Seeing The Three Ranges

Artists have squinted for centuries and for good reason:

WE SQUINT TO SEE THE THREE RANGES AND SIMPLIFY SHAPES OF TONE.

Exercise

Arrange three props on a middle tone (meaning a middle tone backdrop) and light them with standard lighting.

1. Squint with both eyes, then try it with one eye closed. Use whichever way works best for you.

Much depends on how we actually squint. How much we narrow our eyes governs how we see.

2. Observe the setup while gradually narrowing your eyes. As you narrow them more, notice how the tones darken, edges blur, colors dim and minor details dissolve—but notice also how areas of tone, though darker, become a bit easier to distinguish. Observe carefully and you will see.

3. Observe parts of the setup without squinting and then squint. Alternate between the two until you’re certain you see areas of tone a bit more clearly when squinting.

Making tones as dark as they are when you squint is, of course, incorrect. Soon you will learn how to adjust for this to make the right tones. But, for now, your sole objective is learning how TO SEE CLEARLY A SUBJECT’S LIGHT, MIDDLE, AND DARK RANGES.

View Segment 18

You’re going to learn how to SQUINT TO THE EXTREME and separate all of the tones of a subject into its three ranges. Using a little imagination, you can organize the areas of each range into a single tone.

Exercise Continued

4. Narrow your eyes to the point just before your setup disappears into darkness—where everything is blurry, murky and dark—but look carefully! With a little imagination, you can organize everything you see into three tones.

Yes, they’re too dark but you can see the light, middle, and dark ranges of the setup.

Note: You’ve narrowed yours eyes correctly when you see dark sides of objects and their shadows merge to become larger masses.

5. Shut your eyes completely, then gradually open them to where you see exactly what you saw on the last step.

Now begin with eyes open, then narrow them until you see exactly what you saw before.

Arrange a new setup on a middle tone backdrop.

6. Squint to the extreme and see the setup in three tones.

7. Select an interesting area of the room and squint to the extreme until you see the entire area in just three tones.

You have just learned how to squint to begin any picture. While refining one, you can squint less or not at all.

And, just in case you’ve wondered about it, I know of no evidence that squinting causes permanent wrinkles