Glossary Term: Value

What is value in art? Definition and examples

The value in art can be defined as one of seven elements of art. It is the quality or the ratio of light and dark that a particular shade or tone has. It is easiest to understand this art element if it is represented as a scale, or a gradient. The value scale was introduced by Denman Ros in 1907. This was the American painter, collector, and scholar of history. It is still used today. From the lightest shade (i.e. From white to the deepest shade, i.e. Black, there are many shades of gray. These shades of grey describe the color's darkest or most intense elements. They also describe its darkest or most vibrant hues. This gives us a better understanding of art's value. This scale is very helpful to painters to distinguish light, dark, and mid-tones.

The color will appear lighter or darker depending on how much white and black are present in a particular hue. The standard tones are high-keyed and low-keyed. Values at the lighter end of this scale are called high-keyed. The saturation of colors can be affected by the lightening and darkening of tones. Many consider value in art more important that color because it determines the color's tone.

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. You can get different values of a color by mixing its shades and tints.