29. Values. Drawing has been called the science of art, but artists have rarely approved the introduction of scientific methods in the study of drawing, fearing lest the use of formulas should lead to dull mechanical results. Students are left to discover methods and formulas of their own. It is true that every success ful draftsman or artist has a method which he has worked out for himself, but he usually feels it to be so much a matter of his own individuality, that he is reluctant to impose it on student, who are likely to confound what is a vital principle with a personal man nerism, and by imitation of the latter injure the quality of personal expression which is so important in all creative work. So there is an inclination among drawing teachers to distrust anything which tends even to formulate the principles of drawing. Recently there has been, however, a distinct advance in the study of these prin ciples, under the leadership of Dr. Denman W. Ross, of Harvard University, who has made it possible for the first time to speak with exactness of colors and values. As Dr. Ross has permitted the use of his valuable scale in this text book, it will greatly assist in making tangible and clear, what would otherwise be obscure and difficult to explain.
The word values as used in the text book refers entirely to relations of light and dark. For instance, the value of a given col or, is represented by a tone of gray which has the same density or degree of light and dark that the color has. The value of a spot of red paint on a white ground is expressed by a spot of gray paint which appears as dark on the white ground as does the red paint, but from which the color principle has been omitted. A good pho tograph of a colored picture gives the values of the picture. A poor photograph, on the contrary, distorts the values and blues are often found too light, while reds and yellows will be too dark to truth fully express the values of the original color.
3o. The Value Scale. All possible values which can be rep resented in drawing, lie between the pure whites of paper or pig ments and the pure black of pen cil, ink, or other pigments. In order to think or speak precisely , of the great range of values be tween black and white, it is necessary that they shall be clas sified in some way. It is not sufficient to say that a given shadow is light, or medium, or dark in value. Dr. Ross has overcome the difficulty by ar ranging a value scale of nine equal intervals, which covers the whole range from pure white to pure black. Each interval has its appropriate designation and a convenient abbreviation. This scale affords a practical working basis for the study of values. It
is evident that while the indi vidual scale does not include all possible values, it can readily be enlarged indefinitely by intro ducing values between those of the scale as described. As a matter of fact, any differences in value that might come between any two intervals of the scale would rarely be represented, as it is the practice in drawing to simplify values as much as pos . sible; that is to consider the general value of a mass, rather than to cut it up into a number of slightly varying tones which are not necessary for expressing anything of importance in the object.
31. How to Make a Value Scale. Fig. 24 shows a value scale with the names of the intervals and their abbreviations. In making a value scale the student should work in pencil, confining each interval within a circle three-quarters of an inch in diameter. White will be represented by the white paper with a circle penciled 2,bout it, Black (B) and white (W) should be established first, then the middle value (M), light (L) and dark (D); afterward the remaining values, low light (LL), high light (IJL), low dark (LD) and high dark (lID).
32. How to Use a Value Scale. When the objects to be drawn are neutral in color, that is, are black, white, or gray, the relative values are perceived without special difficulty. When the objects are in color, the draftsman is obliged to translate the color element into terms of light and dark.
In order to determine the value of any surface, it is a help to compare the surface with a piece of white paper held in such a way that it receives the greatest amount of light. It not infrequently happens that two surfaces quite different in color will be of exactly the same value. The student should make a practice of observing the relative values of things about him, even when he is not engaged in drawing.
Place a sheet of white paper in the sunlight as it falls through a window and compare its value with that of white paper further in the room and outside of the sunlight. Try a similar experiment with black. These merely show what everyone may suppose that he knows already—that the less light a surface receives the darker value it appears to have. As a matter of fact, beginners are more ready to accept this truth with regard to color than they are when it relates to black and white.
An instructive way of studying values is to look through a closed window and compare the values of forms outside to the value of the window sash. Even when the sash is painted white, it will often be observed to appear darker than any shadow out of doors.