The Value in Value

by Jennifer L. Hoffman

It is very easy to see value in a drawing, as the entire image is created 
with only black, white, and shades of gray. Behind the Clouds, 
charcoal on paper, private collection, © Jennifer L. Hoffman.

In art, value is simply how dark or light something is.  There are many, many elements that must come together in a painting in order for it to be successful. It can be argued that, at least in representational painting, none is more important than accurate value. 

There are some great quotes out there about value in painting.*  Here's one, oft-repeated by artists, attribution unknown:
"Value does all the work; color gets all the glory." 

Or this one, from the author of Design and Expression in the Visual Arts, John F. A. Taylor: 
"There are painters... who know how to dispense with hues and saturations.  There is no painting which can dispense with values." 

Or this gem from Harley Brown:
"In painting, as in life, you can get away with a lot as long as you have your values right."

There are many similar values in this pastel.

You might think of value as the skeletal structure on which the rest of the painting hangs.  If an artist carefully observes and transcribes the values of a scene, the color he or she uses can be realistic or completely imaginary, but the scene will still make sense to the viewer.  (Click here for some examples of realistic value/imaginative color from a past show on Hungarian Fauvism).  If the values are off, however, no amount of color manipulation will make the painting work.  

Evening Song, pastel on board, 20x30, available. © Jennifer L. Hoffman.

Our brains have a surprising amount of preconceived ideas about what colors and values are or should be. Master artist and teacher Ned Jacob learned a lesson about the difference between our preconceptions and reality when painting with his mentor, Robert Lougheed. "The first time the two worked outside together, Jacob painted a horse with rich, dark color and black shadows.  When Jacob finished the picture, Lougheed walked over and studied it for awhile.  'Now what would you use if you were painting a post hole in that shadow?'" (Sandra Dallas, Sacred Paint: Ned Jacob, Santa Fe, NM: Fenn Galleries Publishing, Inc., 1979.)  The notions that we grow up with (snow is white, shadows are black, etc) often go unquestioned until we learn to truly observe the world around us.

A number of common problems in paintings can be directly attributed to value errors.  Ned provided me with an "Aha!" moment just as Lougheed had done for him decades before, when he made this observation while watching me struggle with a plein air study: "If you can't seem to get your values light enough, you probably aren't painting your darks dark enough."  Whoa.  That one cracked my head wide open!  It made so much sense, but I had never realized it.  Another example of a value problem is something often bemoaned by beginning artists - muddy color.  A muddy color is just a grayed color of the wrong value (and/or temperature - see Kathryn's post on color for more on the concept of temperature). 
  
So how does an artist determine correct values in a subject?  Values are in fact a set of relationships.  Determining the darkest dark in a composition and the lightest light is a great starting point.  And one of the best ways to see general values is to do something you've heard mentioned on this blog before.  SQUINT.  Squinting at a subject eliminates unnecessary detail and simplifies the main information.  In general, the darkest darks will be found in the center of interest of your composition, or in the foreground of a landscape (this is a rule of thumb - many artists have purposefully and successfully broken that rule).  Once the darkest dark and lightest light have been determined, the values of other elements in the subject can be determined through comparison.  Using thumbnail sketches helps to map out the most important value areas and to determine the value relationships throughout the composition. 

The darkest darks are in the cast shadows beneath the eggs in this painting.

 

Four Eggs, pastel on mounted paper, 9x12, available.  © Jennifer L. Hoffman.

Artists often manipulate the value range in their paintings for emotional or artistic effect.  Paintings that stay in the lightest value range are referred to as "high key" paintings, where the darkest dark might be a middle gray. 

A close value range in this pastel creates an introspective, quiet mood.

Whisper, pastel on board, 11x14, available. © Jennifer L. Hoffman.

Likewise, paintings painted in the lower scale of the value range are called "low key" paintings, where the lightest light might be a middle gray.  Paintings with subtle value shifts and close value ranges communicate a different feeling than those with big contrasts.  All of these choices reflect the artistic voice of the image maker.

Value contrasts create a sense of sun and shade.

A Worn Path, pastel on mounted paper, 20x16, available.
© Jennifer L. Hoffman.

I leave you with a quote from the great master, John Singer Sargent:

"Color is an inborn gift, but appreciation of value is merely training of the eye, which everyone ought to be able to acquire."

When you are out and about in the world, take a moment to squint.  See if you can find the darkest dark and lightest light in the view you see.  Do the same when you look at art.  The more you practice, the easier it becomes.  Sargent would be proud of you.
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*A great source for quotes on all manner of art topics can be found on Robert Genn's fantastic website: www.art-quotes.com

What it takes to Paint in COLOR

by Kathryn Mapes Turner

 

"Color in a picture is like enthusiasm in life"-Vincent Van Gogh

 

Volumes can be written on the subject of color. Since it is autumn, we couldn't resist touching on this subject for this month's article.   No doubt about it, the experience of color is a special part of life and no one does color like Mother Nature. In the summer, she exhibits the bright colors of the wildflowers.  Currently, Jackson Hole is ablaze with golden aspen leaves, red mountain maple, and all is off-set by distant blue mountains and evergreens.  Soon, the landscape will be blanketed in white snow with shimmering blues and greys. 

     
As painters, we are challenged and inspired by the effects of light on all these colors found in nature.  Everything has what can be referred to as a color note.  A color note is the combination of hue, value (light and dark) and intensity. 

  

REMEMBERING ROY G. BIV

Depending on how it is being effected by light at that moment, we can identify the color note of our subject. The first thing we can ask is where the color note lies in the spectrum of the rainbow of colors.  This is referred to as the hue.  Remember the acronym we learned in grade school, Roy G. Biv?  Red, orange, yellow...These are the color names, or hues. In this painting of the Gros Ventre range, the hue of the sky is blue and the grass is yellow-green.

Cloud Veil by Kathryn M. Turner 16 x 20 oil on linen. Available

If there is smoke in the air, it is sunrise or sunset, the sky would likely have a different hue.  Similarly, grass is not always green.  Later in the season, this same field is a honey wheat hue. Within each hue, there is a spectrum of value, intensity and temperature.

 

VALUE

When creating a painting, we must also consider the relative lightness or darkness orvalue of an area.  There is a saying in our industry- "Color gets all the credit, value does all the work." It is the relationships of values within a painting that depicts a sense of space and form. In this painting, there is not a broad range of hues represented, but the contrast between the light and dark values describe to the viewer  the shapes of the rocks and how the water streams through them.  

 

INTENSITY

 Each color note in a painting can be bright or dull. This refers to the intensity or relative strength of saturation of any given color.  As a general rule, colors in the distance appear lighter in value and less intense than when viewed close up.  In nature, colors are often less intense than the colors that come out of our paint tubes.  To obtain these subtle colors, we mix colors with their compliments in order to make their chroma  less intense.

The Refinement of Nature by Kathryn M. Turner 9 x 12 oil on linen

 TEMPERATURE

 Each hue also has a relative temperature.  Cool colors have a bias toward blue, green and violet. Warm colors have a bias toward red, orange or yellow.  This is how it is possible to have a "cool" red such as alizarin crimson or a 'warm blue' such as french ultramarine.

 

Everything around us is an array of color. The vivid light and color of the world is what compels us to paint. As we strive to continue to understand the world of color, we do our best to create artwork that moves in a similar way. 

Jackson Peak in October by Kathryn M. Turner 9 x 12 oil on linen