Help With Value Assignment in Inks (Comics)

[Knight Owl]

I'm working on the fundamentals of lighting, currently working through How to Render where Robertson emphasizes the importance of a 1-2-3 read in all renders. I understand a comic is far from a singular render, but I'm confused by some of the value decisions made in otherwise god-tier artwork.

Here are three examples of what's confusing me in Buscema/Alcada's Sword of Conan:







If anyone could provide me technical insight in how these decisions are made. I am trying to apply what I'm learning about value and lighting to inking comics but can't understand the logic of light here.
Is it masterful rule bending for visual communication? If so, what axioms and principles could I identify at work there to replicate and apply? I really would like to add more values via the brush and economical hatching but don't understand many value decisions like those above.

Thanks everybody. 

[darktiste]

You are looking at a black and white image how is that 1-2-3 read a 1-2-3 read imply 3 value as far as i understand the concept.I think if you want to understand black and white better you need to study something call notan which is a field about how to group value together.

Also you have to understand that artistic decision on lighting is a very common thing when you are directing the eye.Not everything is tied to realism but it can be motivated by storytelling.One thing for the bounce light is that bounce light is determine by what around the object and how much that object plane is facing toward either the shadow side or the light.The more that face is facing the light the more bounce light the less it face the light side the less bounce also the light intensity and the material can affect the bounce.One other thing is that multiple surface can be bouncing at the same time resulting in some area with more bounce light.

One other thing when we talk about comic is that you need to think about how to create texture with limited value.

You can't necessary understand the thought behind decision if you don't limit yourself to the value they have because you aren't forcing yourself to think in the way they do.Also you need to have the full understanding of the propriety of light to make the best of what you have.

[JosephCow]

These are good questions. The things you've picked out are indeed not really logically correct in the naturalistic sense. Like in second example, why isn't his calf in shadow? It should be if it were realistic, but in this style of art there is a lot of liberty taken with that kind of consistency for a few reasons. The lines and blocks of shadow themselves are compositional devices that, you know can be manipulated for artistic reasons. In other words, the shading is for decoration, much more than in a technical render like you mind find in Scott Robertson's work. Also some of these odd things are done to emphasize the form within the limits of just black and white. The camel for instance, the lighting honestly makes no sense, but it does really emphasize the form of it, and gives a certain effect visually, which it wouldn't have if it was realistic. So I think it's a give and take. The artist gives up access to certain effects that you find in naturalistic drawing, but gains others.