How To Use A Value Scale, Printable Scale And Value Cards

Value Scale And Value Card PDF

What is a Value Scale?

A value scale is a simple drawing tool that helps you see and draw values by comparison. The scale above has gradated values on one edge and ten stepped values on the other.

I’m aware that other artists use a value scale that is the opposite of mine.  However, I use a photography value scale. I received a lot of my fine art training in photography, and this is the scale I use throughout my site.

How to use a Value Scale

Let’s say you’re drawing a portrait of someone with blond hair. Hold the value scale next to the hair, squint your eyes, and see what part of the gray scale matches. Then check that value against the drawing.

Take as many “readings” as you need too. For example, you could check the value of the highlights, the mid-values, and the shadows of the hair.

How To Draw A Value Scale

If you’re trying out a new brand of drawing paper, it’s useful to draw a value scale on it using the type of hatching you plan to use. You’ll see how the texture affects each value, and you’ll get a good idea of the values you can create on the paper.

• Draw 5 to 10 one inch squares.
• Leave the first square blank.
• Make the last square (No. 5 or 10) as dark as possible. Here’s how:

– Fill the square using the softest pencil first (4B to 9B depending on the brand of pencil.) Then go over the soft hatch with the sharp tip of a harder pencil (2H to HB).

The harder lead will act like a “stump” and push the softer lead into the grain of the paper that it skipped over and make the value darker.

Repeat until the square is as dark as it can be without completely flattening the paper texture or grain.

• Gradate the middle squares into steps using a combination of pencils grades for each step.
  

  – 2H, 3H,4H and 5H pencils won’t easily create one stepped value each. You’ll have to combine pencils to create the various steps of the value scale.

• You can use the hard lead over softer lead technique for all values. For the lighter values, for example a “3” value, you could hatch a 4H over a 3H lead.

Here’s a chart with pencil grades and their general value ranges. (Each brand is different, so test your pencils to find their range.)

Mid-Gray and White Value Finder Cards

A “value finder card” is a piece of paper with a hole cut in it that you can use to surround a questionable value with a known value.

Note: I call these “value finders.” If they have a proper name, I don’t know what it is. :)

A white value finder is useful for finding light values. Light values can fool the eye because they are relative to how light the drawing paper is. For example, a cream-colored drawing paper’s #1 value would be darker than a bright white drawing paper’s #1.

Make the white finder out of the drawing paper you plan to use.

A mid-gray (No. 5 on the scale) is a quick way to spot check values. Hold it up to see if a value is “lighter than” or “darker than” mid-gray, and then check the drawing and adjust.

Author: Carol

I'm an artist, an accidental author, and lover of life. I grew up in Yorktown, Indiana, and I've been writing (and drawing) this website since 1999. View all posts by Carol