Element:
Value Element:
VALUE
The word value comes from the Latin ‘valuta’ and implies a quality of strength or worth
Untitled airbrush on paper, 16 X 20 in. Joseph Peragine. This study of a rabbit demonstrates a beautiful modulation of values, texture and edges.
How to choose and assign values to shapes As you create shapes, you are presented with the challenge of the characteristics they will embody. As noted earlier, the shapes must either be light, middle value or dark in value. Each shape must reside somewhere on a value scale – but the artist has latitude to use any value range she wants. She can create a scale of light-to-dark that has many steps in between, or just a few. (In reality, there are countless steps in the value scale; however, the
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human eye can only detect a certain number of them.) For beginners, it’s good to start with six or less. Consider the chart on top of the next page. At the top is a two-value scale, which creates strong contrast. At the bottom is a complex scale with eleven steps between light and dark. This creates subtle differences between light and dark. It’s your choice, depending on what mood or atmosphere you want to create.
