Value study guide

How to Simplify a Reference Photo Into Painting Values

A photograph can contain thousands of small shifts that are useful to a camera but distracting to a painter. A value study asks a simpler question: which large shapes must remain light, middle, or dark for the subject to read? The answer gives you a structure you can actually paint.

By Stian Håve
PaintValues workspace showing a painting reference with composition guides and color analysis
Separate the reference into questions: frame, value, guide, and color.
01

Begin with the largest separation

Ignore local color at first. Convert the reference to grayscale and look for the single most important division between light and shadow. Squinting at the image or viewing it as a small thumbnail can make this split easier to see.

Decide what belongs to the light family and what belongs to the shadow family. Keep reflected light inside the shadow family unless it genuinely becomes as bright as the lit planes. This prevents the study from breaking into unrelated patches.

  • Can the subject still be recognized at thumbnail size?
  • Do the light shapes connect into a larger pattern?
  • Do the dark shapes support the focal area rather than scatter attention?
02

Use three to five groups, not twenty

Add a middle group only after the two-family design works. Three values are often enough for an initial block-in: a light, a middle, and a dark. A fourth or fifth group can describe a highlight or deep accent without sacrificing clarity.

The purpose is not to reproduce every measured tone. It is to assign neighboring tones to a shared job. If two adjacent areas do not need to be different for the composition to read, merge them.

03

Protect the focal hierarchy

Place the strongest light-dark contrast where you want the eye to settle. Reduce contrast in secondary areas by bringing their values closer together. This creates hierarchy before color and brushwork introduce more complexity.

Compare the simplified study with the original reference, then hide the original again. A useful study should make the intended visual path more obvious, not merely resemble the photograph.

04

Take the study to the easel

Use the grouped-value image as a map for the first major masses. Mix one representative pile for each group, establish the large shapes, and delay small accents until the whole surface has a coherent value design.

PaintValues can generate grayscale and grouped-value comparisons without uploading the source image. Use those views as checkpoints, while allowing direct observation and artistic judgment to lead the final painting.