Value Plan: The Third Step ¶ Pa g e - A - Day i d e a Make a Music Spiral Let yourself go in free response to music. Copy the dynamics of music in spontaneous, abstract painting. Start with a mark in the center of a new journal page. Start small and continue adding brushstrokes spiraling out from the center while you listen to the music. Use dynamic music with a lot of tempo changes. As you listen, make marks with a no. 2 round. Use Sumi ink, India ink or Win- sor Blue watercolor so that you can clearly record variations in value. When the music comes to a crescendo, signal a focal point by using the darkest value against the white of the paper. When the music is soft and lyrical, place light values together to suggest the musical harmony. When the tempo or dynamics vary, change your brushstrokes. An intricate spiral design will emerge as you visualize the music. Your design will vary dramatically with the music. Try it next with a color triad! A well-composed painting is half-done. ~ Pierre Bonnard In step three you turn your shape plan into a value plan. Values are the relative lightness and darkness of a color. They range from the pure white of the paper to the blackest black, and all shades of gray in between. In music, there are soft, lyrical passages. There are also places where the dynamics are loud and the cymbals crash. The same is true in painting. The value choices you make can create areas of intensity. They can also create passages that sing with a softer, gentler voice. The eye is attracted to contrast. Wherever you place the lightest light next to the darkest dark, you create a point of interest. In essence, you are crashing the cym- bals and banging the drums! Likewise, you create serene sustaining passages when you stay within a narrower range of values. Build a Value Chart It's a good idea to make your own value chart to add to your artistic journal for reference. I find it's best to use Winsor Blue, a pigment that can go from very, very light to very, very dark. Draw five squares on a piece of watercol- 1