Seventh Grade Value Studies

Seventh graders spend their first trimester learning about value, or light and darkness and how they are used in art.  We looked at the work of several master painters to discover the functions of value. For example, value can be used for emphasis, as in this Goya painting. The light draws our attention to the expressive face of the little boy.

Value can also be used to create mood, as in this painting by Picasso from his Blue Period. The predominant dark values create a glum atmosphere.

Artists also use value to create dimension, or the illusion of 3-dimensionality. In this Georgia O'Keeffe painting, the dramatic values give the flower a tunnel-like effect.

Seventh graders started with the basics of how to create value by varying the pressure of their drawing. Each student created a Value Scale in pencil, colored pencil, and charcoal.

Then, each student created a contour drawing, or a drawing made only with lines. They used dividing lines to slice up the page and "shatter" their drawing into smaller pieces. Finally, they spent several classes on the task of shading each shape with a graduated value scale. If you look closely at the samples, each and every shape has a complete value scale, from darkest to lightest. I am so proud of their work! As you can imagine, this can get a bit tedious, but they pushed through and created some remarkable work. Each student made an artistic decision about whether or not to use color and whether or not to camouflage the original drawing by using one color.

This student based her work on stained glass:

This student initially had the hand camouflaged, but chose to outline it and added pizzaz with the red nails:

This student even created a hidden self-portrait:

Now that the seventh graders have the hang of gradual shading (after shading about 100 times in their Shattered Values drawings), we will be focusing on applying those shading techniques to realistic drawing. We will be observing 3-D shapes and drawing them with charcoal, recording subtle shading to add dimension.

The grand finale of our adventures in value is a great project I borrowed from my friend Emily's curriculum. Each seventh grader will make a xerox of either their hand or their face (eyes closed, of course). Then, they will use grid enlargement techniques and charcoal to transfer their work, square by square, to a larger paper.  Grids are a wonderful technique used by muralists and the inspiring portrait artist Chuck Close.  Here is a lovely (but sadly, unfinished) example from last year. More details soon!