Into the woods
What's on the canvas, measured.
Photograph a piece. Flow reads its values, its palette and where the contrast sits, then tells you what it found.
What the measurement finds
The painting
The value map
The colour taken out. Only one percent of this canvas is lighter than mid-grey. The painting
Squinted
Blurred to what you'd see across the room: the moon holds as one light mass, and the markings vanish. The painting
Five values
Collapsed to five values, the green and the orange become the same shape.
i.
Show it the work
Photograph the piece you're stuck on.
ii.
See what's actually there
Value structure, palette coverage, where the contrast really sits.
iii.
Make one move
One thing to try, then back to the easel.
What a value map is
Value is how light or dark a colour is, with the colour taken out of it. It's what decides whether a painting reads from across the room.
Two colours can look completely different and still be the same value — a grey cloud and a blazing orange sky, say. When that happens the edge between them disappears at a distance, and the painting goes soft in a way that's hard to name while you're standing in front of it.
Squinting at your work is the traditional way to check. A value map is the same test, measured.
Flow looks at what you're making and tells you what it actually sees. Then it sends you back to it.