Lecture on Value 101

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     When an image flashes in your mind, as an artist your first instinct is to capture it exactly. That's the amateur in you reacting. The experienced artist will view that vision as a guide and know it is ok to divert from it. It's ok to change it and apply principles to make it better. Think like an artist!

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      You eventually have to draw your perfect vision so one important principle to always keep in mind is value! Value is very important. Art teachers always said the word 'value' and talked about it's importance but knuckle-headed younger me never truly understood value. Not until I looked at the work of Hans Baker. His work opened my eyes to how value can be used to tell story but for this post I will only focus on Value itself and what it is...

Hans Baker, Value sets mood, space, composition. 

Light source/Time of day
      It's very important to know what the light in your picture will look like: will it be ambient? Will it be sunlight through a window? Be decisive! Below is a solid example of establishing a light source. The artist's name is Anton Azbe. Drawing with light source in mind can give shape, volume, and definition to your subject.

Anton Azbe - light source example

     Here below is another drawing of a figure, It's VERY well done. You can see form, shape and volume in the figure drawing. This piece of art was made by an artist named Den Drolet. The top drawing is not better than this one nor is this one better than the top drawing. I am comparing the two so you as the viewer can see the difference of having chosen a light source and note having established a light source. Remember that there's is no BETTER way to draw/create something. Every choice must be thought of as a tool. The 'tool' of the light source was chosen to not be used in the photo below to define the figure.

Den Drolet - using line instead of a light source to define the figure

Contrast
     This by far has to be my favorite principle or 'tool'. If you ever hear me speak about movement, line, value, film or critique something, I will always mention the word 'contrast'. In value you can play light against dark. But once again, there are no rules! (I'm getting worked up just thinking about contrast!!) If you have a bunch of pictures that use dark vs lights, try making a picture with light-against-lights or even dark-against-darks! Contrast can be used in an image or used across multiple images. You can contrast where ever you want, maybe thats why I like it so much! (calm down danny you might scare the children..)

Hans baker using contrast in many ways! always draws your eye to the focal point
by making it stand out with contrast!

Balance in Texture using Value:
     A nice drawing is a nice drawing. but what separates great drawings from the rest? Many people have their opinions so I don't see why I can't put my 2 cents in :)

     I believe a good drawing PLAYS with the viewer. Plays with the principles and techniques or art. By play I mean manipulate and use them in an interesting way that gives a bump to it's aesthetic value. Whats this word Aesthetics? Click here for a Kantian view of aesthetics and arts. Let me show you some examples:

     I found this image above on the inter webs and sadly I do not know who created this pencil drawing. It's really good, no one will argue that. But let me bring your attention to the following image below by Igor Kazarin and notice that something about it captures you a bit more firmly than the drawing above. Is it bc he's looking at you? Is it bc it's nicely shaded...?

Nothing but good things to say when it comes to Igor Kazarin and his art

       I believe the Image of the bearded man is stronger bc the artist is using value to direct the viewer. He's controlling the viewer's eyes even when there is no need to (notice it's not as if this was a very crowded busy image where you had to search for the focal point.) This image has areas where there is a lot of detail and a lot of contrast to draw you in. It also has areas of rest where the value and the area surrounding it has similar shades. As the eye looks around the image it is hit with detail, it has a lot to absorb so when it comes across an area of rest (places where the value doesn't vary much) the eye relaxes and processes the piece of art. When you are hit with too much detail and no places of rest, the eye will look away.
     "LIAR! Danny but there are tons of great complicated drawings in the world! What up?" 
     True, but those still have areas of rest and there is joy in taking time to view them. But that doesn't take away from the point that I am trying to make that there is something about these drawings that push it to another aesthetic level. Where as some super photo realistic drawings are trying really hard to blur the lines between photo's and art like the Julia Roberts one above, other drawings such as the bearded man are also photo-realistic but they don't let you forget about the thinking artist behind the art.

      Which one is more interesting (Danny how dare you ask a subjective question!) To me, the one on the right is more interesting to me. The lack of lines, the use of a light source, and the contrast between values are all pushed to the extremes. The image below and the top right are made by the artist Ileana Hunter. I don't know if it's the drawing skills or the fact that it's Audrey Hepburn but I like :) 

        If Leonardo Da Vinci was doing it hundreds of years ago.. then there must be something to it wouldn't you say so?

Leonardo Da Vinci controlling the Eye like a boss

Value in Color
Who cares, draw with the wrong colors! Its all about if the values are right! A little purple in the tiger never hurt anyone...

greg manchess

Art: Stephan anderson

 Mood is Value
      Dark values are usually associated with dark feelings a low moods and the opposite goes for light values. Manipulate your values and you can have Mood!

      Wolfgang Znamanack was one of germany's most important theatre stage designer in the last century. Look at not how his colors set the mood, but the value of the colors... These stages had to be designed for dramatic Wagner Operas so it's appropriate for the mood to be quite dramatic as well!

      I made these last two images smaller on purpose to force to to click on them and get an up close view of these super cool designs! This art goes to show that your occupation can be anything and if you put good creative principles and a determined mind you can inject art/feeling into all kinds of things.

STEP BACK!
      Before you finish your drawing remember to step back and make sure the value works. Squint or step really far back. Even when you can not see details your value should still make sense and look right. :)

     All this knowledge and tips I posted here today are not things I discovered on my own. All this is an accumulation of knowledge from artist all around the world that I'm putting in one spot for you! Knowledge needs to be passed on, and I hope you take a step back and realize that now that you have read this it is your duty to pass it on to somebody who might need your help one day.

Thanks for reading!

A Thinking Mind pt 3/3

So this is the 3 part of 3 in my rant about art. enjoy...

-Concepts In Art

        So in the last posts I spoke of how (fine) art cannot just look good but also needs have a thought behind it. You cannot just make pretty muffins as an artist. There is no message or thought in your product. The same goes with concept making, you cannot have only strong concepts and not be able to communicate that through your art. If a fine Art piece requires an artist statement in order to understand it, then the aesthetics are off thus failing as art.. Remember your work must be able to please the sences and at the same time make the audience think specifically what you intend them to think.
       You can't just be making concept after concept as if you were a philosopher then try to make art by slapping some dog shit on a canvas and then say, "This represents how the industry treats real artists..." That, I hope everyone would agree, is just a pile of crap on a canvass....  literally.

You must be both, the philosopher and the muffin maker to make a working aesthetic piece and have a concept.

summery- if the concept is strong- but it is presented badly... then FAIL. If it looks good but has no concept. .. why do you even bother creating things??

-More than a Concept
        It is not that simple just apply a concept and be done with your pretty piece.. Here's where I going to get a little dense. Regarding concepts and ideas pertaining to one's piece of art:
 -A piece of fine art induces much thought. BUT does not yield to the possibility of a definite thought, if it's just one idea then it's just a concept.

         Meaning, if your art piece says what it is meant to say right off the bat then the art piece is weak as a whole. The piece of art must invoke images and themes in your mind which surpass the ordinary experience. Remember a good piece of art you find yourself thinking about for a while. One doesn't need to be blunt and have that shock value in order to get one's thought across to his or her's audience. One doesn't need to spoonfeed their audience ideas, you let the art do the talking indirectly.

-You as an Artist
        As artists you might of notice sometimes we don't think the same as the general public does. In our minds there is cognition and imagination. In normal people cognition is the the regular, but not so in us, imagination is dominant. So think about what that allows you to do...

      -As Animators can create an emotion and a thought by just using body language. WALL-E did this for the whole first half an hour flawlessly.
      -As painter can make a composition and with a few colors you can set the whole mood of the painting.. Look at Van Goughs last painting he made before he committed suicide and I dare you to tell me there was no forshadowing...


'Wheatfield with Crows' - by Van Gogh, 1890: last weeks of his life

      -As a musician you can create great wonderful pieces with only six strings. You can create so much emotion with just sound...
And all the other artists out there are capable of so much as well. It is our imagination that allows us to do that. We can recompose the things around us, this allows artist to change the world around them. This is how humans surpass nature. With science, nature is never surprised by what we discover, but with Art nature is dumbfounded in our ability to create wholly never before seen things.

      Not only do we make concepts but we make them into experiences for others to feel. Thats what Art is. All together it becomes more than a concept, it becomes an aesthetic idea.

      A culture is only as great as it's artist and a civilization lives on through it's ideas and art. That's right. Feel that pressure. There are a lot of bad artist out there but nonetheless they are trying. It is up to you to bear humanities future in your creativity with simplicity and elegance.
     One last note before I end this, do not undervalue your personal tastes. 'Taste clips the wings of geniuses' Kant said this and rightly so. You can't just make pure imaginational nonsense. Your taste needs to be the deciding factor when trying to decide when a piece of work is done. When you are judging what stays and what goes, that's is your taste at work. The ability to stand back and evaluate your own art to your liking and from others perspective is crucial. Because it's useless if you have a million ideas but can not reflect on them, if that was the case you would forever combine all ideas all the time and make pure nonsense as long as you live.
So there.
     I hope I gave you enough to THINK about and that it helps you develop your own understanding about what it means to be an artist, to create art, and the idea of beauty.

     Now you should have a good understanding why 'Avatar' was beaten by 'The Hurt Locker' for last year's Best Picture Award at the Oscars. Avatar was about concepts, (the movie told us 'this is good, this is bad' etc etc) as good as the film was made, it had bad aesthetics when compared to the Hurt Locker. It was all on the surface.. Hurt Locker on the other hand went MUCH deeper than Avatar. It showed you a character and gave you the experience and emotion he went through. How he thought, what he felt, all the grey areas with all of life's complications. It made one think about what we value in life. Hurt locker deserved to win and the Academy members saw that as well. So kudo's to Cameran's ex wife for making The Hurt Locker. I bet that stung him a little...

-Daniel Gonzales

PS. I should be responding very soon to your emails if you have sent me one. And if you had given me a business card I going to give priority to the ones who have emailed me first (because their work is usually linked in the email.) So if you gave me a business card I would advise to email me if you want a speedier response. Other wise I will get to you eventually. As for what I will speak of next? Leave a Comment about what you would like to hear. From Blocking in animation, to a little rant on composition. What ever you would like to see. If you want me to publicly critique something for all to see or watch a step by step progress of how I do my work. The sky is the limit. Thanks.