• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Value Drawing Ideas

Three value projects per press, each with where the lightest light and the darkest dark go.

Value Drawing Ideas

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  1. Shattered scissors with three curved cutsSweep three curves across in place of straight lines. Darkest where two curves pinch, lightest in the open.
  2. Shattered initials in block capitals, seven cutsFade the letter shards dark to light and the background shards light to dark, so the letters still read.
  3. Shattered circle with ten cuts and no objectTen lines fill the page with small shards, each one a full fade from black to paper white.

Next step Abstract drawings from a rulePlan a picture in three tones

All 60 ideas

Shattered value 12

  • Shattered apple with four cuts, for a first try Four cuts leave only a few big shards. Start each at its darkest corner and lift the pencil as you cross it.
  • Shattered bird, shading the background only Leave the bird as white paper. Cut and shade the background, darkest where a shard touches the bird.
  • Shattered circle with ten cuts and no object Ten lines fill the page with small shards, each one a full fade from black to paper white.
  • Shattered hand outline, cut from wrist to fingertips Trace your hand and rule lines out through the fingers. One shard is dark at the top, the next at the bottom.
  • Shattered initials in block capitals, seven cuts Fade the letter shards dark to light and the background shards light to dark, so the letters still read.
  • Shattered key with cuts fanning from one corner Every line leaves one corner like a ray. Each shard is darkest at its narrow end, palest at the wide end.
  • Shattered leaf with the veins as cuts Let the veins do the cutting. Each section is darkest along the midrib and lightest at the leaf edge.
  • Shattered light bulb crossed by five straight lines Five ruled lines through the bulb. In every shard, darkest against one edge, fading to white at the other.
  • Shattered paper airplane with five cuts Few shapes and long edges. Shade every shard darkest toward the center fold of the plane.
  • Shattered scissors with three curved cuts Sweep three curves across in place of straight lines. Darkest where two curves pinch, lightest in the open.
  • Shattered sneaker with six cuts Six lines, corner to corner. Where one shard ends dark, start the shard beside it at paper white.
  • Shattered umbrella cut along its ribs The ribs split it into panels and three cross lines split those. Dark at the tip, light at the rim.

Value scales with a twist 12

  • Caterpillar with segments from white to black Seven round segments. The head is paper white, the tail the darkest, each a step darker than the last.
  • Checkerboard that darkens row by row Five rows. Row one swaps white and pale gray; by row five the squares swap dark gray and black.
  • Clock of twelve tones Twelve wedges around a circle. White at twelve o'clock, then a step darker each hour, so black ends beside white.
  • Coiled snake that darkens from head to tail One long band coiled up. Lightest at the head, darkest at the tail, changing so slowly no step shows.
  • Feather that fades from quill to tip Darkest at the quill, lightest at the tip. Use the barbs as strokes and lift off as you go.
  • Paint-chip strip of one blue: tints and shades Pure blue in the middle. Add white step by step toward one end for tints, black toward the other for shades.
  • Piano keyboard that runs from white to black Nine keys in a row. Leave the first as paper and press harder on each until the last is your darkest.
  • Row of seven pebbles stippled from white to black Seven pebbles and one pen. The first holds a few dots, the last is nearly solid. Denser dots read darker.
  • Row of telephone poles fading into fog Seven poles down a road. The nearest is black, each one behind it a step paler, the last barely there.
  • Shelf of nine book spines in nine values Shade the spines light to dark, then draw the shelf again out of order and number them from memory.
  • Stack of pancakes from pale to burnt Six pancakes. The top one is barely colored and the bottom one nearly black; darken each edge a touch.
  • Staircase where every step is a shade darker Lightest tread at the top, where the light is; darkest at the bottom. Keep each step one flat tone.

Spheres and simple forms 12

  • Ball resting in its own cast shadow Lamp above and to the right. The shadow falls down and left, and its darkest part is under the ball.
  • Bunch of balloons under a window Round forms with a window-shaped highlight on each. Where two overlap, the one behind goes darker.
  • Dark ball and pale ball under the same lamp Shade both from the same side. Keep the dark ball's highlight small and its body close to black.
  • Party hat, soup can and orange under one lamp A cone, a cylinder and a sphere in disguise. The can fades in a stripe, the hat in a wedge, the orange in a crescent.
  • Pyramid of four apples under one lamp One light for all four. Each apple has its own highlight and throws a shadow on the one below.
  • Pyramid with one face lit and one in shade Two faces show. Leave one near white, shade the other, and save the darkest dark for the cast shadow.
  • Ringed planet half in shadow Sun at the left. The right half of the globe goes dark, and its shadow falls across the ring behind it.
  • Snowman as three shaded spheres Low sun from one side: three highlights, three dark sides and one long joined shadow on the snow.
  • Sphere lit from behind Lamp behind the ball. The face toward you is dark, with a thin bright edge all around the outline.
  • String of beads, each a tiny sphere Every bead gets a dot of white, a dark crescent opposite it and a small shadow on its neighbor.
  • Three spheres in a row, lit from the left Highlight at upper left on each. Darkest band just past the middle, with a paler rim of reflected light.
  • Tin can lit from the side The lightest stripe faces the lamp. The darkest sits just before the far edge, which stays a little paler.

Three-value pictures 12

  • Bicycle, wall and shadow in three flat tones Wall white, the bicycle's shadow gray, the bicycle black. Draw the shadow as carefully as the frame.
  • Cat on a fence at dusk Sky gray, cat and fence black. The moon and the cat's eyes are the only white on the page.
  • Empty jam jar on a windowsill Mostly gray. White for two highlights on the rim, black for the thin dark edges inside the glass.
  • Fence posts crossing a snowy hill The snow is the paper. The posts are black, and one gray makes their shadows and the far woods.
  • Figure standing in a bright doorway The doorway is white, the figure black against it, and the room around the door one flat gray.
  • Hand holding a phone in the dark The lit screen is the only white, the hand and face are gray, and everything around them is black.
  • Ladder leaning on a wall, with its shadow Wall white, the ladder's shadow gray, the ladder black. Draw the shadow first, since it is the bigger shape.
  • Mountain, lake and sky as a three-tone poster Sky white, far range gray, near range black. In the lake the order flips: black nearest the shore.
  • Pet portrait in white, one gray and black Squint at a photo. The lightest fur stays paper, the darkest fur and the eyes go black, the rest one gray.
  • Spider plant in front of a bright window Window white, wall gray, plant and pot solid black. No outlines: the edges of the shapes do the work.
  • Street at night under a single lamp White for the lamp and the pool of light under it, black for the sky, gray for every wall and the road.
  • Teapot and cups cut from three papers Cut every shape from white, gray or black paper before you draw anything. Three piles, no blending.

White on white, black on black 12

  • Black cat on a black sofa Work in white pencil on black paper. The lightest lights are the eyes and one edge of fur on the back.
  • Black chess piece on a black square, white on a white Two small studies. In each the piece and its square share a value, so the shadow does the drawing.
  • Black frying pan on a black stovetop The whole page is dark. Save your only lights for the rim of the pan and the edge of the handle.
  • Black umbrella in the rain at night Dark canopy on a dark sky. Pick it out with wet highlights along each rib and drops on the rim.
  • Crow on a branch at night Black on near-black. A thin gray rim along the beak and wing separates the bird from the sky.
  • Pile of marshmallows Soft edges everywhere. The darkest dark hides in the gaps between them; the tops stay paper white.
  • Snowball resting on snow Find it with shadow alone: a gray crescent on its dark side and a soft shadow below. No outline.
  • Three sugar cubes on a white plate Almost no pencil. The lightest light is the cube tops; the darkest dark is a pale gray under each cube.
  • White feather on white paper Draw only the shadow it throws and the dark line of the quill. The feather is the paper left over.
  • White paper folded into a fan Each fold has a lit face and a shaded face. Keep the darkest fold no darker than a middle gray.
  • White rabbit sitting in snow The darkest dark is the eye. Everything else is pale gray shadow under the chin, the belly and the feet.
  • White teacups nested in a stack The rims catch the light. The darkest value is the thin slot of shadow between one cup and the next.

How it works

Sixty projects in light and dark, each one a finished drawing and not a drill: a shattered light bulb, a caterpillar that runs from white to black, a black cat on a black sofa.

Read the full guide

Shattered value drawing ideas

Draw a simple outline, a light bulb or a key, and rule straight lines across the whole page. Each shard they make is shaded on its own, from dark at one edge to white at the other. Flip the direction in each neighbor so dark meets light along every cut. Twelve are listed, from three curved cuts to ten straight ones.

Value scale drawing ideas beyond a strip of boxes

A value scale is a row of steps from white to black. Here it becomes piano keys, a caterpillar, a staircase or a clock of twelve tones. Row of seven pebbles stippled from white to black builds the steps in pen: the denser the dots, the darker the step.

  • Squint at your subject. Detail drops away and the big light and dark shapes are left.
  • Make a scale first, then hold it beside your drawing to find the steps you have not used.
  • Keep one patch of bare paper for the lightest light. It is easier to keep than to erase back.

Questions and answers

What is value in drawing?

How light or dark something is, apart from its color. One widely used scale numbers value from 0 for pure black to 10 for pure white. Shading is the control of value to show form, light and shadow.

What are good sphere drawing ideas for shading practice?

Spheres and simple forms holds 12 under one light: three spheres in a row, a snowman, a string of beads, a ringed planet. Each needs a highlight, a dark side, a paler rim of reflected light and a cast shadow.

What is a three-value drawing?

A picture made with white, one gray and black only. With no tones in between, every area has to join one of three shapes. Three-value pictures has 12, such as Cat on a fence at dusk.

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