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separates the two shapes. Perhaps lightening the left mound a little could solve both of these problems. Five values, in this case, are not quite enough. There should be a step between light and middle. This is an example of the need for more subtlety.
    The little raised frame beside the doorway that catches the sun is a fine feature of the photo that I miss. It does an important job, describing the light. It is a bit of specific information that will add significantly to the picture without becoming a distraction.
    It is surprisingly easy to see what is missing and what needs to be changed when the image has been oversimplified. If I had made a complex first attempt it would be difficult to know which of the (too) many elements were not necessary.

    C REATING A T WO -L AYER G EOMETRIC S KETCH
    This is a good exercise to try after you become confident of your ability to read values well. As in the five-value monochrome study, this approach is designed to reveal how much of the information in the scene needs to be included in the actual painting that will follow. It adds color to the equation, but in a deliberately oversimplified form. It helps you answer the question: How does color work with value?
    Each of the major shapes in your composition is simplified almost to the level of basic geometric forms. A fir tree is, roughly, a green triangle. Clouds may be elongated ovals. A hill can be a half circle. It’s fine for the shapes to be approximate. They don’t need to be pure geometric forms. Just don’t let them become too specific. Focus instead on getting the values right.
    Assign a color and value to each shape. Try to summarize the information you can see within a given shape, so that it can be expressed in its simplest form. Let go of texture and detail. A tree is a single shape, rather than a collection of leaves. The finished sketch will look like a collage made of cut pieces of colored paper.
    Since this exercise involves two variables (color and value), keep it simple by limiting your palette to three colors: one red, one yellow, and one blue. Mixing these is fine, but if you want a green, make it by combining the blue and yellow, rather than by introducing a fourth color. You are making a learning tool, not a painting, so if your colors don’t make a good purple, or the green is not intense enough, let it be. You will still be well informed about what the final painting needs.
    Evaluate the subject.
The doors in this picture are small shapes contained within a bigger shape (the yellow wall). They do not need to be there to create a feeling of space, so I want to include them only if they feel essential to the painting. I know I want the door on the right, but I’m not sure the scene needs the other door.
    Block in the major shapes.
Give each shape a first layer wash representing its lightest shade. The overlapping shapes begin to suggest a feeling of space. If you’re uncertain about a shape, leave it out. The finished study will reveal whether the picture could do without it.
    Apply a second layer where needed.
Since this study aims to ignore texture and detail, little more than the shadows needed to be added. Even simplified to this degree, shadows go a long way toward establishing a convincing sense of light.
    Stopping after two layers provides a means of assessing where and how much further information needs to be added. Any remaining questions can be directed to the finished sketch, and, hopefully, the answers will be apparent. For example: What do you think about the second door? How much more (or less) of the complexity of the upper story would you include? If you chose to represent the cobblestones in the street, how many would you need to show? What about the cast shadow of the roof? Is it important to show that it is made of tiles? What if the sky were blue? Would you put the lamppost back in?
    You can see how the fact that the information is not here makes it easy to decide whether you want to put