Portrait Painting Tip #2 Break it down into 3 distinct values

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A 9-step value scale divided into 3 value families

The key to designing a good painting is to break it down into 3 value families -light, medium and dark (not including highlights and dark accents). A painting designed with 3 values in mind looks organized and pleasant. So, how do you do that? Look at your scene and break-it down into 3 value families. Don't copy things exactly as you see them, look at the whole and decide which value family  each part of the painting belongs to. Ideally you want an unequal distribution of light, medium and dark values in your painting. You want one value to be the dominant mass, the second value to be sub-dominant and third one to be minimal in terms of canvas acreage. When the light value is dominant, it is called high-key painting. When the mid value is dominant, it is called mid-key and when the dark is dominant, it is called low-key painting.

There's a lot to be said about designing your paintings with 3 values but a picture is worth thousand words, so here are some examples. In the groupings below, the first image is the original painting. The second image is the original painting without color and third image is my simplification of the value masses in the painting.

The first example is a painting by Fechin. Please note that when you squint your eyes, the whole face falls into one value family.  When you start your painting, you need to think in terms of broad value masses like my simplification below. Once the value masses are clearly established, you can add half-tones that maintain the value masses. Details and accents come in last. Don't be distracted by features; things like eyeballs or lip color are accents on the face. In case of the Fechin's painting, the hair, dark part of the  shirt and left background belong to the dark family. There is a little bit of light on the front of the shirt. Notice that the face never crosses into the light family (except maybe the highlights)

In the example below by contemporary painter Suchitra Bhosle, the skin-tones belong to mid-tone value family, the shadow side of the face is a darker midtone but never gets as dark as the hair which belongs to the dark family. The light is in the background.

In this painting by Sorolla, the skin-tones and background are mid-tone. The light value mass belongs to the shirt, scarf and skirt. . There is a tiny amount of dark in this painting, only in the hair. The shadow below the neck is a dark accent as well as the eyes.

Below is a painting by Za Vue. She has a beautiful dominant light family of values running from the face down into the shirt. The shadow side of the face (like the cast shadow in her neck) belongs to the mid-tone. She has subdued the darks in the face so that it stays in the mid-tone family. The hair is mid-tone and there is little bit of dark around the face and in the background. 

I hope this makes sense. This is a packed blog post and it seems simple enough to understand but it is much harder to implement, especially when we get caught up in the details. Always remember to step back and look at the whole. This concept applies to all kinds of subject matter (not just portrait painting).

Also See Portrait Painting Tip #1, Tip #3, Tip#4