Class Notes: SEEING Values and Creating the Notan

Good art/design is based on the interaction of light and dark; we call it Value. Seeing the Value pattern is key to strong work. That's why painters squint: at the still life, at the landscape - squinting helps to better see the Value pattern in the subject. Seeing the light and dark pattern and translating that to a 2 value notan sketch creates a Value foundation for the final work.
We have all seen work where the artist has no sense of a value pattern; it appears spiritless and blah.
In a great painting we may enjoy a stunning image or beautiful technique but you can be sure - behind every GREAT painting is a strong Value pattern, planned at the sketch/notan stage to create a well organized arrangement of light and dark.
Above is a simple class setup and the notan created for the painting. Can you see the notan in the photo of the pears?
French Impressionists used the notan idea as did the great illustrators of the 19th and 20th century- I am thinking of Howard Pyle and Norman Rockwell.
Call up some their work on the internet and take a look. Squint and see if you can see the notan - or the strong pattern of light and dark.

Class Notes: BETTER Value Sketches

A sketch is a sketch is a sketch . . . .
worthwhile or a waste of valuable time that I could be spending painting?
Well, it's like pointing the car in the right direction and just hoping you get where you want to go. Your sketch is the MAP: a way to master the view, instead of letting it master you.
Here are some simple tips for sronger value sketches:
1. Use a viewer to limit and "trap" the view so that you know exactly what will be included in the frame; both positive, as well as negative shapes. I use an empty cardboard slide holder. (remember slides?)

2. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Start with a sketch (or Notan) - limit detail by squinting so you see less and can combine areas of detail into larger areas of value that are similar.

3. Stick with 3 values.
Remember that step-by-step process a few posts back?
The lights which are the white of the paper, the darkest darks which are as dark as you can make them with the pencil, and the middle tones in between. Simplifying the sketch to just 3 values will communicate your ideas more powerfully - and translate more easily to color.

4. Make value changes for a better composition.
Once the sketch is done, you have a map for yourself but it may become apparent that not every route is a good one. Think about rearranging value areas or connecting them to improve the composition or to better lead the eye through the painting.

Class Notes: The Value of a 2-VALUE Sketch

My favorite type of sketch is the 2 value sketch, or 2 value notan; here at the top.
I use a bold sharpie-marker to lay in the dark values of the sketch and leave the white of the paper for everything else. I skipped the mid-tones, so for every shape I must decide to push it to black or the other direction, to white. The 2 value sketch may take some practice but the design potential is huge. Suddenly, you will begin to see patterns and shapes form that you may not have been able to see in a 3 or 4 value sketch.
Compare the top sketch to the more conventional 3 value sketch below it. Both explain the light and tell the story but present very different pictures.
SideBar: I use the 2 value sketch in my own work because of the graphic quality it brings to the paintings.
In both sketches, I am very conscious of connecting the darks so that the viewer's eye can move across the composition with out a break. The final result was this little painting I did as a class demo.













The practice of translating what you see into small value sketches will help develop your artist's eye for VALUE.
What ever kind of sketch you choose to do, it will set you up to know where you are headed in the painting;
You master the work instead of letting it master you.
And we all know what that feels like - when a scene has just kicked your butt. . .
Go back and attack it with a value sketch.

Next time: TIPS on creating better value sketches.

Class Notes: The Value of a VALUE Sketch

In our ongoing discussion about VALUE. . .
I can't over state the importance of a sketch as a way to see
and FIGURE OUT value.
Creating small sketches is a good way to begin to develop your eye for value, BUT a conventional sketch like the one here on the right does NOT tell us either where the light is coming from or how it affects the objects it touches?


In the second sketch, I started a little differently.
You can see where I drew a light outline of the objects first, then used the pencil to tone, or fill in the shapes with a medium value grey - over all - leaving the white of the paper for the lightest shapes. It is a pretty simple process and if you cover areas that you want white,
just use an eraser to lift them.
At this point the sketch is very
2 dimensional and flat looking.










In this last step of the sketch,
I used the pencil to lay in the darkest darks over the medium value and voila - I have a quick 3 value sketch that shows where the light is coming from and suddenly my objects have dimension.
Not too painful right?

Remember: Understanding VALUE means knowing how to explain the LIGHT. The bottom sketch communicates where the light is coming from and what it does when it hits the objects.
More about seeing Values in Sketches, and some tips - later.

Class Notes: The Value of VALUE cont.

The discussion about VALUE, in class, is an ongoing one? We hit it from every angle and it applies to almost everything we talk about because it is THAT important.
However, when students are juggling drawing, color mixing, etc., and I bring up VALUE people's eyes glaze over.
Ok - so it's important, yada, yada, yada. I won't go into a long discussion as to why- if you are at that point as a beginning painter, and you don't know the WHY-just go with me on this one. Drawing, color mixing, composition, all come in second to the importance of values in creating a successful painting.
So where do you start to see and understand it?
First- a disclaimer to my students: this is not a plot to try to sell you on the sketch idea BUT. . . .
The BEST way to begin is to start sketching. Sketch anything; do a quick sketch of your spoon on a napkin, sketch while on the phone, doodle in meetings. It goes with out saying that doing a sketch of what you want to paint is important, so in the next few posts I will show a couple of ways to develop your eye for value by using small sketches.
The photos here show a small still life posted earlier (see Dec 18 post on VALUE) and my original sketch for the same.
Not bad - it covers the basics but communicates almost nothing about the VALUEs (the light in the setup).
What is the light doing?
Where is it coming from?
How does it affect the objects it touches? Are the objects even 3 dimensional?
But it's a start.

Remember: Understanding VALUE in painting means knowing how to explain the LIGHT.
More about seeing Values in Sketches later.