Values do more than just show light and shadow, they define the form itself. If your work feels flat, it’s often because you’re missing those subtle shifts across a surface that tell the viewer how the object is turning. I’ll walk you through a study of a 19th-century Russian painting to analyze how the artist organized their lighting.

After we understand the original structure, we’ll take it a step further by redesigning those values to create a completely different "low key" mood. It’s a fun exercise to prove that you don’t always have to copy exactly what you see to make a great image. Changing the value design can change the entire story.