Color Blocking Exercise

 

In my head painting class I had the students (and myself) undertake a color blocking exercise. The canvas was marked off in a grid of one inch squares. Rather than worry about the drawing of the head, the goal was to mix the average color and value for the zone that fell within each square of the grid. If you squint, you can see the face. I was surprised how much more I concentrated on creating the exact color and the painting took nearly as long as I usually spend on an actual head study. Once again the color palette was the Zorn palette of cad red light, yellow ochre, ivory black and white. This was definitely a hit as far as exercises go and several of the students have opted to do it on more than one day. If you have never done this, give it a shot.