We’ve spoken about many of the big

We’ve spoken about many of the big picture uses of value in drawing and can begin to focus on value as it relates to objects. When we look at things around us, we identify some as lighter and others as darker. We’d likely agree that a white shirt is lighter than a black shirt. And this is true under what might be termed “normal” light conditions. We’ll call this the object’s nominal value. But, that same white shirt will appear dark in a dark room. And in a pitch-black closet, the white shirt will be indiscernible from the dark surrounding it. Put the black shirt in front of a strong light, and the planes receiving the light will become light gray. If a black shirt has a somewhat reflective surface, some planes or parts of planes may even appear close to white.