"If you get the values right, you can get the colors completely wrong and the composition will still hold together." THE BIOLOGY OF SEEING Before you touch a pencil or a camera, you have to understand how the human eye is wired. The human eye contains roughly 6 to 7 million cone cells, which are responsible for color vision and fine detail in bright light. However, we have over 100 million rod cells, which are responsible for seeing light and dark. Because of this massive biological imbalance, humans process Value (Lights, Midtones, and Darks) first, and far more accurately than we process color. Value is the most accurate tool you possess for controlling exactly where your viewer looks. THE GRAND TRADITION The masters didn't just understand this biological quirk; they weaponized it to create specific emotional responses. Observe how they manipulated value: - Rembrandt: Used sharp, extreme value contrasts to create intense drama and focus. - Da Vinci: Revolutionized three-dimensional volume and sophistication with chiaroscuro (light/dark contrast) and his soft-focus sfumato. - El Greco: Manipulated value to create spiritual, otherworldly atmospheres. - J.M.W. Turner: Controlled value to paint dense, heavy, atmospheric environments. - Monet: Used high-key (lighter) values to capture bright, cheerful, and fleeting sunlight. THE EXERCISE: THE 2-MINUTE DRILL Training your eyes to see in value first is paramount. It is more important than drawing, color, or any other element of design. This exercise is designed to be fast, cheap, and repeatable. Do this daily until everything you look at is evaluated in terms of light and dark. MATERIALS NEEDED: - 3 Prismacolor Markers: 1 Black, 1 Mid-Grey, 1 Light-Grey. - 1 Pad of Tracing Paper. - Reference Material: High-contrast Black and White photography. (Vintage 1940s-1960s Hollywood movie star portraits are perfect for this). - A Timer. THE PROCESS: 1. PREP: Lay a sheet of tracing paper over your black-and-white reference photo. 2. THE CLOCK: Set your timer for exactly 2 Minutes. You must work fast to prevent your brain from over-analyzing details. 3. THE SQUINT: Squint your eyes. This blurs the fine details (like eyelashes or texture) and forces your eyes to only see the major pools of light and shadow. 4. BLOCK THE DARKS: Using your Black marker, quickly block in only the darkest shadows. 5. FIND THE MIDS: Switch to your Mid-Grey marker. Block in the transitional midtone shapes. 6. THE BLEND: Use your Light-Grey marker to smudge the transitions and hit the lighter areas, leaving the raw paper for your absolute brightest highlights.

I just submitted a card game I designed to a publisher. I have been talking with their operations/ creative director for about a year. Originally I had submitted to do some illustrations for their books. Then we started talking about my game PsychScape Historical. But it didn’t fit their brand. So I used Ai tools to research their brand. The market. Help design a game and all of the pitch materials in about 2 days. I just clicked send. On to the next shot.

With very few exceptions, the greatest painters in history share a secret: they didn't become truly great until they were in their 60s, 70s, or 80s. To put it another way, a great visual artist isn't great until they have been working for 50 years. Art is long. It is a continuous visual language that has been crafted over thousands of years. That language is renewed by every generation of artists, but usually not until they have spent their entire lives speaking it. There is a wonderful moment in the 1992 cinematography documentary, Visions of Light (https://youtu.be/RdcvbiEsiUk?si=Rvcwyp2L22jczeEw), where they discuss the DP who shot The Graduate. When the film was released, critics raved about how the cinematography was entirely new, innovative, and groundbreaking. That DP was 60 years old. He had spent a lifetime shooting films, and in his 60s, he finally broke through to entirely new ground. In physical arts like dance, acting, or music, you often see young people reach mastery and push boundaries early. But in the visual medium, true mastery is a marathon. You have to give yourself time. The progression from amateur to master looks something like this: - The Basics: Roughly 2 years to learn the foundational language of your craft. - The Influences: 10 to 20 years practicing your craft under the heavy influence of the masters. - The "Mind Sieve": A period of intentional forgetting. You strip away the superfluous training, remembering only what is deeply important to you, and retaining only the visual tools you actually need. - The Masterwork: The culmination of a lifetime of seeing. The hard truth of the visual artist? By all indications, you will never know which piece is your masterwork. You will be long gone before history—if it notices you at all—decides to bring your work forward into the permanent language of the craft. Mastery requires the appropriation of ages. Give yourself the time to get there.

If you’re here early, you’re not a spectator. I’m actively building and expanding PsychScape Historical in public. If you want to be involved, reply with: 1. What you’re trying to build 2. What’s currently slowing you down 3. One thing you intend to ship this year Keep it short. No polish.