How to Use Anchoring & Hierarchy in Your Painting’s Design with Randy Hayashi
When Ep.68 guest Randy Hayashi is ready to move from the plan into the paint, he first starts with a wash over his entire painting. Second up, he places his darkest darks.
By starting with those darks, he's making sure he anchors his painting from the very beginning.
Next, he adds in a layer of mid-tones and then he'll place his lightest and brightest white.
He’s far from a finished painting, but he has his full range of values in place. He knows where what values go and he can move confidently as he builds the rest of his painting.
Put it to Practice:
Your reference and your plan will have a darkest dark and a lightest light. This is part of what's known as your painting's hierarchy.
And knowing what those are is important because everything else relates to those.
Sometimes lightest lights and darkest darks get lost between the plan and the painting. Even if we’ve done it in a thumbnail, we forget.
That’s why Hayashi puts them in early. If he knows where they go, he can then play more with his colors. And it’s a reminder every time he goes to lay a brushmark down to check to make sure that the value on his brush matches the value that should go there.