How to Draw a Grayscale Bar
A gray scale, also known as a value scale, is a basic tool used by artists to help map out shadows, highlights and mid-tones in a work of art. A gray scale is one of the initial tools taught to art students to help develop their drawing. The actual scale is a row of boxes that start with white, with each additional box becoming darker than the previous box.
The eye should glide across a finished scale without any skips, showing an even progression between squares. A gray scale can be drawn with pencil, charcoal or pen.
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Instructions
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Measure out eight 1-inch squares on a sheet of white paper.
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Leave the first square blank white. This is the start of your gray scale.
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Gently fill in the second square with the pencil, drawing as lightly as possible. An alternative method is to "hatch," or make very light diagonal lines across the square. Or you can also "stipple," which is to dot the drawing instrument lightly over the square.
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Begin the third square using the same method as you used for the previous square, but make this value a bit darker.
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Continue using the same method until you reach the last square, which will be completely black.
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Close one eye. With your open eye, scan the scale and see if your eye travels over your work without skips or jumps. Go back and correct any values that you may have missed.
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Tips & Warnings
You can make a gray scale with any number of squares. Eight squares represents a basic scale. However, some artists practice dozens of values in a single practice scale.
