2. Martha Alf oil painting
VALUE: relative degree
of light or dark
3. Local Value
Objects intrinsically have lighter or darker color---
their “local value”;
artists look for a range of values within color, created by reflected
light or by shadow.
4. A black-and-white drawing
can show the range of values
from darkest to lightest,
regardless of color.
Portrayal of how a form’s
surface “catches” or
reflects light can reveal it
as a three-dimensional
form in space.
5. Hatching and cross-hatching create shading to showHatching and cross-hatching create shading to show spacespace
dimension) with a variety of darker and lighter surfaces.dimension) with a variety of darker and lighter surfaces.
Giorgio Moran
6. The arrangement of shapes of darker or lighter values (and of shapes and negative
shapes) is a fundamental aspect of creating a composition.
8. What are some uses of value in a composition?What are some uses of value in a composition?
• Contrasting values create separation and
definition of form, and tend to project shapes forward
from their background.
• Arrangement of areas of darker or lighter
value create structure or balance in the composition.
• Value contrasts can be used for dramatic, emotional
effect; value qualities (light, dark or intermediate) can
evoke a particular mood or atmosphere.
• Differing values may portray SPACE, as darker and
lighter values indicate how light hits a 3-d surface,
and how shadows are cast by an object.
9. Jose Alberto
Gomez
In drawings on white paper, the lightest value (white)
is often portrayed by the reserved white of the paper.
11. White chalk on
black paper
can also create
a range of
values ---
where darkest
value is the
paper color.
Bettye Burgoyne
12. Paul Cadmus
On a mid-toned paper,
black and white chalk can
create the darkest and lightest
values; the paper contributes
an intermediate value.
The following slides are
examples of the use of black
and white chalks on mid-
toned paper:
