Before I get started Id like to clarify that this demo is meant for beginning artists and is similar to a demonstration I give my drawing 1 students. Its one how to use value and/or temperature to make a form look three dimensional.

The challenge of drawing or painting from life is that you are taking a three dimensional object and rendering it on a two dimensional picture plane. So in essence you are creating the illusion that the object has form when really it is on a flat surface. This can be done using several methods but the two methods Id like to discuss is how to "roll the form" using value and/or temperature. Keep in mind this is just my method and there are many other ways to accomplish this.

The first consideration is understanding value change. Im sure you have all done a value chart at some time or another. It is a gradation of value from light to dark and being able to render a variety of value is essential to making a form look dimensional.

This is a basic example of a value scale done in charcoal. You can see the progression of value change from light values to dark.



An understanding of the changes in value is important in rolling a form or causing it too look dimensional. There are seven stages of value. The lightest values in the sphere are the highlights (1) or where light is triking the object. Then you have 2-3 values of light. The most important value is the halftones (2) and in a color object that is usually the brightest, most colorful part of the form. Then you have what is called the core shadow (3), or where the form transitions from the light values to the dark values. The core shadow is the darkest part of the actual form and is usually a soft edged value change. The form then progress to the shadow values (4) which are a step darker then the light values. Nothing in the shadow part of the form can be lighter then the halftones in order to make the form turn correctly. The last value is the lightest part of the shadows or the reflect light (5). Again this can not be not be lighter in value then the halftones, but in a color drawing it can be quite intense. Finally you have the cast shadow which is where the form is blocking light from the rest of the drawing. Cast shadows are usually darker in value then core shadows and are hard edge near the base of the form and softer edge as the shadow moves away from the form.

Using value correctly can enhance your drawings and give them a sense of realism.



There are many sphere shaped parts of the human form and learning to recognize and render these are important. This is a close up example of a drawing of the leg in which you can see value used to turn the form.



Notive in this case white has been added to the drawing for the highlights. Also since this drawing was done on toned paper, the actually value of the paper can function within the value scale of the drawing. Allow the value of the paper to work for you. In this case the value of the paper works as the halftone values in the light. If the paper is darker in value it would function as a value in the shadow areas as in this drawing.



When painting, you are working in color and so have two options for turning the form. The first is simply to use value again. In this case you are going to use a basic flesh color, and darker and lighter values of the flesh tone. The only exception will often occur in the reflect light where it is permissable to use a more intense color, in this case red.



This is an example where value is used in painting to turn the form.



The core shadow is not very dark here because the form is large and turns away from the light slowly.

Another way to turn a form is to use a slight temperature change. In this case a greener version of the skin tone is used to indicate where forms move away from the light. When using temperature to turn a form, the green can be very close in value to the lights, or darker in value, the choice is up to you. Temperature refers to where a color sits on the color wheel. Red, yellow, and orange are warm temperatures and green, blue and violet are considered cool temperatures.

This is an example of temperature change used to turn a form.



You can see the green here isnt very green, its just a greener version of the flesh tone. Again the reflect light can be very intense in value and often wil reflect the color of whatever garment or surface is reflecting up into the skin, so it could also appear blue, green, yellow or any color that is nearby. The core shadow here is a reddish brown and is warm, but not as warm as the halftones.. it is the transition to the color temperature of the shadows. The brightest color in the lights usually occurs in the halftone and this will be the pinks or oranges which occur in the skin. As the face moves into the highlights, white is added to lighten the value of the skin.

This is an example of temperature changes to create subtle shifts in the face.



Since red and green are complementary colors, they create a vibration when used in proximity to each other. This is the trick to making skin look translucent and not muddy or flat in color. You will also notice the bright red on the right which occurs in the halftones.

Again this is just how I use color, value and temperature to turn a form. I hope this is helpful to you.


Jeanine