Value Drawing: Easy Ways to Practice.

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Most people only practice by drawing real objects. The problem with that is you will tend to pay more attention to "what" you are drawing rather than "how" you are drawing it. So, let's eliminate the subject altogether so we can concentrate on just the pencil techniques of value drawing.

First, let's look at the illustration below.

Nothing too fancy here, just a bunch of values and lines. By drawing nothing in particular, you can focus on your pencil handling techniques. This will help you get a feel for values, lines, and tones easily since you have no subject matter to slow you down.

Try blending from dark to light, and then light to dark. You can go back over it more than once to fine tune it if need be. Practice making lines that go from light to dark, and then dark to light. Practice making dark lines over lighter areas. I would use a B pencil or softer.

Here is a close-up:

Finally, try making a gradation box with as many values in it as you want. Three is easy. Nine is a lot harder. There won't be a ton of difference in the two darkest values on the 9 value chart. Here is an example:

You can try making as many different lines and values as you want. One of the keys to good value drawing is becoming sensitive with the pencil. Learn how much pressure you need to apply to get the value you want.

Fill up as many pages in your sketchbook as you want. It doesn't have to be well organized for this exercise. I recommend using this opportunity to try out different pencils as well. Try some H pencils and B pencils. I like to use HB and 2B with some softer pencils like 8B every now and then for sketching.

After you do this exercise for a while, it will be easier to get values correct in your actual drawings. Try it, and you'll see what I mean. It will also help make your drawings look more realistic.

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