January 29, 2012 6:41 PM

Squinting Helps With See Values in Your Artworks

Each free grid drawing pattern set comes with an artist tool to see lights and shadows or what is also known as values. Among the three drawing grids is one pattern that is in black and white. Squinting while using this drawing grid helps your eyes to see where the placement of your lightest light and darkest dark is. This is note worthy because all other shades drawn between the two will neither be lighter or darker.

For practice, by squinting draw the lighter and darker areas you see of your black and white grid to your blank grid sheet. Drawing grid patterns are to help in training your eye how to see these values. Then in your own creative artwork note the positioning of these two different values and adjust them to your liking in your composition.

Squinting to see light and dark areas will also contribute to your drawing more accurately. It will help you to see the shapes and size of your image. In ways similar to the outline grid pattern that is included with your drawing grid set notice the distances between areas of lights and darks when drawing. Squinting removes colors which enables us to make a choice as to placement of values.

This artist technique is used in a same manner in painting. You will notice some artists brush on a wash of one color to their painting canvas to lay out art elements before brushing in many colors from the palette. One purpose of painting a color wash first is to help determine the placements of these different values. Adjustments can be made by squinting at this point instead of at a point of near completion.

Sometimes to many objects can cause us to overlook what it is we are actually looking for. Have you ever lost something you just had in your hand and then realized it was right in front of you all of the time? Squinting removes the details so that an artist can view the decisive values that will effect the completed art composition. You can notice the differences from the "Normal View" image at the top of this page, to the "Black and White View", "Contrast View" and "Removes Detail View" images. Less and less detail shows so that focus can be drawn to the lightest light and darkest dark. This is an important foundation to art creation that squinting helps to accomplish. Squinting should be an art process that is always used during early stages of artwork creations. Try it, practice it and keep squinting in your artist tool box always.