VALUE SCALE LANDSCAPE

Sketchbook Assignment

Aaron Douglas (1899-1979)

Building More Stately Mansion, 1944. Oil on canvas.

Notice how Douglas uses lighter values of color to show objects further away.

Aaron Douglas (1899-1979)

Song of the Towers, 1966. Oil on canvas.

Aaron Douglas (1899-1979)

The Creation, 1935.

Value Scale LandscapeIn atmospheric perspective, the illusion of depth is created by techniques such as texture gradients (details disappear the further you go in the distance), brightness gradients (objects in the distance have less intense colors), and the manipulation of warm and cool colors. Objects higher on the picture plane also appear further away from us.

Sketchbook Assignment #4: Value Scale Landscape

Create a multi-level landscape, cityscape, seascape, etc. silhouette in which each level is a slightly lighter value to suggest objects receding in space.

Sketchbook Assignment #4: Value Scale Landscape

Your landscape/seascape/cityscape should have …

•at least four levels (foreground, two levels of middleground, and a distant background)

• your darkest value at the bottom of the page, your lightest value at the top of the page

Sketchbook Assignment #4: Value Scale Landscape

Keep in mind that closer objects will have more details than those in the distance.

You may use any media to complete the assignment (ask about media we have not used yet – paint, pastels, etc).

You may choose an actual image to work from or use your imagination to create your landscape.