Realism through light and shadow

DRAWING IN VALUE

¡ When most of us are asked to draw something, we tend to draw instinctively in line…

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

¡ There are more purposeful and refined versions of line drawings that we’ve studied.

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

The first kind is called CONTOUR LINE.

¡ CONTOUR LINE describes the physical edges of objects as well as the edges of shadows and highlights.

¡ CONTINUOUS CONTOUR LINE is a contour line drawing in which the artist never lifts his pencil

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

¡ CROSS-CONTOUR LINE DRAWING is a line drawing in which the artist imagines what appears to be parallel lines moving over an object’s surface. This type of line drawing imparts a sense of mass.

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

¡ SCRIBBLE DRAWING is a type of line drawing that could be considered to be transitional. It is a type of line drawing that starts to suggest three dimensions, much as a shaded drawing might.

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

¡ In SCRIBBLE DRAWING the artist creates light areas by only lightly scribbling. Dark areas are made through repeated scribbling.

REVIEW: DRAWING IN LINE

VALUE: LIGHTNESS AND DARKNESS

¡ VALUE means the lightness or darkness of something. When we draw in value, we are simulating the play of light and shadow over a surface.

VALUE: LIGHTNESS AND DARKNESS

¡ Artwork created in value is about creating areas of light, middle, and dark. In the painting at left, you’ll notice that there is very little line… in fact, almost no line at all.

VALUE IS ABOUT AREAS, NOT LINES

¡ In a value works, we try to hide our lines. Lines remind the viewer that they aren’t looking at a real, three-dimensional object.

VALUE IS ABOUT AREAS, NOT LINES

¡ Observation of the effects of lighting is key to understanding value drawing.

VALUE DRAWING: OBSERVATION IS KEY

¡ An artist should try to identify zones of value on the subject.

¡ In the image at left, the artist has identified the shapes and positions of different values on the picture.

VALUE DRAWING: OBSERVATION IN KEY

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ Understanding how light plays over surfaces is important.

¡ Most lighting effects can be broken down into a few basic ideas.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ HIGHLIGHT is the brightest area, closest to the direct light source. There are often primary highlights (brightest) and secondary highlights (slightly less bright)

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ MIDDLE VALUE (transition area) is the next brightest area, between highlight and shadow.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ SHADOW is the next identifiable area in the value drawing. CORE SHADOW is the darkest area.

¡ SECONDARY SHADOW is a slightly lighter dark area as shadow transitions out of its core.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ REFLECTED LIGHT is an area on the surface near the shadow that occurs when light reflects onto the subject from a nearby surface.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ CAST SHADOW, the shadow of the object on nearby surfaces, is caused by the subject blocking the light from the primary light source.

¡ If there are multiple light sources, there will be multiple, overlapping cast shadows.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

¡ CAST SHADOW, the shadow of the object on nearby surfaces, is caused by the subject blocking the light from the primary light source.

¡ If there are multiple light sources, there will be multiple, overlapping cast shadows.

VALUE DRAWING: BREAK IT DOWN

VALUE: APPLY WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

VALUE: APPLY WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED