Comments on: You Asked – Red Acetate

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:44:32 +0000

Hello there, You have done a great job. I?ll certainly digg it and in my opinion suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this site.

By: lou

lou — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:07:42 +0000

Possibly try Hobbycraft but I am not sure if they definately sell it.

By: helen

helen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:22:02 +0000

I get red clear paper from” 1 dollar ” store. -”wraping roll” .cut and
attach with tape to cardbord with cut window , in size to you photo , you painting ,sketch or make few difrent sizes.

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:31:47 +0000

You can find a red value finder at Cheap Joe’s or you can buy a sheet of red plexiglass on ebay and cut it down to the size you need. My students find the red plexi very helpful as they learn the skill of “seeing” values and also during development of their compositions. Many use it to check their work-in-progress to find why something just might not be working…often times it’s a value issue.

I’ve heard that green plexi is useful to use during plein air outings but I’ve never tried it (supposedly, it equalizes all the greens and lets you see their values better than the red plexi). I understand that quilters use both red and green plexi when designing their quilts and selecting fabric placement, so the use of these “helpers” isn’t just a painter’s thing!

It all comes down to changing one’s natural focus from color to value while “building” your painting or design. However, to use it effectively you need to understand the basics of composition and why one value is better than another in a particular spot.

Hope this helped.

By: Lene Daugaard

Lene Daugaard — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:24:27 +0000

Hi Beverly
the red acetate film was used in the days before the computer by graphic designers in the process of designing for print.
As everything is made on computers now, it might be difficult to get the acetate, if not used in other business/industries. Perhaps office-supplie-stores?
You use it to see values without seeing color. Color can disturb your view of correct values.
Another (but slower) method is taking a dig-photo or scan your drawing, and then look at it in greyscale on your monitor…
Lene