Re-Think or what am I doing?

Although I have enjoyed the project so far, I have been muddling up the objective of the project and not thinking straight - so I need to take a breather and clarify what I'm doing and how I should be doing it.

So what are my objective? And am I going about it in the best way?  It has been interesting and fun so far and my eyes, and mind, are beginning to 'see' more than before - BUT I have been doing it all (?) wrong.

Take the idea of tonal frameworks - I decided that a 5 stop tonal range was the thing to inspect.  Our perception of what is brighter/darker surely depends on the surrounding areas - it is all relative.  I just love this illusion...

All the squares are the same (but if you inspect them carefully you will notice that they are a smaller reverse gradient of the background).

Anyway back to what I was saying.  I need to find out, for instance, if the 5 stop tones are a reasonable way to analyse an image.  Who says that the camera's 5 stops are what we perceive as 5 equal tonal ranges?  It could be that we do not see in exactly equal exposure stops and it may well depend on the composition of the image.  However so far the 5 tones have mapped pretty well and as I do not see how I can work out the perceived ones, I'll stick with them.

Objectives

Learn from the Masters - as the content of the image is something I'm not really considering, I'll stick with the paintings I've selected.

Appreciate/critique/see better - taking time on each image has, and hopefully will continue, made me more aware when I view images.

Find techniques - got a feeling I've found all that I'm going to, but this is still an objective.

Test/validate ideas found - I've mostly been using the painting themselves, but any photos will do!

Order of work

It is probably better to take a subject rather than each individual painting.

Measure - objectively & subjectively.  

Analyse what the measurements tell us.

Experiment - define what one wants to achieve  before trying it.

Findings - record any lesson/technique found.

Subjects

Tones and Frameworks

Black and White renditions

Colour and Saturation