7th grade value drawings

I remember in my art education doing lots of value scales. One teacher had us do value scales, but that was the extent of our value "drawing."  Seriously learning how to add value to a drawing and making it look 3-d is a like the number one thing my kids want to learn.  So we spend some time practicing and then I let them do a landscape or a self portrait, both just pencil.  Some things that helped them be successful:

1. The landscapes had to be drawn on 12 x 18" paper. The portraits were done on 8x10" paper.  I did it this way so they would be more evenly yoked in their time for completing the project (since the portraits were a little more challenging for them).

2. I gave them drawing pencils. I bought a class set of a range from H to 6B.  Each day I passed out one to each kid. It was their ticket out of class. If they didn't give my pencil back they didn't leave.  I only had one kid lose a pencil.  Plus when they know they're using good materials, they treat their work as being more valuable.

3.  I was looking for at least 7 different values.  They kept a value scale they completed so they could compare.

4. We watched lots of good YouTube tutorials about how to draw parts of the face.  Prokotv has some pretty good ones.

5.  I took their pictures for the portrait.  Their home photos don't get the shadows that they needed.  I set up a little photo booth and took their pictures. Then I was sure it was good quality.

6. For the landscapes, I taught them about texture and 5 keys of a good landscape:
-proportion change (things get smaller as they are further away)
-value change (things are lighter that are far away)
-detail change (things close to viewer have more detail)
-values (at least 7 values should be present--dark to light)
-overlapping (things overlap!)

I'll include the specifics later, but check out what they did! I'm so impressed.  I was a little worried to have 7th graders do this, but they turned out great.

I noticed that the landscapes did not turn out as well as the portraits, mostly because the students who chose to do the landscapes wanted to go the easy route and were scared of people drawing.  But it was a good accommodation for those students with IEPs or other struggles.