Seeing Value Part I

I started the Drawing I class feeling a weak point of mine was seeing value and drawing to show value. The original professor was absent over half the time so we had another professor so the teaching was jumbled but I got two opinions on my work over the time of the course. By the end of the class in critique the students decided my strongest skill was in value and drawing value well. This shocked me. I am my worst critic and was thinking I was still not seeing value. But by now I do admit I am seeing it but the thing is to represent it in artwork you need to know your material and the substrate you are working on then learn the skill to get what you see in your head down on the paper or canvas. I've come to realize that any time a new medium is used there is a learning curve in how to use that medium to do what your mind wants it to, the fundamentals are there in your head so the work is learning how to use the medium. The substrate matters as does the application method in the case of painting, the brush matters too. Before making art was a big confusion to me but now I can see the smaller parts that make up the whole. It is not unlike knitting in that I can knit a great piece from a pattern but when I switch the yarn the whole thing shifts and even the needle material, even when the samed sized needle is used, matters and can change the outcome.