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I use the black mirror a lot. I know that judging values has always been a weak spot for me, so I'm extra careful about it. I make my own black mirrors by having gray glass cut for me and then put black contact paper on one side. These don't get scratched up like plexiglass will, plus they won't be wavy like I've seen with some plexiglass or plastic when I was in school. They're breakable, but I've only broken one in the six years I've been using them.
At least once in a painting I will take a photo of what I'm painting together with the painting and convert it to black and white to see if anything pops out at me.
When I was in school somebody came up with some little transparent colored plastic "thingys" to look through that were made for use in designing quilts. They came in red and green, similar to what Amanda described. We bought them at a quilt shop. You can't judge color by them, but one thing nice about them compared to a black mirror was that you could see the images more clearly, especially if it was a dark day.
I also discovered Carder's website a while back and made my own version of his tool. I cut a piece of acetate 1" x 4" and drew a square on one end with a Sharpie (so it doesn't disappear when I lay it on my painting cart). I put paint on this then hold it up to my set up or photo to check color and value.
Sometimes I just hold the loaded paint brush in front of the object and squint to see how it looks.
I have a very small studio right now so occasionally I take my painting out to another room where I can get farther (further?) away from it and get a different look. I also turn them upside down, or sideways, just to see if something pops out at me. Our brains get so used to seeing the painting that it thinks what it sees is "right." So I try to fool mine once in a while by doing things like this. I also tend to turn my paintings to the wall or leave them upside down on my easel when I'm not working on them. That way I have a fresh eye when I go back to them.
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