Element of Design: Value

Value describes how light or dark a color or tone is.

VALUE SCALE:

Dark Values                                                                                                    Light Values

Value Scale - Green (Color)

Value Scale - Gray (Tone)

Low Key vs. High Key

Artworks that contain only dark values are known as low key.

This painting of a woods by Charles W. Jefferys contains only values from the darker side of the value scale.  Even the brightest value in the painting (the highlights on the tree) is far from light.

Charles W. Jefferys, Dark Woods, 1913, oil on canvas

Artworks that contain only light values are known as high key.

Artist Stanislav Ginsburg uses 3D computer-modeling technology to create stunning sculptures and then incorporates them into photographs. You can see in the photograph below that all of the values fall in the lightest portions of the value scale. Even the darkest value - the hair - is not actually dark at all.

Stanislav Ginsburg, Hemiptera, 2013

Contrast

Most artworks are not entirely low key or high key, but they have a variety of values.  Contrast is the term used to describe the difference between the light and dark values in an artwork.

Artworks that contain values mostly from opposite ends of the value scale are considered high contrast (they have deep darks and bright lights, with not a lot of mid-values).  Artworks that have values from one limited area of the value scale are considered low contrast.  Low contrast works often don’t have a lot of clarity.

Whyn Lewis's painting below is high contrast.  The very light values of the whippet are contrasted by the black background, dark brown eye, and charcoal miniature whippet on the collar.

Whyn Lewis, In the Loop, 2009, oil on panel

This work by Amanda Clyne is a good example of low contrast. The subject is a bit unclear due to the lack of difference in value.  The artist creates these works by brushing away the inky surface of a corrupted digital printout, then photographing the traces of ink left behind. 

Amanda Clyne, Van Dyck, Erased, 2016, photographic print

Artworks that have a full range of values (darks, mediums, and lights) are not considered high or low contrast - we just generally say they contain a full range of value.  The Vermeer painting below has a full range of value - darks, lights, and mid-tones are all present. 

Johannes Vermeer, The Art of Painting, c. 1666-1668, oil on canvas

High contrast can create drama. Notice the difference between the two photographs of the Abraham Lincoln sculpture based solely on how the lighting affects the value.  The evenly lit head on the left is far less dramatic than the sharply lit, high contrast version on the right.   

Daniel Chester French, Abraham Lincoln, 1911-1922, as seen in Daylight and  Artificial Light

Low contrast works often have a dreamy appearance or remind us of memories.

Hrvoje Majer's painting of two figures floating contains values only from the middle of the value scale - there are no extremely dark or extremely light values present.  As such, it gives off the feeling of a dream or memory.

Hrvoje Majer, To Let Go, 2006, oil on canvas

Chiaroscuro

When artists gradually control and shift values on a flat surface to create an illusion of a three-dimensional form, that effect is known as chiaroscuro (we do not use the term chiaroscuro to describe sculpture).

In the drawing below, we can see how the artist manipulated the red chalk to follow the curves of the neck and face, giving the head and facial features an illusion of three-dimensional form.  

John William Waterhouse, Head of a Young Girl, c. 1908, red chalk on paper

Here is a detail of another work by the same artist.  In this image we can see how paint can be manipulated to create the effect of chiaroscuro.  The Lady of Shallot does not appear to be made of flat brushstrokes on canvas, but instead has an illusion of three-dimensionality.

John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shallot (detail), 1888, oil on canvas, source