Color Study: A Lesson in Values Referencing The Work of James Richards, AISM
James Richards, an acclaimed American Impressionist painter specializing in oils, is one of my favorite living artists. He has earned multiple awards, including Best of Show at the American Impressionist Society’s 2015 Annual Exhibition for his painting Little Chicks, and numerous accolades in national plein air competitions. Based in Tucker, Georgia, Richards mentors aspiring artists through workshops held in the U.S., Europe, and online. I’m a subscriber to his monthly tutorials, which are exceptional, and a friend who recently attended his in-person workshop showed remarkable improvement in color harmony and overall technique.
In this interior painting, Richards achieves a loose, expressive style while making precise choices in hue, value, and saturation. The saying, “Color gets all the credit, but value does all the work,” is vividly illustrated here. While varied hues and saturation levels contribute to the painting’s success, its strong value structure is key.
A color study of the painting reveals distinct value separation: lit areas, shown on the left, fall around 2–3 on the value scale, while shadowed areas, on the right, range from 5–9. Richards maintains this division meticulously, with no values around 4, creating a clear gap between light and shadow. Contrary to common mantras like “warm light/cool shadow” or “cool light/warm shadow,” Richards incorporates both warm and cool tones in both light and shadow, suggesting he paints directly from life, capturing what he observes rather than adhering to formulas.
As always, when we observe the use of color, it’s helpful to ask:
Value: Is it darker or lighter?
Saturation: Is it more or less saturated? Brighter or duller? Richer or drabber? Colorful or drab? Each of these questions aim to identify the saturation level. Notice how Richards uses less saturated colors next to more saturated colors. The “greys” really make the more saturated brighter colors pop. Most of the time, if my color isn’t popping, greying down the surrounding area is the solution.
Hue: Is the temperature warmer or cooler? Is it more red? More yellow? More blue? Are the lit areas warmer? Are the dark areas cooler?
Below are two images showing the value number of each color. The second image is a de-saturated version that is helpful for isolating the value of each color:
I have added the closest value number to each color for reference.
Creating value studies like this has been very helpful in training my eye to see values correctly.
I’m a monthly subscriber to James Richards’ tutorials and I highly recommend him as a teacher. It’s rare that someone is a great artist and a great teacher. He’s definitely both. Click here if you’d like to find out more about his subscription. This is an affiliate link so I will receive a 10% commission if you subscribe. You can try it for a month and see what you think. I love it!
If you’d like learn from Richards in person, click here. It’s a non-affiliate link.
Here’s a quote I like from a recent Richards tutorial,
“Look for the essential shapes and put them down expressively, not too labored, intentional or perfect. We don’t want that. I think it’s boring. We want it to be a little more messy interesting and humanlike.”
If my color studies are helpful or you have suggestions, please email me. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Enjoy! Ellie
