I was sketching my friend Tim last night and it hit me so suddenly, the importance of accurate values.  It's way more important than color, proportion, detail or any other aspect to representational painting.  
  This revelation came at the perfect time to me because I was really struggling with a portrait and didn't know what I was going wrong.  I think the roadblock I used to have before was to be almost afraid of making the values too dark.  This fear is really impeding because most accurate values are towards the darker value range.
   So a simple 3 step process for the painting below that I did was:
  1. Start with a simple charcoal outline to get the basic proportions
  2. Use a large brush and smudges of more opaque paint with accurate values.  Don't worry about details at this stage. (squinting helps)
  3. Once the basic forms are in place, then you can add minor details and refine it a little bit more, but don't go overboard and lose the planes.

  I've realized again the power of paint when it's applied thickly with large brushes.  I did this small portrait (pictured below) as a way to prove to myself that this method is right.  Earlier today, I was working on a larger portrait and had to scrap it because I was being way too "cute" with it; it had thin paint passages and smaller detail with small brushes.  
  I know now that I prefer thicker paint and I feel that it looks better and more powerful.  What's the point of painting without using a good amount of paint?

“The thicker you paint, the more color flows.” - John Singer Sargent

  Just finished day 2 on this portrait and I'm really happy with the way it's turning out!  It still needs about 2 more days of work so I'm excited to see how it turns out. Feels good to be returning to my old methods.

  I had a big shift in my process and my thoughts today as I began a portrait for my neighbors.  This portrait is a gift for them for taking care of my fish for me while I was away on vacation to Spring Lake.  I began the portrait today after feeling lost for a while in my own thoughts about painting.  So I just began painting and trying to return to myself.  Trying almost to turn my brain off while I paint.  The main thing that I've been feeling for a very long time is that I haven't been myself.  I've been trying to be someone else and paint like someone else.
  The portrait that I'm currently working on is very similar to a portrait that I painted for these same neighbors back in 2013 while I was a student.  I still believe it's one of the nicer paintings that I've ever done.  I did it over the course of 4 or 5 days and it's always been a guiding light for me to return to.  I think a big thing is that I've been hurrying my paintings too much lately, instead of letting them rest and working in a few layers.  I got too caught up in the whole alla prima recipe, which I still love but it's not the best way for me to work.
  It's so difficult to just listen to your own voice when other influences are so strong.  It's like the whole process is stripping away all these layers to just get back to the core of who I was and who I am.  I know that I can only do my best work in this manner.  It's a constant exploration that I feel happy to undertake and I'm glad to be feeling more myself.