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You've opened a fascinating topic, and one that I hope generates a tsunami effect....
Here's an exercise that continues to enlighten: and something you can do in one or two sessions based on black and white printouts of favorite examples from the history of art:
Tape your black and white reproduction to a board, draw a box around it, and with an opaque medium like goauche, execute a value study of that painting on a piece of scrap toned canvas taped right next to it. In color, this was an exercise in the tradition of the French Academy - one of the last rigorous national training grounds for painters.
To study the grand, agile compositons of the past, there is no better guide. Just remember to keep everything very abstract - even turn the image upside down so your brain does not tempt you to paint "precious" details - which are always secondary to the effect of a picture.
You might also want to delve into the world of ornament. If you attempt such an exercise, we'd all benefit from you posting your studies.
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