The dark tones and light tints of the value scale give life to paintings.
Contrasts from light to dark add drama to any work of art. A value scale, also called a gray scale, represents the range of light tints and dark tones between pure white and pure black. A painting with predominantly light values has "high key" while dominant dark values create "low key" paintings or areas of paintings. A high key painting can evoke a mood of lightness, freedom or optimism while risking a washed out appearance. A low key painting connotes mystery or strength at the risk of looking oppressive.
Instructions
1. Draw 11 rectangles in a column, with each rectangle 2 in. wide and 1 in. tall. Number each rectangle.
2. Pour a puddle of black and a puddle of white paint onto the palette. Dilute with enough water to make the pigments flow.
3. Paint block 1 pure white and block 11 pure black. Mix a puddle with equal amounts of white and black and paint block 6, the middle block. This 50-percent gray value makes a good reference point for painting middle values.
4. Add a little more black to the 50-percent gray mixture and paint block 7. Continue to add a little black at a time and paint successively darker tones in blocks 8, 9 and 10.
5. Clean the brush and work with the puddle of pure white. Add a little black at a time and continue painting blocks 2, 3, 4 and 5 with successively darker tints, keeping them lighter than the 50-percent block.
6. Let the pigments dry. Look at the range of values and notice any difficulties in differentiating them from one another. According to watercolor artist and author Jan Kunz, the typical human eye can discern 10 or 11 differences in value. Kunz says the value on the shady side of an object represents a 40 percent darker value than the sunny side.
7. Cut out the dried rectangles, stack them from black to white and fasten them with a paper fastener. Refer to your value scale when creating art work to assure that you have enough variety to create drama and interest.
