Value and Crosshatching

Now that we've completed cross-contour and understand the idea of direction of line, we're going to move into "value" which will be our central focus throughout the remainder of the semester. When we did contour and cross-contour, everything was linear, and we weren't concerned with things like shadows, highlights, etc.
Let's start with a definition of what value is:
** Value is the gradation from light to dark across a form. It is determined by its local color and by the degree of light that strikes it **
So basically, the value (often referred to as "shading") will depend on the actual color of an object (i.e. a brown object will probably have darker values than a white object), and also the lighting situation.

Here's an example:

We can look at this sphere and understand that it's a rounded object that has volume, as opposed to a flat circle. We know this because of the way the value and lighting situation has been depicted.
Can you tell where the light is coming from? (If you said upper right corner, good job!!).

Below this drawing is what is called a value scale, starting with the lightest values and then going to the darkest value. It is useful to always refer back to a value scale (you can make your own, optional, or look at this one), and ask yourself if you're achieving a full value range in a drawing. You always want to have a good range of light, midtone, and dark areas in your drawing.

The other thing to notice on this is that there is NO CONTOUR. I put this in all caps because this is so important! We no longer need our contour, because we are using value to show a differentiation between positive and negative space. Now, if you add in a contour, it will only flatten out our object.

In this project, you can start with a light pencil contour to get your objects accurate, but after that you will completely eliminate the contour. There should be no "line around everything." Objects should simply go from one object to another through changes in value, like the objects in this drawing:

Notice how each object is shown by a change in value and shadows, not with a line around everything.

The next thing that is incredibly important with value is understanding contrast. Contrast is basically just having dramatic differences between light and dark areas.

Here are some student's work with high contrast:

Notice how there is strong variation between dark and light, which was achieved by a build up of lines.
For this project, we're going to use crosshatching, which is a linear way to build up value. This project will help us synthesize the idea of direction of line, while adding the new concept of value.

When you crosshatch, think of the direction that makes the most sense for the object. Also think about how different marks might be useful depending on the texture of the object. Let's look at a bunch of examples of cross hatching.

To start this drawing, you're going to be working on one sheet of Bristol paper. It's got a very smooth surface which is perfect for using pen. You'll also be using your Micron pens (005 and 01). You're going to cut your paper to 12" x 12." Set up a still life for yourself and email me a picture. Think about relationships between objects, creating interesting spaces of negative space, interlocking/interweaving objects, etc. All of these objects you see in the picture are good choices, metallic cans, old fans, sports equipment, rope, fake flowers, fruits/veggies, gardening tool, etc, etc..just a hodge-podge of different objects. Take a picture from a few different angles. You will not be using the photograph, this is only so that I can give you some feedback on the setup. 

Once your set up is good, start drawing with a pencil contour. Lightly but accurately/precisely draw all the objects. Look at relationships between objects and where things line up in relation to each other.
If you've never done cross hatching before, it's useful to do a little practice object, and send me a jpeg. The best way to do cross hatching is slow and steady...don't rush it or it looks haphazard. The other crucial thing is direction of line and contrast, which we've discussed in this tutorial.

Another type of mark-making you can try is stippling which is layering tiny dots to create the value (it takes a long time, as you can imagine). I would only stipple things like shadows or really delicate objects. It looks like this: 

In these images above, also notice how the direction of line mimics the form of those cyclindrical objects. Also..you don't need to cross back over in the other direction, so a lot of times you are just "hatching" rather than "cross hatching."

Two more examples:

So, to recap:
*By the end of the drawing, there should be no remaining contour
* Use high contrast and a good range of values in order to show the form
* Use different mark-making techniques depending on the object (length of line, speed of line, direction of line, stippling, etc.)

Post pictures throughout the process of creating the drawing on our class blog.