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There are several ways to approach a drawing or painting when you are faced with a blank surface. The previous blog illustrated the "linear" approach to beginning your drawing or painting by looking at the overall shapes, working from large to small, and using line to identify them. In this blog, we will talk about what I refer to as the "value" approach to drawing and painting.

The first image shows the original image provided by a student in my weekly online critique class. The image is quite striking, has a strong composition and a good range of values.

In Step 1, I have used the linear approach to map out the general composition I want to follow, positioning the location of the major elements. Note that I have kept the shapes simple, just giving myself a general idea of where everything will be placed.

In Step 2, I have roughly filled in the overall shapes of the dark shapes, using the 2-value Notan approach of creating compositions. Note that this first impression of the composition is done with a middle value, leaving room for both lighter and darker values.

In Step 3, I have used an eraser to strengthen the light shapes and gone over the middle values with darker values to further emphasize where the darker areas in the trees will be located. Note that I have balanced and brought down the same light, middle and dark values into the lower section of the piece.

This preliminary "sketch" shall act as my roadmap to take the drawing or painting to completion. Note that "completion" does not necessarily mean rending the artwork with exact detail. In fact, leaving some areas open to the imagination is my preferred approach to a finished piece of artwork.

Watch for future blogs where I use this approach when painting in oil, acrylic and pastel. You will also not want to miss "Creating Powerful Compositions" and "Working with Notans" coming soon.

This demonstration was done in charcoal on white, Canson Mi Tientes pastel paper. This approach can be used for working with any painting or drawing method when working in a progression from dark to light values.