Basic Drawing- Simple Value Exercises

The Assignment: We did two exercises, using two different kinds of charcoal. Set up a still life grouping: put a box on a table, drape it with a white or very light colored cloth (sheet, towel, etc) and arrange at least 3 white or light colored objects- one on top, and the others around the box. Shine a directional light source on it so that distinctive light and shadows are created. Remember that in a finished value drawing there shouldn't be contour lines visible, just edges between shapes of value. As with the line drawings, pay attention to shapes, proportions, and spacing of objects.

Value Reduction Drawing- This is a type of drawing done by drawing the light in the set up, rather than the dark. Take a sheet of your 18" x 24" paper, and using a piece of your vine charcoal, fill it with an even dark gray. Then use your kneaded eraser to draw the set up, erasing out the light areas of the objects. (see the student example above) If you erase too much, use the vine charcoal to fill it back in. Try to match the values as closely as possible. Students spent 45 minutes working on this drawing.

Compressed Charcoal Drawing- Turn to a new page in your 18"x 24" pad. Rearrange the objects in your set up. Draw the still life using your compressed charcoal on white paper, as in the above example. (do not fill in the page with the compressed charcoal first) Once again, try to match the values of your set up as closely as possible in the drawing. Compressed charcoal does not erase as easily as vine charcoal, so build the values gradually and don't make anything too dark that you may want to be white or light later. Students spent about an hour working on this drawing.

When the drawings are finished, spray with your spray fixative to preserve your efforts. Spraying outside is strongly recommended. (in class it's required) These are portfolio exercises that should be made up before the 1st half portfolio collection in two weeks.