Monochromatic Tonal Painting: Painting with Hue and Neutral Gray

Introduction

Many artists are familiar with terms like monochromatic painting and tonal painting, but the concept of painting with a single hue plus a range of grays is rarely labeled with a widely established phrase for this method.

For teaching and demonstration, I call it monochromatic tonal painting.

What Is Monochromatic Tonal Painting?

First of all, let’s begin defining the following terms:

Monochromatic painting: One color, or one color varied with white and black
Tonal value painting: Focus on value (lights/darks), may use gray only or full color
Monochromatic tonal value painting: One color + use of value with grays

*My approach adheres to the textbook definition of tone.

To clarify the distinction, let’s revisit the standard components of hue modification:
Key Color Theory of Tint, Shade, Tone:

Hue + White = Tint
Hue + Black = Shade
Hue + Gray = Tone

Check out my full blog post and YouTube demo for examples.

Color: Understanding Tint, Shade, & Tone

In this exercise, all three—one hue, black, and white—must be present, regardless of the value you’re creating. This creates a balanced value range without the intensity of pure color, nor the starkness of high-saturation tints or shades.

Why Not Call It Just Monochromatic or Tonal Painting?

Monochromatic painting does not require the use of grays; it can be achieved simply by mixing a color with black or white.
Tonal painting (sometimes called “value painting”) doesn’t have to be limited to one hue and often refers to work in grayscale or with multiple colors.

Even the phrase monochromatic tonal (value) painting can seem ambiguous, since it doesn’t specify how the tones are produced.

Despite this ambiguity, here, “tonal” refers specifically to the use of neutral grays derived from black and white mixed with the chosen hue.

Monochromatic Tonal Value Scale

Just below the value scale, I demonstrated( in my video demo) how to achieve a value close to white by balancing all three components: hue, black, and white.

Why Require All Three—Hue, Black, and White?

This requirement forces you to:

Practice balancing color and neutrality
Create a full value scale without pure tints or shades
Learn how subtle shifts of neutralization affect color intensity and value at every step

The Purpose and Benefits

The main goal of monochromatic tonal painting is to conduct a value study—just as in classic black-and-white (grisaille) painting, but with a color through the lens of gray-modified chroma.

Educational and Artistic Benefits

Bridges Value and Color: Students apply value skills learned in grayscale, but begin thinking in color, easing the transition to full-color painting.
Limits Complexity, Increases Sensitivity: With limited variables, beginners gain a deeper focus on subtle shifts in value within a single hue.
Controls Saturation: Encourages mixing to achieve neutral colors—a key aspect of understanding tone.
Lays Foundation for Color Temperature: While this lesson focuses on gray mixing, future lessons will explore how color temperature changes between light and shadow, building on this foundation.
Explores Mood: Using one hue across an entire value scale can produce emotional or atmospheric effects often stronger than a full palette.

The next examples are paintings by James M. Whistler, known for their emphasis on tonal harmony and mood creation.

J. M. Whistler, Nocturne: Blue and Silver, 1871

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

This may sound simple—just mix one color with gray—but it’s deceptively difficult for beginners.

Over-saturation: Avoid colors that are too pure; mixing in enough gray creates true “tones.”
Relying only on White or Black: Some add only white for lights or only black for darks, but both should be balanced with the hue and gray.
Forgetting Value Focus: Beginners often try to replicate local (actual) colors rather than concentrating on values. For example, painting a red apple in blue if blue is the chosen hue; value, not hue, matters most in this exercise.
Ignoring True Neutrals: If confused, convert a reference photo to grayscale to better judge values and neutrality.

Technique: Mixing and Controlling Values

The challenge and art in this method is using all three components (one hue, black, white) even for the lightest and darkest values. It is entirely possible, for example, to mix black into your hue and then add enough white to reach a light, near-white value without losing neutrality.

Yes, you can mix black into a hue and still produce a very light color—if you balance it with enough white. Please watch my demo on this or the monochromatic tonal value scale above.

Mastery comes from controlling and balancing these mixtures so that the value remains constant, even as the mixture shifts in chroma and tone.

Tip: If you find yourself reaching for pure white or black, consider instead how you can “gray down” your hue for more nuanced, neutralized values.

Why I Teach This Method

I’ve seen students struggle with this exercise more than most. Almost no one gets it right on the first try, even when I emphasize the importance of mixing with gray rather than just white or black. That’s exactly why I believe this method is so valuable:

It helps bridge the gap between grayscale value painting and full-color work.
It strengthens your ability to control neutrality while still retaining hue hue and value through subtle modulation.
It reinforces how to paint based on value, not local color, which is foundational to realism, abstraction, and expression alike.

Student’s Work

Materials Needed

Acrylic or gouache paints: One hue, black, and white
Tonal value scale (create or print for reference)-watch the demo
Sturdy painting surface (watercolor paper, Bristol board, or canvas)
Flat and round brushes
Simple still life subject (e.g., mug, vase, apple)

Follow Along Outline

*You can prepare your own still life or use the still life image used in this demo.

1. Prepare Your Materials, still life, and a monochromatic tonal value scale as a guide (preferably with 7–9 steps).

2. Create 1-3 Thumbnail Sketches (typically 2″-5″ each side)

Focus on simplified shapes, key value areas or value contour map, and composition.
Choose the most effective composition in terms of contrast and clarity

3. Lightly Transfer or Sketch Main Shapes

Use a light pencil or brush to transfer basic outlines onto your surface
Focus on proportions, placement, and clear separation of value zones

4. Block In the Main Value Zones: Establishing Major Values

Block in 3-4 large areas (background, big forms): light, midtone, dark
Use mixtures of your chosen hue + neutral gray to match those values
Don’t worry about details yet—this is about large relationships

5. Refine Value Transitions & Develop Form

Break large blocks into smaller value shapes
Gradually develop edges, soft transitions, and form turning in all value areas
Constantly compare values to maintain overall harmony

6. Add Details and Final Adjustments

Use your largest brushes for general shaping, saving smaller ones for selective details or accents.
Continually refer to your value scale for accuracy
Keep refining and adjusting, and step back periodically to ensure the forms look three-dimensional and the lighting reads convincingly.

Key Takeaways

Monochromatic tonal painting bridges black-and-white and full-color work, emphasizing value and the mastery of tone (hue + gray).
The approach trains your sensitivity to value, neutrality, and color temperature, while eliminating the complexity of multi-hue palettes.
It is a challenging but invaluable exercise for students and artists at any level.

Demo & Visual Aid

I strongly recommend watching my video demonstration, where I create a value scale using this method and show how even the lightest values include black, white, and hue. Seeing the paint mixtures and transitions in action can clarify the subtleties that are difficult to express in words alone.