Self-Portrait / Value Strip

I had to learn how the create multiple values. This means that I have to draw with multiple shades of grays. To start this, I had to make two value strips. The first was eleven sets of one inch rectangles. I went from right to left making my values slightly darker each time. I started with a 2H pencil and made very light lines. I went slightly darker the next time but just barely. After four were done I switched to an HB pencil. I sketched a few more out pushing harder each time. When I had four left I began using a 4B pencil. I did the next three with this pencil pushing harder each time. I did the final one with a 6B pencil, which is very soft lead which means it is very dark. I then went over each rectangle with blending tool called a tortillon.

I did a very similar thing for the second strip. This time instead of making each rectangle a different shade, I just had an ombré of the values down the strip. I used the same pencils for the same areas but they all blended into each other. I blended them all together with a tortillon.

The next thing I did to show that i could use value was make a self portrait. This was done completely with shading. This self portrait was inspired by the way Chuck Close make self portraits. He uses a grid and has a reference picture also with a grid on it, and he copies all the squares onto his canvas.

The first thing I did was get a reference picture that I took of myself. I made a one inch by one inch grid on my paper and on my reference. I also had a one inch by one inch view finder. I started in the top right corner and just worked my way across, matching one little box at a time. After each box I would make sure if matched up with the previous and blend it with a tortillon. When I got to the hair it started to get more difficult. I had to resist the temptation to draw all the little strands of hair. Instead I just drew the highlights, where it was really dark or really light.

After I had finished all the boxes and my self portrait was complete I went back and fixed some issues. At first I had a very crooked smile, so I erased part of it and drew it back straight. I also fixed my nose to make it look more like mine. After that was done blended over some larger areas and then my portrait was complete.