Value is one of the seven elements of art, and it refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It is essentially how light or dark something is on a scale of white to black, with white being the highest value and black being the lowest value. Value is responsible for the appearance of texture and light in art. It is widely considered to be one of the most important variables to the success of a painting, even more so than the selection of color. Here are some key points to understand about value in art:
- Value creates the illusion of light and is responsible for the appearance of texture in art.
- Artists can create the illusion of light using different color and tonal values.
- Values are best understood when visualized as a scale or gradient, from dark to light.
- High contrast images have few tonal values in between stronger hues like black and white, while low contrast images have shades of similar value used together.
- Value is used to create a focal point within a painting or drawing, and the human eye is immediately drawn to a light element against a dark element.
- To create the illusion of depth, gradations of value are used.
- Value changes can be achieved by adding either black or white to the chosen color, but this also reduces the saturation and adds to the dilution of the color.
In summary, value is an important element of art that refers to the lightness or darkness of a color and is responsible for the appearance of texture and light in art. It is used to create a focal point and the illusion of depth in paintings and drawings.
