3 CLOSE YOUR TONES

Hashim Akib challenges you to focus on getting mid-tones right first

THE BENEFITS

Working with closer tones creates harmony in a painting as there are less extremes to leave a scene unbalanced.

THE PROCESS

If your paintings often feel unbalanced, a good strategy is to focus on mid-tones first before committing to those extremes of light and dark. Add small quantities of white or light grey to every colour you use so there is an overall consistency to their appearance. Avoid detail – just a blurry impression of the scene will do. Once everything is in place, you can then start speculating on your extremes of tone – the focal points or elements that lead the eye.

For this painting of Bath, I began with a fairly earthy palette, including a brown mixed from Violet and Phthalo Green. I also added light grey to even out the richer yellows and oranges. I could then gradually build to stronger lights and darks, yet you may often find they are few in number as most of the work can be accomplished with mid-tones.