Train Your Eyes to See Values

Summary by Krater

Stan Prokopenko explains value relationships in drawing, discussing context, the checkerboard illusion, squinting, and digital equivalents like the median blur filter to avoid tunnel vision and accurately represent light, shadow, and form.

From the video

Answers: How do value relationships and context affect how we perceive values in drawing?

• Value relationships in drawing
• Checkerboard illusion
• Squinting technique
• Primary, secondary, and tertiary forms
• Digital squint using median blur in Photoshop

What it concludes

• Surrounding values affect how we perceive values on the inside, as shown by the checkerboard illusion where squares A and B are the same value.
• Tunnel vision causes artists to stretch values in a small portion to a full value range, making light shadows appear too light.
• Squinting blurs the image and simplifies space into larger groups of value, helping to identify primary and secondary forms.
• The median noise removal tool in Photoshop is a digital equivalent of squinting that keeps edges more accurate than a simple blur.