What’s on the The Value Scale poster
A 7-row table: Step · Where it belongs.
Nine steps, spaced evenly by eye rather than by pigment.
- 1 white — Bare paper, kept for the highlight
- 2-3 lights — The plane facing the light source
- 4-5 halftones — Planes turning away from the light
- 6 core shadow — The dark band just past the turn
- 7 shadow — The body of the form shadow
- 8 reflected light — Inside shadow, never as light as a halftone
- 9 black — Cast shadow at the point of contact
Reflected light belongs to the shadow family. Drawing it lighter than a halftone flattens the form immediately.
Questions about the The Value Scale poster
- What’s on the The Value Scale poster?
- A 7-row table: Step · Where it belongs. Nine steps, spaced evenly by eye rather than by pigment. 1 white — Bare paper, kept for the highlight; 2-3 lights — The plane facing the light source; 4-5 halftones — Planes turning away from the light; 6 core shadow — The dark band just past the turn; 7 shadow — The body of the form shadow; 8 reflected light — Inside shadow, never as light as a halftone; 9 black — Cast shadow at the point of contact. Reflected light belongs to the shadow family. Drawing it lighter than a halftone flattens the form immediately.
- Who is the The Value Scale poster for?
- The Value Scale belongs to the Art & Design section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning drawing can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Value Scale poster?
- Use it to check that a drawing carries a full range rather than a grey middle. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Value Scale belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Value Scale?
- Light on Form, Blocking In and Cast Shadows sit alongside The Value Scale in the Art & Design section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Light on FormBlocking InCast Shadows
- Is the The Value Scale poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Value Scale downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Art & Design section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Value Scale poster print at?
- The Value Scale is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Value Scale loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Value Scale on the same wall.
Browse every Art & Design poster, or start from the full catalogue.