Mastering Value in Art: The Key to Realistic Drawings

The Quest for Artistic Improvement

Many aspiring artists find themselves on a constant search for that perfect resource - a book, course, or video - that will unlock their artistic potential. If you've ever felt this way, you're not alone. The good news is, you've come to the right place. This article will introduce you to a framework that will revolutionize your approach to art by changing the way you perceive the world around you.

Beyond Materials and Techniques

When starting out, it's common to believe that artistic improvement is all about having the right materials or mastering specific techniques. You might even find yourself purchasing particular art supplies because you've seen other artists use them, hoping they'll magically transform your work. Unfortunately, this approach rarely yields the desired results.

Over time, many artists come to realize that blindly chasing tools and practicing without purpose isn't the path to improvement. Instead, the key lies in developing a new way of thinking - one that most artists spend years trying to achieve. This shift in perspective can dramatically alter how you see the world, approach your work, and ultimately create art.

Simplifying Complexity: The Artist's Mindset

The framework we'll explore today isn't about adding complexity to your artistic process. On the contrary, it's about simplifying what you see to create maximum impact. This approach will teach you how to think like an artist, allowing you to tackle any piece, in any medium, depicting any subject.

A Fresh Look at Art Theory

Art theory can often seem dry and boring, especially when you're first starting out. However, once it clicks, everything changes. Many art classes might instruct you to draw a still life in black and white or create a value scale, but without the proper context, these exercises can feel as useful as trying to learn a language by simply reading a dictionary.

Instead of these surface-level approaches, we're going to delve deeper into art theory, specifically focusing on the value framework. This concept has the power to transform your realistic work completely.

The Importance of Value in Art

Value in art refers to the lightness or darkness of a color or tone. Some might dismiss value as basic or uninteresting, but its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, our ability to perceive value has played a crucial role in human survival throughout history.

Value allows us to perceive depth and create spatial relationships. In our evolutionary past, this ability helped our ancestors avoid predators. Today, it helps us navigate our environment safely, like avoiding oncoming traffic.

Our brains prioritize value so highly that we perceive the world in about 80-90% value and only 10-20% color. This is why value is often considered the most important aspect of artwork, especially when aiming for realism.

The Challenge of Recreating Value

As artists, we face a significant challenge when it comes to value: no artistic medium can provide a broad enough spectrum of values to perfectly recreate what we see in the real world on our canvas or paper. This limitation isn't often discussed, leading many artists to become frustrated when they try to replicate all the different values they see in their reference, only to end up with flat-looking work.

Understanding Human Vision and Value

To truly grasp the concept of value in art, we need to understand how human beings process light. Scientists suggest that we can perceive around 100 different values of light. You can think of your eyes like a viewfinder, adjusting to see only 100 values at a time.

When your pupil dilates, you see darker values; when it contracts, you see lighter ones. This means it's physically impossible to see both details in shadows and highlights simultaneously, as your pupil would need to adjust. This concept is fundamental to the value framework.

The Value Curve

Imagine the range of values we can see as a curve. On a typical sunny day, we see the most detail in the lighter midtones. As light increases or decreases significantly, details start to fade. This natural arrangement of values helps us perceive depth and realism, making it a critical part of the value framework.

Balancing values in this way takes time to perfect and can be challenging for beginners. This is where a value scale comes in handy.

The True Purpose of a Value Scale

Many people believe that value scales are primarily used to match values in a reference image. However, their real power lies in something called value compression.

Value compression is the process of simplifying what we see into a handful of key values. This allows us to create depth and realism without overwhelming the viewer with unnecessary detail. By representing similar values with one value instead of many, we can transform our artwork overnight.

The Benefits of Value Compression

Value compression not only improves the realism of your artwork but also simplifies your process. By focusing on putting details in either the highlights or the shadows (but not both), you can create more impactful work in less time.

A New Way of Seeing

Once you understand and begin to apply the concept of value compression, you'll likely find that your entire approach to art changes. The way you see the world will be transformed, and your artwork will reach new levels of depth and realism.

Practical Application of the Value Framework

Now that we've covered the theory behind the value framework, let's explore how to apply it in practice.

Step 1: Observe Your Subject

Before you start drawing or painting, take time to really observe your subject. Pay attention to where the light is coming from and how it interacts with the forms. Notice where the brightest highlights are and where the deepest shadows fall.

Step 2: Identify Key Values

Instead of trying to replicate every single value you see, focus on identifying 3-5 key values. These should represent the main light and shadow areas of your subject.

Step 3: Create a Value Sketch

Before diving into your final piece, create a small value sketch using only these 3-5 values. This will help you plan your composition and ensure a strong value structure.

Step 4: Apply Value Compression

As you work on your final piece, remember to apply value compression. Group similar values together, representing them with a single value rather than trying to capture every subtle variation.

Step 5: Focus on Transitions

Pay special attention to the transitions between your main value areas. These transitions are often where the magic happens in creating a sense of form and depth.

Step 6: Add Details Selectively

Remember that you don't need to add details everywhere. Choose either the highlight areas or the shadow areas to focus your detail work, leaving the other relatively simple.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

As you start working with the value framework, be aware of these common pitfalls:

1. Using too many values: This can lead to a muddy, unclear image. Stick to your 3-5 key values.

2. Neglecting the midtones: While highlights and shadows are important, don't forget about the midtones. They often carry the bulk of the information in an image.

3. Ignoring the background: The values in your background are just as important as those in your subject. Make sure they support and enhance your main subject.

4. Over-blending: While smooth transitions can be beautiful, over-blending can lead to a loss of clarity and impact. Don't be afraid of some harder edges between value areas.

5. Forgetting about lighting direction: Always keep in mind where your light source is coming from. This should inform all of your value decisions.

Exercises to Improve Your Value Skills

Here are some exercises you can practice to improve your understanding and application of value:

1. Value scales: Create your own value scale from white to black. Try to create as many distinct steps as you can.

2. Grayscale studies: Take color images and try to recreate them using only grayscale values.

3. Squint test: Squint at your work in progress. This will help you see the main value shapes more clearly.

4. Limited palette: Try creating a piece using only black, white, and one mid-tone gray.

5. Value thumbnails: Before starting a piece, create several small thumbnail sketches focusing only on value composition.

The Impact of Value on Different Mediums

While the principles of value remain the same across all mediums, how you apply them might vary. Let's look at how value works in different artistic mediums:

Graphite Drawing

In graphite drawing, your darkest dark will be the softest, blackest pencil you have (usually 8B or 9B), and your lightest light will be the white of the paper. All other values fall between these two extremes. Varying your pressure and using different hardnesses of pencil will help you achieve a full range of values.

Charcoal Drawing

Charcoal offers a wider value range than graphite, allowing for very deep blacks. It's also easier to cover large areas quickly with charcoal. However, it can be messier to work with and requires fixative to prevent smudging.

Oil Painting

Oil paints offer a wide value range and the ability to build up layers gradually. You can mix your paints to achieve precise values, and the slow drying time allows for blending and adjusting as you work.

Watercolor Painting

Watercolor presents unique challenges when it comes to value. Your lightest lights are typically the white of the paper, so you need to plan ahead to preserve these areas. Building up darker values requires layering, and you need to wait for each layer to dry before adding the next.

Digital Art

Digital mediums offer the widest range of values and the most flexibility. You can easily adjust the values of your entire piece or specific areas with a few clicks. However, this flexibility can sometimes lead to overworking, so it's important to maintain discipline and stick to your value plan.

The Relationship Between Value and Color

While we've primarily discussed value in terms of black, white, and gray, it's important to understand how value relates to color. Every color has an inherent value - for example, a pure yellow is naturally lighter in value than a pure blue.

When working with color, it's often helpful to start by establishing your value structure in grayscale, then apply color on top of this. This ensures that your piece has a strong value foundation, which is crucial for creating depth and form.

Remember, our eyes are more sensitive to changes in value than changes in hue. This means that a strong value structure can carry a piece even if the colors aren't perfect, but perfect colors can't save a piece with poor value structure.

Value in Different Art Styles

While we've focused primarily on realistic art, the principles of value are important in all art styles:

Abstract Art

Even in non-representational art, value plays a crucial role in creating depth, movement, and visual interest. Abstract artists often use value contrasts to guide the viewer's eye through the composition.

Impressionism

Impressionist artists were masters of capturing the effects of light, which is essentially a study in value. They often used broken color techniques, placing different colored brushstrokes side by side to create the illusion of blended value when viewed from a distance.

Comic Art and Illustration

In these styles, strong value contrasts are often used to create dramatic effects and clearly define forms. Many comic artists work primarily in black and white, relying entirely on value to tell their stories.

The Psychological Impact of Value

Value doesn't just affect the visual aspects of your art - it can also have a strong psychological impact on the viewer:

• High contrast (strong lights and darks with little midtone) can create a sense of drama and excitement.
• Low contrast (values close together) can create a sense of calm or mystery.
• Mostly dark values can create a moody or somber atmosphere.
• Mostly light values can create a sense of airiness or optimism.

Understanding these psychological effects can help you choose the right value scheme to convey the mood or message you want in your artwork.

Conclusion: The Transformative Power of Value

Understanding and mastering value is truly transformative for any artist. It changes not just how you create art, but how you see the world around you. You'll start to notice the play of light and shadow in everyday scenes, appreciating the beauty of value contrasts in nature and your environment.

Remember, the key to using the value framework effectively is simplification through compression. By grouping similar values together and focusing on the key value relationships, you can create artwork with greater impact and realism.

As you continue to practice and apply these principles, you'll likely find that your artistic process becomes more intentional and your results more satisfying. The world of value is rich and complex, offering endless opportunities for exploration and growth as an artist.

So next time you sit down to create, take a moment to really observe the values in your subject. Plan your value structure, apply compression, and watch as your artwork takes on new depth and life. With time and practice, thinking in terms of value will become second nature, opening up new possibilities in your artistic journey.

The value framework isn't just a technique - it's a new way of seeing and thinking about art. Embrace it, practice it, and watch as it transforms your artistic practice from the inside out.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGgVAw8vtFE