Why week one is all about the value scale

On the first Monday of the Foundation term everyone draws the same thing: ten boxes in a row, shaded from the white of the paper to the darkest the pencil will go (sample).

It sounds dull. It is the most useful half hour of the course, because every still life, portrait and landscape afterwards is judged against it: is that shadow a six or an eight?

Pin yours beside the easel. By week five you will not need it, and by week ten you will notice you still look at it.