Light vs. Dark Value Domination

Does value have value?  Oh yes!

In the art world, "value" is a word used to indicate the darkness of any color, the lightness of every color, and 5 - 10 of the shades that fall between these two extremes.

One example of a value scale is here.

A typical value scale shows 5 - 10 squares in a vertical row or a horizontal row.  At one end of this scale is a hue that's nearly white.  Each succesive square shows a darker hue.  The row of squares ends with a square that's so dark it's nearly black.  

Some artists use a rule-of-thumb that each artwork looks best when it's 80 per cent dark and 20 per cent light, or 20 per cent dark and 80 per cent light.

Today's art samples fit into that 80/20 per cent rule-of-thumb.  

These are not finished artworks; they are simple stencil-prints.  But they show the value of value:  what a difference it makes in the viewer's eye when a piece is dark-dominant or light-dominant.

At times, I find it helpful to look at examples like this, to remind myself of the difference in an art piece that stands out when pieces with dominant light values are contrasted with pieces wherein dark values dominate.
 

Above:  Light values dominate this image, created on an old calendar page with acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers.

Below:  Dark values dominate this image, also created using acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers.

The same stencil ... but what a contrast!  To my eye, the difference between dark value dominance and light value dominance is more striking than color differences.

Above:  Light values dominate this image, made with acrylic paint and my 12" x 12" stencil Prayer Flags.

Below:  Dark values dominate this image, also created using acrylic paint and my 12" x 12" stencil Prayer Flags .

Above:  Light values dominate this image, made with acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Swatton Links.

Below:  Despite the light-value background, it's dark values that dominate this image, also created using acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Swatton Links.

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