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Color Pencil drawing - basic coloring technique
The Value Scale
Perhaps the single most important principle in learning to make pictures is understanding the value scale. It is simply a series of tones ranging from the very darkest to the very lightest. It is very helpful to number these values, ten being black, one being white and two through nine being the shades of grey in between. You don't necessarily have to draw it out. Just keep it in your mind. After first making your line drawing, you use it to determine the relationship between the dark and the light areas of your picture. Then, while looking at the scene you wish to draw, decide what area is the darkest and make that area the darkest value of your drawing. Next, decide which is the lightest, and leave that part of your drawing white. Then logically decide where the rest of the values go by looking at your subject and thinking about what you see. It is much simpler than it sounds. Remember, the human eye sees more in terms of dark and light than it does in terms of color.
Perhaps the single most important principle in learning to make pictures is understanding the value scale. It is simply a series of tones ranging from the very darkest to the very lightest. It is very helpful to number these values, ten being black, one being white and two through nine being the shades of grey in between. You don't necessarily have to draw it out. Just keep it in your mind. After first making your line drawing, you use it to determine the relationship between the dark and the light areas of your picture. Then, while looking at the scene you wish to draw, decide what area is the darkest and make that area the darkest value of your drawing. Next, decide which is the lightest, and leave that part of your drawing white. Then logically decide where the rest of the values go by looking at your subject and thinking about what you see. It is much simpler than it sounds. Remember, the human eye sees more in terms of dark and light than it does in terms of color.
