Colored Pencil Step by Step

Understanding Value

with Pat Averill

Artistic expression is incredibly rewarding, regardless of whether your art is representational or stylized. In either case, you will need to learn to see the different values in your subjects because it is the variation among the light and dark values that creates the illusion of three-dimensional form in your drawings. Drawing the outline defines the object’s shape, but adding the varying values gives a sense of form. Try squinting when you look at your subject to see the various values more clearly; squinting helps eliminate the details and simplify the shapes. In Pat Averill’s depiction of a charming rural scene, you can see how the contrasts between the lights and darks gives both form and dimension to ...