Value Study Downloads & RevenueValue Study: art reference · App Store

When you’re learning to draw or paint, understanding value (how light or dark something appears) is one of the most important art fundamentals. Learning to see differences in value helps you improve your shading and create a convincing sense of depth and form.

Value Study is an artist’s reference tool that helps you explore light and shadow, with a drawing grid to guide proportions and placement. More than a simple greyscale filter, it breaks your reference photos into clear tonal steps so you can focus on shapes and structure without getting overwhelmed by detail or colour.

Start with pure black and white to explore the balance of light and dark shapes (the classic notan exercise) then gradually add more values to refine your study. You can also highlight every area that shares the same value, making subtle tonal differences easier to see. This is especially useful for portrait drawing, where small shifts in value help define facial features.

Value Study also includes a flexible drawing grid for working with the Grid Method. Choose the number of rows and columns you need and use either square or rectangular cells. The grid sits directly over your value study, so you can combine proportion checking with greyscale, simplified values and the other reference tools in the app.

Tap a grid cell to concentrate on one small part of your reference. You can hide everything outside that cell or zoom directly into it, making complicated subjects easier to work through one section at a time. You can also add diagonals inside each cell to find centre points and create extra landmarks for judging the position of shapes and features.

When you want to work away from the screen, print your reference with the grid included.

There are plenty of other ways to look at a reference too. Simplify shapes, show outlines, check tonal balance with the histogram, flip the image, explore different palettes or use the live camera to study value and shape before you even take a photo.

Value Study is designed to sit alongside your drawing or painting process. It helps you make sense of your reference, spotting shapes, tones and proportions more easily, whether you’re working traditionally or in apps like Procreate and ibis Paint. It’s a small, focused tool made by a solo indie developer who is always keen to help make the app better for all artists.

Whether you’re a complete beginner learning how to draw or an experienced artist refining your fundamentals, Value Study helps you see your reference more clearly so you can draw it more confidently.

Try it for free, then unlock everything for just a few pounds a year or with a low-cost lifetime purchase. Your purchase works across iPhone, iPad and Mac automatically. To use your purchase on Android too, sign in to the same optional Value Study account from the Settings menu on your Apple device and Android.

Annual: Renews yearly
Lifetime: One time purchase

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