Basics of oil painting: Value

Since I'm a huge fan of learning firstly through the examples, but not through the extensive complicated texts and concepts, the article will be full of images.

Value, also known as lightness or tone, a representation of variation in the perception of a color or color space's brightness – that's what the Wiki says about the value. Simply put, value/tone is how light or dark a color is (imagine how the painting looks in black and white).

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Jeanne Samary in a Low Necked Dress (1877)

Some artists call «value» the most important concept in painting. Value is a very powerful tool, which helps to create a unity between elements. Learn to see in value is inevitable for the artist, even for those who choose color as a main method of expression.

Claude Monet - Cliffs at Pourville, Morning (1897)

Values are the base of the painting. With their help of you can make a painting look powerful, strong and epic or soft, gentle and romantic.

Grisaille

Some artists separate the painting process into stages – drawing on canvas, grisaille (also known as an underpainting) and color glazing. Grisaille is a painting technique by which an image is executed entirely in shades of gray/brown. It helps artists to establish the values of the painting without worrying about hues and temperatures of colors. In addition, thinking about one thing at a time helps to improve skills faster.

Flemish School - Pan and his entourage (mid 17th Century)

Artists, to create different impression and emotions, sometimes exclude or minimize the presence of some tones in their value scale.

The full tonal range/value scale

Chiaroscuro

- is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. The paintings based on this principle always look impressive and tragical.

Caravaggio - Saint Jerome Writing (1605–1606)

Caravaggio - Conversion on the Way to Damascus (1601)

Georges de La Tour - Blind Musician (first half of 17th century)

High key and Low key

A high-key image consists primarily of light tones, without dark shadows. Such painting features a diminished tonal range of primarily whites and light grays. A painting or image is low key if its dominant values are dark.