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It's ok to stop working on a painting when you like it. In fact, that's the best time to stop. But sometimes after days, weeks, maybe even a year, you drag that painting out of a drawer and realize it's not really as good as it could be. That's where values come in.   Value in painting is simply the lightness or darkness of a color. The darker the color, the lower the value; the lighter the color, the higher the value. The values near the lighter end of the value scale are considered high-key, while those on the darker end are low-key. [...]

A September trip to our condo on Table Rock Lake was spent boating and paddleboarding. The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful, and the lake fairly quiet since Labor Day had passed. Our final day was spent exploring a winding creek in Arkansas, which turned out to be a bird watcher's dream!     As we slowly traversed the creek, Mike pointed out a couple of Great Egrets flying around a bend in the distance. I got my camera ready as we followed the egrets around the curve. As we drew closer, we saw a congregation of these large white herons: some wading in [...]