Plein-Air Painting Tip: Grouping Tonal Values

For both beginners and experienced painters, a key to composition is to organize values or tones into a light group and a dark group. Using a limited palette of gouache and watercolors, James Gurney demos a plein-air painting of a house in Sebastopol, California, explaining his approach to technique and compositional design.
WATERCOLOR AND GOUACHE SUPPLIES
(M. Graham) Yellow ochre watercolor: https://amzn.to/2XYzvSB
(M. Graham) Transparent red oxide watercolor: https://amzn.to/2Y6NhxD
(M. Graham) Titanium white gouache: https://amzn.to/2XSOld4
(Royal Talens) Black gouache: https://amzn.to/36Iwk0W

OTHER MATERIALS
James is using a Pentalic watercolor sketchbook: https://amzn.to/2L989y2
Jeanette is using a Stillman and Birn sketchbook: https://amzn.to/2q1GB8U
and an Escoda Reserva #6 Kolinsky https://amzn.to/34ssAzo
Richeson travel brush set: https://amzn.to/2xwq1Rr
Richeson “Grey Matters” brush set: https://amzn.to/2YeNO0P
Connoisseur "cat's tongue" brush: https://amzn.to/2UaBJJj
Water cup: https://amzn.to/2soTw2L

WATER MEDIA PAINT SETS
• M. Graham gouache primary set: https://amzn.to/2Zwd6rt
• Royal Talens gouache set (8 colors): https://amzn.to/2MGftGf
• M. Graham watercolor landscape set: https://amzn.to/2JpBAyy

VIDEO TUTORIALS:
“Watercolor in the Wild” https://gumroad.com/l/watercolor
"Gouache in the Wild" https://gumroad.com/l/gouache
“Casein Painting in the Wild” https://gumroad.com/l/casein
"Gouache in the Wild" (DVD): http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX004...
“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD): http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00Z...
Animal Painting vid: https://gumroad.com/l/paintinganimals
Casein in the Wild: https://gumroad.com/l/casein

BLOG POSTS WITH MORE INFO:
Gurney Journey blog: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/
Gouache Materials List: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/201...
Watercolor Materials: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/201...

BOOKS BY JAMES GURNEY:
Color and Light: A Guide for Realist Painters: https://amzn.to/2JhWtfc
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist: https://amzn.to/2LbVHhc
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time: https://amzn.to/2xyamRM

OTHER OFFICIAL SITES
Instagram:   / jamesgurneyart  
Pinterest:   / gurneyjourney  
GurneyJourney Blog: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/
JamesGurney Website: http://jamesgurney.com/site/shop
Facebook group "Sketch Easel Builders": https://www.facebook.com/groups/40300...

CAMERAS and AUDIO:
Canon PowerShot Elph (point-and-shoot): https://amzn.to/2Ji1Vid
Zoom H2N digital audio recorder: https://amzn.to/2XXAOfP