“This Sweet Simple Existence”…Daily Art Project 2026 - July

I know…I know… June was going to be my last month of daily paintings…until July. I was working on my other project and just life things, and I got halfway through the month without picking up a brush. Then I felt really restless and missed painting. But since I was almost out of most of my acrylic and gouache paints, and I didn’t want to to run to the art store to buy more, I thought now is a good time to do those value studies., the ones I should have done at the beginning of my art journey and throughout. So I did a few monochromatic ones with just white and another color (black or blue or green etc). I lied them so much so , I did a few more, and then some more, and then I thought ok, I have enough for a month’s worth.

July’s 2026 paintings are value studies created with a variety of mediums like acrylics, watercolors, gouache, charcoal and ink. The paintings were created on watercolor and acrylic paper (9×12”) that was taped off at the halfway point and around the edges for a border. This yielded 2 paintings per sheet of paper, each 6×9” in size. The only exceptions are a series of 3 full length portraits on 9×12” canvas pad sheets. Often, it is the same subject done in 2 different monochromatic colors, for example, a seascape value study done in black and white, and the second one done in phthalo green and white. The idea was to work fast with an economy of brushstrokes and to focus on values, shadows and lights, using just one color and white, or in the case of watercolors just one color.

The value studies took very little time to create as I was only using a couple of colors and focusing on lights and darks rather than being distracted by a full color palette. You know how they say, “Color gets all the credit but value does all the work”? I really enjoyed creating them because they helped me identify not just the shadows and highlights of an object but also the form. It’s insane how when you remove color you can see the shape and form of an object so much better. I wasn’t even that concerned with getting my drawings accurate. It even helped with my composition. The only challenges I encountered were with the portraits. You can always tell when there is something off about the portrait or the human face, no matter how miniscule, even if it’s the right eye or the nose that’s a few millimeters off, just because we’re so used to looking at faces all day long. But i think those were the watercolor portraits that I didn’t get quite right, watercolors still being a challenging medium for me. The other challenge I had was trying to keep my value colors distinct. Often, when moving my brush around swiftly and keeping my brushstrokes loose, I ended up “muddying” my values, which sometimes limited my tonal range.

All in all, I really enjoyed these value studies and I do see the importance of doing them more often, especially before starting a new large painting as it helps to identify where the darks and lights of a painting should be placed. Also when you’re focusing on values, it takes the pressure off of creating a perfectly accurate painting, because if your values are correct than it doesn’t register as much that the drawings are not accurate. The most important lesson I’ve learnt though is that you can paint anything in any color, a seascape in shades of green or a portrait in blue and it will still read as realistic as long as you have the values down right. It almost doesn’t matter what colors you us, because ultimately value carries the whole painting.

These value studies will not be available for sale, even as prints as they were mostly rough sketches, and some of them are self portraits or portraits of my daughter. However, other than the portraits, if anyone is interested, I can make custom prints in 6×9” sizes. The value studies are as follows:

Day 182: “EarPods Value Study in Black and White”, acrylic on acrylic paper Day 183: “Reading Glasses Value Study in Black and White”, acrylic on acrylic paper Day 184: “Still Life Pomegranate Value Study in Blue & White” acrylic on acrylic paper Day 185: “Still Life with Fruit Value Study in Blue and White”, acrylic on acrylic paper Day 186: “Lemons Value Study in Sepia”, watercolor and ink on paper Day 187: “Anemone Value Study in Blue”, watercolor and ink on paper Day 188: “Pears Value Study in Sepia”, watercolor and ink on paper Day 189: “Pears Value Study in Blue”, watercolor and ink on paper Day 190: “Glasses Value Study in Indigo”, watercolor and ink on paper Day 191: “Green Glass Value Study”, watercolor and ink on watercolor paper Day 192: “Stag Head Value Study in Black and Gold”, watercolor and acrylic on paper Day 193: “Stag Value Study in Black and Gold”, watercolor and acrylic on paper Day 194: “Tulips in Vase Value Study”, charcoal on watercolor paper Day 195: “Tulips Value Study”, charcoal on watercolor paper Day 196: “Self-Portrait Value Study in Blue”, gouache and acrylic on paper Day 197: “Self Portrait Value Study in Black and White”, gouache and acrylic on paper Day 198: “Seascape with Cliffs Value Study in Black and White”, acrylic on paper Day 199: “Seascape with Cliffs Value Study in Green and White”, acrylic on paper Day 200: “Ceramic Pitcher Value Study in Black and White”, acrylic on paper Day 201: Moka Pot Value Study in Blue”, acrylic on paper Day 202: “Noureen Portrait Value Study in Red”, watercolor on paper Day 203: “Noureen Portrait Value Study in Indigo”, watercolor on paper Day 204: “Green Roses Value Study”, watercolor on paper Day 205: “Blue Roses Value Study”, watercolor on paper Day 206: “Noureen at 2 Value Study in Blue”, acrylic on canvas pad Day 207: “Noureen at 9 Value Study in Blue”, acrylic on canvas pad Day 208: “Noureen at 1 Value Study in Blue”, acrylic on canvas pad. Day 209: “Monument Valley Value Study in Red Brown”, watercolor on paper. Day 210: “Cactus Value Study in Black and White”, watercolor on paper Day 211: “Sunrise at Sea Value Study in Black & White” acrylic & palette knife on paper Day 212: “Sunrise at Sea Value Study in Blue”, acrylic & palette knife on paper.