by Jill Stefani Wagner

I love to jump into a painting and start throwing around color. But sometimes, well heck, often, I haven’t done the preparatory work I need to increase the chances of a successful painting. When I’m plein air painting, I now ALWAYS do a small notan sketch first and it has improved my outcomes substantially. I usually simplify my view into simply black and white, and sometimes one grey value.

Landscape artist Mitchell Albala defines a notan as  “a Japanese word that translates as “light-dark balance.” It is a design principle that suggests that strength and balance in composition can be found through a harmonious relationship between light and dark shapes. If the arrangement of those shapes forms an effective abstract composition, then the painting that is built upon it, with all its color and detail, will also possess a strong composition.”

You can read his interesting blog on “The Wisdom of Notan – A Brief Introduction”  here.

A value study before beginning a painting takes this exercise a step farther by breaking down the design into 2-4 flat shades of grey, plus black and white. Doing this really forces me to make some decisions. What are the main big shapes? How can I simplify and separate them from the other shapes around them? Do the shapes define the light, shadows, and spacial atmosphere of the view I’m trying to capture? What details are needed and which ones can be eliminated?

Once I have solved these issues in a small sketch, it makes it much easier for me to move to the next step of adding color and texture on the larger painting. I know that no matter what the exact hue of an object is, the VALUE of color must match my preparatory study.

Here are a few recent value studies that are working their way to larger paintings in full color. In the first one I was still trying to put in too much detail. I learned from that and am trying to simplify the final painting. I think the last one was more successful in achieving the dominant shapes and values of the view.

I’ll post the final paintings as they are finished…