Elements of Art: Value | KQED Arts
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the concept of 'value' in art, highlighting its significance in creating visual depth and contrast. Value, derived from the Greek words for 'light drawing,' refers to the lightness or darkness of hues. It's crucial for artists to master, as it influences the perception of light and texture in their work. The script contrasts low and high-contrast images, demonstrating how varying tonal values can dramatically alter an artwork's impact. It encourages viewers to appreciate the artistry in value rendering and to experiment with different mediums to enhance their own creations.
Takeaways
- 📸 The term 'photography' originates from Greek words meaning 'light drawing', emphasizing the role of light in creating images.
- 🎨 Photography and art often involve 'drawing with light' to define objects and create tonal and color values.
- 🖌️ Value is a key element of art, representing the lightness or darkness of a color or hue, and is crucial for creating visual depth.
- ⚪️ A value scale ranges from pure white to absolute black, with various shades of gray in between, illustrating the concept of light and dark.
- 🌈 Artists can create different values by adjusting the lightness or darkness of hues, either by adding white or black.
- 🖼️ Low-contrast images have many tonal values between black and white, while high-contrast images have fewer, creating a stark visual difference.
- 👀 The texture of an object's surface can influence how value is perceived, affecting the contrast between light and dark areas.
- 📷 In photography, the texture of subjects, like the veins in lettuce leaves or the skin of bananas, can significantly impact the contrast and value.
- ✏️ The medium used in art, such as charcoal or watercolor, affects the darkness of blacks and the smoothness of transitions between light and dark.
- 👩🎨 When creating art, practicing with different mediums and hues to render value scales can enhance the uniqueness and visual appeal of artwork.
Q & A
What is the origin of the word 'photography'?
-The word 'photography' comes from two Greek words that translate to 'light drawing'.
How does light play a role in photography and art?
-Light defines objects and enables us to see things. Artists create the illusion of light by producing a wide range of tonal and color values.
What are the seven elements of art mentioned in the script?
-The seven elements of art are line, shape, form, texture, color, space, and value.
What is value in the context of art and how is it visualized?
-Value refers to how light or dark a given color or hue is. It is visualized as a scale or a gradient, ranging from pure white to absolute black with various gray tones in between.
How are different values created in art?
-Different values are created by lightening the hue, such as adding white, or darkening it with black.
What is the difference between low contrast and high contrast in art?
-A low-contrast artwork has many tones between black and white, while a high-contrast image has very few tonal values between black and white.
How does the texture of an object's surface affect the perception of value?
-The texture of an object's surface can create areas of dramatic contrast between light and dark, affecting how we perceive value.
What is an example of how texture affects value in photography given in the script?
-In Brett Weston's photograph of lettuce, the veins in the leaves create areas of dramatic contrast between light and dark, affecting the perception of value.
How do the different ways artists create lines and implied textures affect the perception of value?
-Heavy and dark blacks, as well as the smoothness of transitions from dark to light, can affect how we perceive value in artworks.
What advice does the script give for observing and creating value in art?
-When observing art, notice how the artist renders value. When creating your own artwork, practice creating value scales with various mediums and hues.
What is the significance of practicing with different mediums and hues in creating value scales?
-Practicing with different mediums and hues in creating value scales helps artists to understand and control the tonal range in their artwork, allowing their work to shine in its own unique way.
Outlines
📸 Understanding Value in Art
This paragraph introduces the concept of 'value' in art, which is derived from the Greek words for 'light drawing'. It explains that value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color or hue and is a fundamental element of art, along with line, shape, form, texture, color, and space. The paragraph uses a gray tone scale to illustrate how values range from pure white to absolute black, with various shades in between. It also discusses how different values are created by adding white or black to a hue. The concept of contrast is introduced, with examples of low-contrast and high-contrast images provided by photographs. The role of texture in perceiving value is also highlighted, using photographs by Brett Weston to demonstrate how surface texture can affect the appearance of light and dark areas. The paragraph concludes with an encouragement to observe value in art and to practice creating value scales in one's own artwork.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Photography
💡Value
💡Contrast
💡Texture
💡Hue
💡Tonal
💡Gradient
💡Elements of Art
💡Light
💡Artistic Medium
💡Rendering
Highlights
The word 'photography' originates from Greek words meaning 'light drawing'.
Photography is described as drawing with light, which defines objects and enables sight.
Value is one of the seven elements of art, alongside line, shape, form, texture, color, and space.
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color or hue.
Visualizing values as a scale or gradient helps in understanding them better.
The value scale for gray tones ranges from pure white to absolute black with various grays in between.
Any hue has a similar scale from dark to light, created by lightening or darkening the hue.
An artwork with many tones between black and white is considered low contrast.
A high-contrast image has very few tonal values between black and white.
The texture of an object's surface can influence how we perceive value.
In Brett Weston's photograph, the veins in lettuce leaves create dramatic contrast between light and dark.
The skin of bananas in Weston's photograph dulls the light, resulting in less contrast.
Artists create lines and implied textures that affect our perception of value.
In a charcoal drawing, the blacks are heavy and dark, with smooth transitions from dark to light.
In a watercolor painting, the blacks are not as dark, and the shading is less smoothly blended.
When observing art, pay attention to how artists render value.
When creating art, practice creating value scales with various mediums and hues to enhance your artwork's uniqueness.
Transcripts
[ MID-TEMPO DRUM BEAT PLAYS ]
[ MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: THE WORD "PHOTOGRAPH" COMES FROM TWO GREEK WORDS
THAT TRANSLATE TO "LIGHT DRAWING."
SOME PEOPLE DESCRIBE PHOTOGRAPHY, THEN,
AS DRAWING WITH LIGHT.
LIGHT DEFINES OBJECTS
AND LITERALLY ENABLES US TO SEE THINGS.
ARTISTS CREATE THE ILLUSION OF LIGHT
BY BEING ABLE TO PRODUCE A WIDE RANGE OF TONAL AND COLOR VALUES.
VALUE IS ONE OF THE SEVEN
ELEMENTS OF ART,
ALONG WITH LINE, SHAPE, FORM,
TEXTURE, COLOR, AND SPACE.
VALUE IS HOW LIGHT OR DARK A GIVEN COLOR OR HUE IS.
VALUES CAN BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD WHEN THEY ARE VISUALIZED
AS A SCALE OR A GRADIENT.
HERE'S THE VALUE SCALE FOR THIS GRAY TONE.
IT RANGES FROM PURE WHITE TO ABSOLUTE BLACK
WITH A NUMBER OF GRAY TONES IN BETWEEN.
ANY HUE OR TONE HAS A SIMILAR SCALE FROM DARK TO LIGHT.
DIFFERENT VALUES ARE CREATED BY LIGHTENING THE HUE.
IN THIS CASE, ADDING WHITE TO IT,
OR BY DARKENING IT WITH BLACK.
WHEN AN ARTWORK HAS MANY TONES IN BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE,
IT IS CONSIDERED LOW CONTRAST.
FOR INSTANCE, IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLAS NIXON,
NOTICE HOW MANY DIFFERENT SHADES OF GRAY THERE ARE.
A HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGE, ON THE OTHER HAND,
WOULD HAVE VERY FEW TONAL VALUES BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE,
LIKE THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY KENNETH JOSEPHSON.
THE TEXTURE OF AN OBJECT'S SURFACE
CAN PLAY A ROLE IN HOW WE SEE VALUE.
IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY BRETT WESTON,
NOTICE HOW THE VEINS IN THE LEAVES OF LETTUCE
CREATE AREAS OF DRAMATIC CONTRAST
BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK.
COMPARE THAT WITH THIS PHOTOGRAPH OF BANANAS,
ALSO BY WESTON.
THE SKIN OF THE BANANAS DULLS THE LIGHT,
WHICH GIVES THE PHOTOGRAPH MUCH LESS CONTRAST.
THE DIFFERENT WAYS ARTISTS CREATE LINES
AND IMPLIED TEXTURES CAN ALSO AFFECT HOW WE PERCEIVE VALUE.
NOTICE HOW HEAVY AND DARK THE BLACKS ARE
IN THIS CHARCOAL DRAWING.
ALSO NOTICE HOW CERTAIN AREAS
SMOOTHLY TRANSITION FROM DARK TO LIGHT.
THIS WATERCOLOR PAINTING'S BLACKS AREN'T NEARLY AS DARK.
NOTICE, TOO, HOW THE SHADING ISN'T AS SMOOTHLY BLENDED.
THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE LOOKING AT A PHOTOGRAPH,
PAINTING, OR DRAWING,
TRY TO NOTICE HOW THE ARTIST IS RENDERING VALUE.
AND WHEN YOU'RE CREATING YOUR OWN ARTWORK,
PRACTICE CREATING VALUE SCALES
WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT MEDIUMS AND HUES
SO YOUR ARTWORK SHINES IN ITS OWN UNIQUE WAY.
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