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Value is one of the most difficult entities of portraiture. Most artists are very hesitant about tone and do not push the darks far enough. This is often because: 1. Their eyes are not yet coached to see the subtle variations. 2. The fear of messing up a sketch. Starting artists can see big lights and big darks and halftones easily enough but it takes eye-training to see the finer variations in tone. In this commentary we will focus on the interplay of strong irregular lights and darks that are thrown upon the subject's skull, i.e., light-dappled patterns. As usual, we first strike the construct and establish the facial features (brow line and base of the nose). When working with a complex value pattern the chief task is looking to simplify the patterns. Sketching, in general, is always an exercise in simplification, i.e., making choices. The next step is that of blocking-in the overall dark/light pattern with simple tones. At this point do not yet refine the tones because doing so will surely lead to failure. Using a tissue or your fingers, blend the graphite. If you use a paper stump be careful not to dull the values. The lights can be added, improved, and refined with your putty eraser. The facial area and the hair are now carefully plotted in. Keep these structural lines very soft. Also, continue constructing the value shapes|forms keeping in mind that, except for the sun-dappled pattern, the tone must be suppressed, i.e., nothing in the darks must pop out. This is a subtle balancing act. Tone must be added and then subtly modeled and/or taken away. This requires you to constantly going back and forth. Also, do not yet want to finish the facial features but be sure that the likeness is already there and that the proportions are accurate. That is, at this point, your sketch should look like an under-painting. Like color, tone is affected by the neighboring tone. You can see, for example, that once the hair is blocked-in and somewhat refined that the facial area now looks lighter than before. Now, you can return to the facial area and break down the large value masses into their various forms and relationships by using hatching, stumping and delicate eraser work. The test with dappled light is to render the delicate patterns while still keeping a coherent whole. As a general rule, cast shadows have hard edges while shape shadows have soft edges of varying degrees. When using a stump, you should barely tap the paper. This allows you to keep the small lights that reflect off the paper thereby maintaining the image alive and vibrating with light. To produce the most delicate values use the blackest, hardest pieces of putty eraser you can find. As is the case with the facial area, the tones of the hair must be subordinated to the overall light and must harmonize with the face both physically and emotionally. Lastly, at this point you can leave the drawing as is or you can push it further by adding more minutia. That is an artistic decision left to you.
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