Project 2, Exercise 8 & 9, Tonal Study on a White Ground and on a Dark Ground

Exercise 8: Tonal Study on a White Ground


Following the brief, I made several studies of a selection of simple objects from various angles and from various side lit positions. These were to form the foundation of two paintings - No. 1 on a white ground using two quite low-key colours (one that has a dark tone) and white and No. 2 on a dark ground with the same or similar low key colours.

sketch 1

The first sketch was naturally lit and all others artificially lit. The latter won out as usual, saving me any worries about changing light - as it inevitably would, being a south facing room that I use.  I began by doing a series of  four sketches. The first sketch (left) was natural light and I used quite a rough scribble technique. As I progressed through the sketches I tried to block in the tones a little more smoothly, as with the charcoal version ( no.3) which I couldn't easily prevent because of the medium. There will be delay in posting this one as I sent it to my tutor without taking a snap of it first... I was also very aware of the negative spaces and how the objects and cast shadows affected them.

sketch 2 - lit from above left. The glass
jug seemed to have a very complex
value arrangement.

On reading through the instructions for the painted studies  I was left feeling uncertain as to whether the idea was to use a second independent low key mid tone colour or to mix the mid tone from the dark colour and white. So, after first introducing ultramarine  as a second low key colour to mix with the paynes grey, I decided against thinking it would be difficult to maintain accurate paint proportions during the process with three colours rather than two. I simplified it to paynes gray and white, mixing the range of tones from the above. Not wanting to be too ambitious with the range at this stage, I limited it to just five variations initially, but added an extra very light tone later (see below). I would like to try the same thing again with a warm low key mid tone colour such as yellow ochre or sap green to introduce a warm range perhaps.

sketch 4

                                                     For the first painting on the white ground the intention was to allow the white ground to show through in places. In the end there wasn't much pure ground left unpainted,  but what there is looks subtle yet quite noticeable. There appears to be a lot of very light tone near to the white - this now matches with my sketch. I found the five tones weren't really adequate, there was too much of a jump between my lightest mix and the white ground. This was why I ended up with the very light (sixth) tone as an added extra. For some reason the jar has changed dimensions since sketch 4 - left.

Tonal study on white ground - acrylics
on acrylic paper

I think a great example of an expressive tonal painting is Matisse's - a woman in a hat where  the tones are blended into one another along the edges. I tried to achieve this but my still life doesn't look blended at all compared with Matisse's. I tried to soften the many edges and used both fluid opaque paint and dry brushwork scumbled to blend some of the contours and contours. Also more fluid opaque paint and in the latter stage more drybrush. With my slightly perfectionist tendencies I was tempted to fiddle around with areas which (to my eyes) needed attention. I managed to resist some. Ellipses - I usually find challenging so of course the top of the jug and the jar got more attention than I wanted to give them.


Exercise 9: Tonal Study on a Dark Ground 

Using a surface of canvas paper I covered the ground in 2 coats of dark wash - paynes grey and a touch of pthallo blue. When this was dry I began with a fairly liquid semi-transparent pale tones on the background and objects, unlike the painting on the white ground. The mid-tone was slightly less so. As a result I like the effect of the dark ground showing through the lighter paint over the top. Overall I used a dryer brush this time, blending the tones more than the previous painting. It seemed to take forever tidying up the little bits and pieces like the top of the earthenware jug and the top of the handle and the rim of the large jug. Also (being acrylics) the tones darkened when dry and I overestimated the lightest tones. If I used too fluid a consistency it didn't look right so I waited until the paint was tacky when it blended with much more control. I applied several layers like this to build up depth. The odd flash of pure white here and there was fine as I could put this on opaquely, but if I wanted anything darker (apart from the areas where the dark ground is visible) to appear smudgy, I had to be careful not apply paint too thickly.
Overall I prefer the second study (on the dark ground) of the two for the reasons mentioned above and the  though the white/light  paint is opaque, if applied thinly the underlying dark finish lends and atmospheric quality. I thought about painting one object in a more opaque thicker paint consistency but I think it would have spoiled the effect as a whole, being too much of a contrast with elsewhere. I left lost and found edges on each one and blended them into the background in some places. It has the affect of looking more subtle and understated leaving a little to the imagination.
However, there things about the first painting that I do quite like: where I left some solid edges to the opaquely painted areas, as in the apple. I also blended certain areas - the paint dried faster than when using watery paint but I quickly scumbled it before drying. Once again the jug and jar have changed dimensions - the jug is shorter and the neck on the jar is longer than previously.

Tonal study on a dark ground

This is what the composition looks like in reality....erm, think I must have moved around quite a bit.