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BASIC VALUE/TEXTURE EXERCISES After the class was comfortable with dealing with 2-value and 4-value exercises, I introduced assignments in which the students experimented with various ways to modulate and blend a more subtle range of values... The students used different media and materials to create a variety of value scales...graphite pencil, charcoal, charcoal pencil, conte crayon, pen & ink, etc.  They came up with imaginative ways to configure them... ABSTRACT MODULATED VALUE COMPOSITIONS I brought in the concept that line quality, type of materials, texture, and composition could, in themselves, convey expression and meaning.   Creating space, volume, and movement through the modulation of value as well as using the entire picture area to create a dynamic composition as well as spatial ambiguity... The students found a variety of ways to present the modulation of values... THE ILLUMINATED SPHERE After the class had become familiar with modulating value in different ways, I in

2-VALUE COMPOSITIONS FROM PHOTOS The second stage in working from photos was to go from line to value, experimenting with cropping and compositional possibilities, simplifying the subtle values of a photo image into just 2-values... I wanted the students to see the basic light-dark patterns and decide what shapes would best reveal the essence of the image.  I did a variety of demonstrations...some with ink and brush, some with charcoal or conte crayon, and some where areas of charcoal or conte were erased to create the light... Some I created with pen & ink line drawings over which torn black paper shapes were pasted.  This collage process was helpful in that shapes became paramount...the shapes could be seen as puzzle pieces rather than particular things, and they could be shifted around in the compositions... The students used various materials and techniques to achieve different textures and drama...always considering the basic 2-values of black and white, light and dark. SIMPLI