The "Value" of Drawing

When drawing in pencil or charcoal, you must translate the colors of nature into black and white.  To do this, you pretend that your eye is a camera loaded with black and white film, and it only sees colors as black, white, or various tones of gray.  These tones are called the “value” of an object.  To better determine the value of something you are about to draw, squint your eyes and determine if the object is close to white, a light gray, medium gray, dark gray, or black. 

A red apple would translate into a fairly dark, almost black shade of gray.  A green pear would become a medium gray in your drawing, and a lemon should probably be drawn as a very pale gray, almost white. 

Since there are hundreds of subtle variations of gray in the values of objects, most artists try to simplify a picture into just a few values, which make it easier to draw and produce a more satisfying pictorial design.  A great picture can be made by concentrating on just three values—almost white or very light gray, a medium gray, and a dark gray.  Add a few touches for detail, and you’ll have a great drawing!