Sketching-People

LOCAL VALUE
Everything has an inherent level of lightness or darkness independent
of the amount of illumination. For example, a dark blue
shirt will always have a darker value than tan pants no matter
how much light is flooding the scene. This is called local value.
Local value is the idea that light is dispersed everywhere evenly.
Without shadows, we’re left with the value of the object as it
is, rather than how it appears under the effect of a light source.
You can see this at work in primitive and medieval art. These
artists were concerned with capturing the object rather than
how the object appeared in a particular lighting condition.
LOCAL VALUE REMAINS CONSTANT
While there is some shading in the hair and on the face, the
values on the clothing are not created by casting a light on
the subject. The man’s sleeves are darker than the rest of his
shirt, not because they are in shadow, but because the shirt
was designed that way. Similarly, the woman’s shirt has dark
stripes and she wears dark pants.