Silverpoint

The first page

The nine-step value scale from white paper to the darkest dark, with a pencil suggestion for each stepTHE NINE-STEP SCALE1paper24H32H4HB5B62B74B86B98BLIGHTS 1 to 3HALFTONES 4 to 6DARKS 7 to 9Most of a Corot lives between 2 and 6. Most of an etching lives between 1, 5 and 8.Beginners use 1 to 4 and wonder why everything looks washed out. Reach 8 and 9 on purpose.
FigureThe nine-step value scale
FoundationLine + Mass

The first page

A value scale and an honest baseline drawing to keep forever

Make your first nine-step value scale and a baseline drawing of a simple object, so that later progress has something to be measured against.

Difficulty
Time
about 1 h
You draw with
2H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B
The nine-step value scalePencil gradesLight on form

Why this one

  • Unit 0 of the program: Before the First Mark.
  • Nine steps, roughly even, from paper to near-black.
  • A mug or box with a lit side, a shadow side and a cast shadow, however rough.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B 2H, HB for layout and line; 2B, 4B, 6B for the darks. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
  2. 2Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
  3. 3Alpha sketchbook 9 x 6 draw at the book's size and keep the proportions; date the page.
In general, this study asks for
  • Drawing pad
  • 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B
  • Kneaded eraser
  • A mug or a small box
  • Lamp

Watch first

All videos →

Squinting, value scales and why beginners under-read darks.

YouTube
How to simplify your light and shadow shapesDrawing Tutorials Online · Shadow shapes as flat masses first. Shown on a portrait, but the principle is identical for a tree or a tower.How to hold and control your pencilProko · Tripod and overhand grips, and drawing from the shoulder. Watch before Foundations session 1.

The plan

6 stages · ~50 min
  1. 1

    Draw the nine boxes

    9 min

    With the 2H and a ruler (the one time a ruler is allowed), draw a row of nine boxes, each about an inch square, across the top of a drawing-pad sheet. Number them 1 to 9 underneath. Box 1 stays as bare paper. Box 9 will be as dark as the 6B can go.

    The nine-step value scale from white paper to the darkest dark, with a pencil suggestion for each stepTHE NINE-STEP SCALE1paper24H32H4HB5B62B74B86B98BLIGHTS 1 to 3HALFTONES 4 to 6DARKS 7 to 9Most of a Corot lives between 2 and 6. Most of an etching lives between 1, 5 and 8.Beginners use 1 to 4 and wonder why everything looks washed out. Reach 8 and 9 on purpose.
    FigureThe target. Yours will be rougher. That is fine.
    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Fill the ends first

    9 min

    Fill box 9 with the 6B, layering until it is solid and even. Then fill box 5 with the 2B to what looks like exactly halfway between paper and box 9. Squint to check. Then 3 (between 1 and 5) and 7 (between 5 and 9). Then the rest. Working from the ends inward keeps the steps even; working left to right makes the top end cramp.

    TipUse layers, not pressure. Each box should be matte, not shiny.

    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    Check and label

    9 min

    Hold the sheet at arm's length and squint. Where two neighbours look the same, darken the higher one slightly. Where there is a jump, lighten. When it is as even as you can make it, write under each box which pencil did most of the work. This is your pencil map. Pin it beside the board; you will refer to it for months.

    Checklist0 / 1
  4. 4

    The baseline drawing

    9 min

    Put a mug or a small box on the table under your lamp. On the lower half of the same sheet, draw it. Take twenty minutes. Try to show which side is lit and which is in shadow, and where its shadow falls on the table. Do not worry about how it looks. This drawing exists to be compared with the one you will make in the capstone unit.

    Light on a sphere and a cube from the upper left: highlight, light, halftone, core shadow, reflected light and cast shadow, labelledhighlightlighthalftone (the turn)core shadow (darkest on theform)reflected light (never aslight as the lit side)cast shadow (darkest at thecontact)top planelightestfront: halftoneside: shadowEvery building is cubes, every tree is spheres. Decide where the light is before the first mark.
    FigureLight side, shadow side, cast shadow. Just those three.
    Checklist0 / 1
  5. 5

    Date it, box it

    9 min

    Write the date and Baseline in the corner. Put it in the box. Do not look at it again until the course tells you to.

    Checklist0 / 1
  6. 6

    Self-check

    5 min

    Tick each item honestly. If one is a no, the session is not finished; go back to that step.

    Checklist0 / 4

What it should look like

  • Nine steps, roughly even, from paper to near-black.
  • A mug or box with a lit side, a shadow side and a cast shadow, however rough.

Where it goes wrong

  • Boxes 1 to 5 are fine and 6 to 9 are all the same dark. The hand does not yet know how to make the dark halftones. Rebuild 6, 7 and 8 using layers of 4B, counting the layers: two, three, four.
  • Shiny boxes. Pressure instead of layers. Lighter touch, more passes, change direction each pass.

Log this session

Start the clock when you pick up the pencil. Stop it when you put it down. Log it. Every session counts toward the box.

00:00of ~60 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextLines from the shoulder