Light and Dark: Working with shade and a light source

Value: The lightness and Darkness perceived

Tonal: In art, tone refers to the degree of lightness or darkness of an area. Tone varies from the bright white of a light source through shades of gray to the deepest black shadows. How we perceive the tone of an object depends on its actual surface lightness or darkness, color and texture, the background and lighting. You gradually add more pressure to create a darker value.

Linear:When line only is used to create value, it is called linear shading. Lines go in only ONE direction.

Crosshatch: Drawing to shade or hatch (forms, figures, etc.) with two or more sets of parallel lines that cross one another.

Chiaroscuro is a method for applying value to a two-dimensional piece of artwork to create the illusion of a three-dimensional solid form. This way of working was devised during the Italian Renaissance and was used by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. In this system, if light is coming in from one predetermined direction, then light and shadow will conform to a set of rules.

What do the H and B and numbers mean on a pencil?

Simply, the H means hard and B means black. H pencils, because they are hard, leave less graphite on the paper, so are lighter. B pencils are softer, so leave more graphite on the paper, and so are darker. F means Fine Point, and it is quite a hard pencil - easy to keep sharp, but generally a bit too hard for general drawing. The more Hs, the harder it is (so a 4 H is harder than a 2H) - HB is kind of in the middle, though for drawing, its still reasonably hard - and the more Bs it has, the softer it is - so the 7B is the softest. HB is equivalent to the standard American Number 2 pencil, B is Number 1.