Value studies

Do you ever get confused about tonal values? Here is a free poster to help you make sense of them with a value study.

Value study

I created this post to discuss how an artist can think technically about achieving an intended value key discussed in the previous post. This method helps to simplify an overwhelming number of values into a more workable structure at early stages of a painting (a digital one in this case). The loose renderings below are quick head studies from my imagination as they might be lit for dramatic and compositional purposes. I began with this basic head drawing which indicates some of the major…

Still life value study - 6x6" (demo) A couple of months ago I put out a challenge to anyone who wanted to take on doing 50 value studies in 30 days, ideally from life. We also set up a challenge over on the Daily Paintworks site for those who wanted to simply take one crack at it. (This challenge is still on if you want to join in.) The idea is to use only 4 values (white and black included) to portray your subject. What this forces you to do is make decisions about where values must be…

my first value study!

Master tonal values to make your artwork more realistic.