Shading a Five-Step Value Scale with Pencil Pressure
About this lesson
Students draw a five-box value scale and shade it from white to very dark by changing how hard they press. They then use those tones to make a flat circle look like a round sphere. It takes about 15 minutes and needs only scrap paper, pencils and rulers.
- Grade
- 6
- Subject
- Art
- Time
- 15 min
- Prep
- 2 min
Objective
Students will control pencil pressure to create five distinct values and use light-to-dark shading to show form on a sphere.
Prep
2 min: draw a 15 cm rectangle split into five 3 cm boxes and a circle with a sun symbol in one corner on the board
Materials
- scrap paper
- pencils
- rulers
Steps
- Say: 'Value means how light or dark something is. Artists use it to make flat drawings look solid.' Have students copy the 15 cm rectangle with five 3 cm boxes.
- Tell students to leave the first box white, press as hard as they can in the last box, then fill the three middle boxes so each one is a clear step darker than the one before. Give 5 minutes.
- Have partners swap papers and check that no two neighbouring boxes look the same. Students fix any boxes that are too close in tone.
- Ask students to draw a circle about 6 cm wide and mark a small sun in one corner of the page. Have them shade the side of the circle facing the sun lightest and the far side darkest, using the values from their scale, plus a dark shadow on the ground opposite the sun.
- Hold up two or three drawings and ask the class: 'Where is the light coming from, and how can you tell?'
Quick Check
Students point to the box on their scale that matches the darkest part of their sphere and say which side of the sphere faces the light.
Differentiation
Make it easier: Use a three-box scale (light, medium, dark) and shade the sphere in three bands before blending.
Make it harder: Add a reflected light band near the bottom edge of the sphere, or shade a cube and a cylinder using the same light source.
Good For
- Early finishers
- Supply teacher
- End of day
- Before lunch
