Scale Light
The intention of shading is to give your drawing scene three-dimensionality. When you are finished with shading, your drawing should look like it is situated in space with rounded edges and parallel lines that seem to converge at infinity.
The value of an object is a measure of its darkness and lightness. Values vary from completely white to completely dark on a continuous scale. To start your value training you can divide the continuous scale into five intervals to which you assign the average value within each interval.
This idea is summarized in the construction of a so-called 5-value scale:
Step 1. Draw 5 connected squares. Make the first square from the left completely black and the fifth completely white.
Step 2. Then, block-in the middle square with a value midway the two end values. This one is called the “halftone” (or medium gray).
Step 3. Next, the second box from the left is filled in with the average of medium gray and black. This is the “dark gray” value.
Step 4. Finally, block-in the fourth box from the left with the average of medium gray and white. This is the “light gray” value.
With these 5 values you can achieve very realistic shading and for most purposes may actually be quite sufficient. The idea is to practice these 5 values a lot so they become second nature.
Now, armed with this 5-value scale we can now begin the shading process (i.e., the application of the 5 different values to your line drawing).
Always be aware of the location of the light source(s). To practice your 5-value scale it may be a good idea to first investigate the value distribution of scene that is lighted with just one light source. This way you will get the feel of how light distributes itself among sets of objects.
After a while you will become aware of certain value patterns that are consistent with the location of the light source. Of course, theoretically, all you need to really do is correctly observe all the values and then correctly reproduce them on your drawing paper. Still, if you internalize the flow of light as it relates to a light source, the task of judging values will become much easier.
The procedure starts with assigning to each of your line drawing areas one of the values of your internalized 5-value scale. You do that through careful observation. Later, during the next phase, we will blend the boundaries between the multiple areas. These blended areas will be called transition areas and they will have the average value of the two neighboring forms.
It is also helpful to think of the values of the 5-value scale in terms of the 5 so-called elements of shading:
a. Full Light or Highlight – An area where the light hits the object straight on is said to be in full light. It is the white represented by the first square on the right of your 5-value scale, i.e., the white of your paper.
b. Cast Shadow – A cast shadow has the value shown in the box farthest the left on your value scale. This value occurs in places that are completely blocked from the light source and any reflections. These areas are usually to be found among the shadows the object casts on other surfaces.
c. The Halftone – This is the medium gray value of your 5-value scale. The halftone is the value of an object that in bathed in average daylight, i.e., light that is right in between dark and light.
d. Reflected Light – Reflected light corresponds in value to that of the fourth box from the left on your 5-value scale. It is often seen as a narrow streak of light gray between a shadow edge and a cast shadow. It is light that reflected from neighboring surfaces onto your objects.
Note that this type of light is never totally white. It is important to render such light carefully because it contributes considerably to the illusion of three-dimensionality and roundness of the objects.
e. Shadow Edge – The second box from the left on your 5-value scale represents the value of a shadow edge. Shadow edges are found in areas between cast shadows (or reflected light) and halftones.
In closing, an acceptable line drawing, the 5-value scale, and the 5 elements of shading are all you need to produce a shaded drawing. The idea is to use short parallel lines to build up the different values. A sphere on a surface lighted from one side is ideal to practice the interaction of the 5 shading elements.
Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert teacher. Check out his Pencil Portrait Course and his Portrait Print Package Special
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