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How to Shade with Just Five Values

When you're ready to shade, you face an infinite number of values. How do you make sense of it all? You can simplify the process by learning to shade any subject using only five essential values. By limiting yourself to these five, you will always know exactly how to shade any subject to create a sense of three-dimensional form.

The Five Essential Values

To understand these values, let's look at a sphere lit by a single light source. This is the ideal way to light a subject for drawing.

Values in the Light

There are two essential values on the lit side of the sphere.

1. Highlight (Value 1): This is the brightest value. The highlight is the bright spot where light from the source reflects directly off the object and into your eyes. When drawing on white paper, this is simply the white of the page.
2. Mid-tone (Value 2): The mid-tone is any part of the object hit directly by light that is not the highlight. In many drawings, the mid-tone will occupy the most space.

Values in the Shadow

The other side of the sphere is in shadow, but the shadow isn't a single, flat value.

3. Reflected Light (Value 3): Light from the source can hit the surface the object is sitting on, bounce up, and illuminate the underside of the object. This creates a brighter area within the shadow called reflected light.
4. Core Shadow (Value 4): The core shadow is the dark band of shadow between the mid-tone and the reflected light. It's often one of the most satisfying values to draw.
5. Cast Shadow (Value 5): This is the darkest value in your drawing. The cast shadow is the shadow the object throws onto the surface it rests on. This is the only place where you should press down hard with your pencil to produce the darkest dark you can.

These five values work together to communicate the roundness and three-dimensionality of your subject.

How to Create a Value Scale

Making your own five-step value scale is a crucial exercise.

1. Draw the Boxes: Start by drawing a horizontal band and dividing it into five equal boxes. It's okay to use a ruler.
2. Establish the Extremes:
   • Value 1: Leave the first box white. This is your brightest value.
   • Value 5: In the last box, press down as hard as you can to create your darkest value. I often switch from an overhand grip to a tripod grip for this, bearing down on the tip of the pencil to avoid breaking it.
3. Fill in the Middle:
   • Lightly fill in your number two, three, and four values. It's always better to start lighter than you think you'll need. It is much easier to darken a value than it is to lighten one with an eraser, which can create blotchy patches.
4. Adjust and Refine:
   • Your first attempt won't be perfect. The goal is to have an even jump in value from one box to the next. Look at your scale. Is the jump from 4 to 5 much bigger than the jump from 1 to 2? If so, adjust your values by darkening them until each step feels consistent.

Variations on Toned Paper

Drawing on toned or colored paper changes the process slightly.

• Gray Paper: The paper itself can serve as a mid-tone value. You will need to add the highlight with a white pencil. You may need to adjust the values to ensure a smooth transition.
• Colored Paper: You can create a value scale with colored pencils, like red. The paper might stand in for your number two value, while white pencil creates the highlight and the red pencil creates the shadows. The darkest value will be the darkest red you can produce, not black.

Applying the Values in Your Drawings

Even in complex drawings with a full range of values, these five are the foundation that drives the entire subject. In a figure drawing, for example, you can still identify the key values:

• Highlights appear on skin as the white of the paper or as bright marks from a white pencil on toned paper.
• Mid-tones cover large areas that are lit but not in the highlight.
• Reflected light beautifully enhances three-dimensionality, often appearing on the underside of muscles.
• Core shadows run along the forms, like the cylindrical shape of an arm, separating light from shadow.
• Cast shadows create the darkest darks, such as in an armpit or under the toes, adding depth and dimension.

While you can add more subtle values, they should never overshadow these five essential ones.

Your Project

To master this concept, you need to practice.

1. Create Value Scales: Make your own five-step value scale. Plan on doing several. It might take four or five tries to get it right, and that's perfectly fine.
2. Practice on Command: Once you're comfortable making scales, practice drawing each of the five values on command without looking at your scale. You want to know what a number three value feels and looks like instinctively.
3. Use Them in Drawings: Apply these five values to your own work. Start with simple objects like spheres or fruit, then move on to more complex subjects like the figure.

Focusing on these five values will prevent your shading from becoming chaotic. Instead, you will create beautiful, dramatic drawings that clearly describe the form of your subject.

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