The tonal value of colours is often overlooked for its hue. This may result in a painting that does not suggest form or depth. A lesson heightening the awareness of tonal values of colours will help students make visual measurements of how one tone compares with another.
Drawing Exercise on Measuring Tones
The drawing lesson may begin by with short demonstration on how colours appear in contexts. The teacher may apply a pale colour onto a white background. Students may be asked to judge the colour’s tonal value. The consensus is likely to be that the pale colour appears dark. For this reason, painting onto a neutral-coloured background will help reveal the colours’ true tonal value. Pale blue or brown will suffice. Students may sketch onto grey paper or apply a thin glaze of acrylic paint onto their chosen painting surface.
How to Sketch Tones Accurately
The following drawing exercise will further raise visual awareness of tones which can be utilized in painting.
Prior to the lesson, prepare a still life containing various shaped objects which might be cubed, cyllindrical or spherical. Such objects can be found within the house, such as food boxes, table tennis balls and kitchen roll tubes. Paint them white and place near a lamp or other bright light.
Lesson Activity for Art
The teacher may suggest strategies to help enhance the tonal sketch, which might be the following:
- Generalise the view by half closing the eyes. This will create a simplified view of the setting consisting of basic forms.
- Break down into four tonal areas: highlight, moderately light, greys and darks.
- Block in the largest shapes first, using light strokes.
- Starting with the greys areas first, work towards the light areas, followed by the darks.
- Remeber to view tonal areas as abstract shapes.
- Introduce more detail and definition to the highlight and the darks..
- Look out for shifts in tone within one shadow. Outlines of shadows will vary too, some being sharper than others.
Art Resource for Drawing Development
A tonal strip will help aid drawing development when it comes to judging tones. Cut a long piece of card and divide into sections. Fill each section with different tones, starting with the darkest. Place the strip in the background to use as a measuring device for drawing tones. Students will be able to use the strip as a frame of reference when measuring tonal values..
Art Lesson on Drawing Tones
Students hoping to develop drawing skills will benefit from an art lesson on drawing tones. The teacher may enhance students’ awareness of tones by exhibiting patches of colour against varying backgrounds. Pale colours will appear dark against pale backgrounds, creating a false impression of the colour’s tonal value. The teacher may set up a simple still life consisting of objects of basic shapes painted white. If obliquely-lit, the objects will exhibit various tonal values without colour interference. A strip of card showing varying tonal values will help students with measuring tones accurately in their drawings.
Rachel Shirley - I have written and illustrated several art instruction books entitled Oil Paintings from your Garden and Oil Paintings from the Landscape ...
