamboge paint for figures. Also, the joy of using my new filbert size 16 and size 4 brushes. Fleming uses round brushes for figures, but I prefer my filberts.
• To stop using Caput Mortum paint on the figure - that color is best left for painting landscapes only.

Captions:

top: Ready to Leave, ~10x15in

bottom: Byron Sitting, ~9x15in

both watercolor paintings by Jess Sanaie (c)2011