Understanding Value

Value is how light or dark something is. Not its color: its lightness. A yellow lemon and a pale gray stone might have the same value. A navy coat and a black one might too. Value is what makes forms look solid, creates light and gives a picture its impact. Many artists say: value does the work, color gets the credit.

The value scale

To think about values, artists use a value scale: a series of steps from white to black. Nine or ten steps are common.

You don't need to see 100 grays. In practice, artists simplify everything into a few value groups:

• Lights: the areas hit by light.
• Halftones: the transition areas.
• Darks: the shadows.

Why value matters so much

• Form: changes in value show how a surface turns toward or away from light.
• Light: a glowing lamp is just a light value surrounded by darker values.
• Depth: distant things have less value contrast than near things.
• Focus: the eye goes first to the area of highest contrast (lightest light next to darkest dark).
• Readability: a drawing with clear value groups reads from across the room.

Judging values

Values are relative. The same gray looks light on a black background and dark on a white one. To judge values correctly:

• Squint. It reduces detail and makes value groups obvious.
• Compare: is this area lighter or darker than that one? Find the lightest light and the darkest dark first, then place everything else in between.
• Use a value finder: a strip of the value scale held next to your subject.

Train your eye with this game: move the slider until both halves match.

Color and value

Saturated colors confuse our value judgment. Pure yellow is very light; pure blue and violet are very dark; red and green are often middle values. Before painting, it's useful to know the value of each color. The value trainer has a color-to-value checker:

High key and low key

• A high-key picture uses mostly light values: airy, soft, happy, foggy.
• A low-key picture uses mostly dark values: dramatic, mysterious, nocturnal.
• A full-range picture uses everything from white to black: strong and punchy.