VALUE

Pontormo

Value is the relationships of lights and darks within an artwork.

Key terms:

Simultaneous Contrast- The area of darkest dark adjacent to the lightest light, thereby enhancing the power of the other. This area will draw the eye first and have the most force in an artwork visually.

Local Value- The actual overall value of the object (for example blue jeans are medium value, and a white cup is high value) Corresponding values within the object will relate to this (shadows will be darker in blue jeans versus the shadows in a white cup)

Halftone- The intermediary tones or middle values, not the highlights or darkest shadows. Think Light Halftones and Dark Halftones.

Halation- An effect of placing an opposite value in the background (negative space) adjacent to that value area of the subject (positive space).

Sfumato- A Leonardo Da Vinci term used to describe a blending of values in transition. The word has connotations of "Smoky" in Italian. "Without lines or borders in the maner of smoke, or beyond the focus plane"- Da Vinci

Chiaroscuro- A term broadly understood to describe the strong contrast in illumination between light and dark in an artwork. In Italian it translates to "light-dark". It also has a reference to lightINdark.

Basic example of light falling across a form (light comes from the upper right). Consider the values from right to left: Highlight, Light Halftone, Dark Halftone, Shadow, Reflected Light, Shadow.

Value Mapping- is a term used to describe the locating of a range of values as discreet shapes on a 2-D surface. A gradation of value across a surface can be separated into corresponding value tones. Of importance is to remember it you are creating complex 2-D shapes that combine to make an impression of 3-D space. This implies that the artist visually 'breaks down' the image into manageable parts to re- assemble. The example below will illustrate: 

Seurat

Seurat

R. Tweedy

Kathe Kollwitz

Kathe Kollwitz

Lopez

Robert Longo

Robert Longo

Student Example

Student Example