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Value- Element of Art

Value is the amount of light reflected from an object’s surface and is represented by varying amounts of lightness and darkness.

Value in art is 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).  The number of values between white and black are actually infinite, however for simplicity artists prefer to reduce the range to a scale of 1 to 9 or 10.

The Value Scale

Below is a scale of values ranging from 1 to 9:

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A Value Scale can be used to test a medium for range of values.  To lighten add WHITE, this is called TINTING.  To darken add BLACK, this is called SHADING

What Is The Relationship Between Value And Color?

Every color has an underlying value somewhere between white and black.

Let's take a look at the relationship between value and color by using the standard color wheel below:

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Now here is the standard color wheel with no actual color:

Notice how different colors have different values. Not all colors are equal in terms of light and dark.

Now for each of these colors you can have an individual value scale, with tints all the way up to white and shades all the way down to black.

You could have two different colors which appear completely different, but have exactly the same value. There would be little contrast between these colors despite the different hues.

On the other hand, you could have many different values of the same hue. These are called tints and shades. You can produce tints of a color by adding white and shades by adding black.

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Value can be used to change a flat 2D shape into a 3D form.  Objects are generally lightest at the part closest to the light source, and become darker as they recede from the light.  If an object is rounded, the value will gradually change from light to dark.

In drawing, Value can be added by using shading: hatching, cross hatching, smudging, stippling, smudging, scribbles, etc.

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