PART ONE: GREYSCALE
Value is actually a very simple concept at the outset. It is, plainly put, the lightness or darkness of a color. However, there is such a range of lightness and darkness that can be achieved, in addition to how it is put to use within a composition, that value can be very complex in practice. The importance of value is in its ability to express either strong contrast or subtle gradation in a composition, thereby circulating the attention of the viewer's eye by emphasizing some things and de-emphasizing others. This is yet another example of our ongoing conversation concerning the creation of a compositional door that allows the viewer to enter a work, and then to move about within it based on an implicit or explicit compositional scheme. Value is yet another means to assist this process.
But let's start simply. The most basic expression of value comes in the form of what is called a grey scale. The grey scale starts with white and, by moving to black, expresses a range of greys in between. There are, in fact, hundreds of possible value steps in between white and black that the human eye can perceive, but for the purposes of our value exercise, we will only need to identify ten.
For the first part of project #1, you will need to create a grey scale, expressing a move from pure white to pure black in 10 steps. First, you will draw out lightly in pencil a one by ten inch strip on your bristol card. Then, you need to mark off each of the ten inches, so that you will end up with ten one by one inch squares on this strip. The first square will be painted in with pure white acrylic. The last square will be painted in with pure black. You will then need to, in the remaining eight squares, begin to slowly add a little black to white to gradually move from white to black. You must not create any sudden jumps, as this needs to be a very gradual process. What you are looking for, are half-steps, that is a value that appears to exist halfway between the value before it and after it. It needn't be a smooth transition, but a logical halfway point. You will most likely have to spend numerous maddening attempts at arriving at the correct mixture, making multiple passes at a single step. In this way, you will probably need to cut each square out and add or subtract them as you try to finalize a graduated scale.
You must get my approval before you arrive at a finalized scale, so that we can determine that there is indeed a recognizable but subtle change from one step to the next. Your greyscale must demonstrate: proper and complete mixing, without any streaks of white or black, a smooth application of paint without excessive brushstrokes and heavy paint, and the correct size for each step-- one by one inch squared, cut evenly (anything smaller than this, or cut crookedly, will not be accepted). Once you have your total 10 steps, you should number the backs of them from 1 to 10 so you may keep track of their sequence. Here is an example of an ten-step grey scale:
Your final grey scale should be done by the beginning of Wednesday's class.
After your grey scale is complete, you will begin the second part of your project.
PART TWO: GREYSCALE TRANSLATION
For the second part of your value project, you will be required to apply the skill and knowledge that you have fostered during the creation of your 10-step greyscale.
Once you have successfully finished your 10-step greyscale, you will need to make use of your first homework assignment drawing and photograph, to create a painted greyscale translation of your image.
After you have received the go-ahead from me, create a very simplified line drawing based on your homework image onto a sheet of illustration board (not bristol board) that is at least 10 inches wide. You need to include a one by ten inch strip at the bottom of your composition, where you will carefully glue your bristol board greyscale chips down into place-- neat and straight. Then, you are to look at the reproduction of the painting you have chosen, and match it's light and dark areas with the steps of light and dark in your greyscale. That is, consider each step a number (from 1 to 10), and when you match a value to the value in the source painting, you write that number on the corresponding area in the drawing on your illustration board. In other words-- you are making a paint-by-number value translation, in order to familiarize yourselves with the compositional uses of light and dark distribution. This exercise will help you see how areas of light and dark can be composed by breaking the composition into shapes of light and dark.
Once you have determined all of the values, you will then need to paint your composition. Do not worry about blending or the need to "forge" a perfect copy of your source. If you do this right, it should actually look very simplified with stark, graphic shapes, rather than areas of blended subtlety. . I strongly suggest you mix a single value and then paint of of that value out, before moving onto a different value.
Mix your paint gingerly. Meaning-- take care to use small amounts of black-- for it goes a long way. Use only enough paint for a given value. Try to paint with an even hand, as smoothly as possible. These areas of value should be solid and opaque, without any transparency whatsoever.
Once you have determined all of the values, you will then need to paint your composition. Do not worry about blending or the need to "forge" a perfect copy of your source. If you do this right, it should actually look very simplified with stark, graphic shapes, rather than areas of blended subtlety. . I strongly suggest you mix a single value and then paint of of that value out, before moving onto a different value.
Mix your paint gingerly. Meaning-- take care to use small amounts of black-- for it goes a long way. Use only enough paint for a given value. Try to paint with an even hand, as smoothly as possible. These areas of value should be solid and opaque, without any transparency whatsoever.
Your completed project is due at the beginning of class TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Below is a selection of greyscale translation paintings by students, based upon studies of "Old Master" paintings. We are not taking this approach, but you can see how the scale is applied and the ways in which the students translated or simplified the original images.
The Nightmare, by Henri Fuseli (1781)
View of Toledo, by El Greco (1596-1600)
