Value Sketching

At some point in your education, you have undoubtedly studied "seeing" as both a physical and psychological process. Physically, the human eye contains two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. The rods are more sensitive than the cones but are not sensitive to color. We see values or lights and darks, essential gray scales, with the rods. Rods allow us to "see" in low light, say at nighttime. We can determine shapes and forms in the dark but cannot see color. Color is a function of the cones, which can be grouped into three different types of color reception. The perception of color depends on the firing of these three types of nerve cells. Color is an area we will explore in more detail during the Watercolor Unit. So, ... back to the rods and value perception.

As a child, we begin to understand that certain shapes, textures, silhouettes and combinations have specific meaning. The eye sees a round object as a shape with recognizable shading. If there were no shading or highlights on shape, it will appear to be flat. We would understand the object as a circle instead of a ball. Psychologically, we understand a great deal about objects by the way they receive light and cast shadows. We do not necessarily ponder and debate within our mind how a shadow on a ball emerges from a highlight and gradually fades to the darkest area opposite the light. Our years of experience identify this appearance as a ball. We do not stop and think a soft, cast shadow means a cloudy day whereby the clouds defuse the ambient light and fill in the shadows. Our experience tells us a "ball" will look different under a cloudy sky. We just do not stop and think about it.

However, an artist must and does see and understand how light and shadow reveal form. In drawing, we use shading to recreate dimension or volume. Indoor theatre depends on lighting to bring life to the stage. The lighting designer reveals form and provides compositional focus through lighting direction, intensity and color in much the same way Caravaggio created his painting, Supper at Emmaus. The better the design, the more dimensional the lighting. Understanding and "seeing" light and shadow is a fundamental skill for all artists and designers.

Before you begin your value drawing project, log on and read Sketches of "Dramatic Moments", which is a brief description with illustrations by Robert Gardiner, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
http://www.theatre.ubc.ca/design/crslib/drw07/dramtc1.htm

To improve our ability to recreate light and shadow in drawing, we really need to just stop and study it. The following exercises should assist you in both "seeing light" and "recreating the illusion" of light on paper.

Assignment:
You are to practice value sketching for a total of 6 hours, 2 of which will be in class with instruction.

TIME YOURSELF. Select architectural items.

1. Set up a still life under a single source of light with, perhaps, light coming indirectly from a window. Assume that your white paper is blinding, white light. Now, using your soft pencils, drawing the shadows. Note there should be a range of darkness in the shadows. Try at least 6 different shades of shadow.

2. Find a photograph of a dramatic moment on stage that is lit with strong directional light. Dance photography is a good source to consider.

Professor Gardiner has his students complete an : "Find photographs of scenes onstage or reproductions of paintings with strong directional lighting (such as the paintings of ... Rembrandt).

Copy the photos or paintings using a soft pencil. Minimize your use of line. Maximize your use of blocks of shading to define the photo. Try to define the shapes using only areas of white paper and areas of pencil shading. One good way to do this is to start by completely covering your paper with medium-dark pencil shading, use an eraser to remove the areas that are lighter, and then continue shading the darker areas. You might also try conte crayon or charcoal. Upside-down copying can help you see the shapes as pure shapes, rather than as "things - with - names." It's ok to set out a few rough guidelines to start, if that helps you get going." Note the drawings on Professor Gardiner's website as examples.

3. Set up a still life under a single source of light with, perhaps, light coming indirectly from a window. Use black (velour) paper. Now assume that your black paper is deepest shadow. Using your soft white pencils, drawing the light. Note there should be a range of lightness in the highlights. Try at least 6 different values of light.