Value (color)

“ Value is the quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark one. Color values are loosely called tints and shades, but the terms are frequently misapplied. A tint should be a light value, and a shade should be darker; but the word “shade” has become a general term for any sort of color, so that a shade of yellow may prove to be lighter than a tint of blue. A photometric7 scale of value places all colors in relation to the extremes of white and black, but cannot describe their hue or their chroma. ”

“ Values represent the degree of light and shade [pg 243] which the picture demands, the relations of one part to another on the scale assumed. Thus with the same light affecting various objects in a room, if one be represented as though illumined by a different degree of light it is out of value; or, in a landscape, if an object in the distance is too strong in either color or degree of light and shade for its particular place in perspective, it is out of value. There are therefore values of color and of chiaroscuro, which may be illustrated in a piece of drapery. ”

“ The general classification of tones in which is shown all the possibilities of value, color, color-intensity, and color-neutralization, in reflecting pigments, is necessarily theoretical, or rather ideal, because the degrees of intensity obtainable in any value depend upon the pigment-materials we have to use, or choose to use. ”

“ All our color sensations are included in the color solid. None are left out by its scales of hue, value, and chroma. Indeed, the imagination is led to conceive and locate still purer colors than any we now possess. Such increased degrees of color sensation can be named, and clearly conveyed by symbols to another person as soon as the system is comprehended. ”

“ Royal purple and Venetian blue are mere trade terms. Practical men in the purchase of things decorative soon discover that color terms convey only individual impressions and no distinctive qualities that may be relied upon; so that any effort to fix the color value by periods would be futile. We may assume that in the age of oak, mahogany, white and gold or walnut furniture, the fabric and wall colors harmonized with the wood colors, and to that degree we may fix the period character of color. The moment that the tone of the woodwork or the light conditions varied, color character varied also. ”

“ For the sake of Value-Harmony we diminish the range of values, making as little changes of color as possible, and only those changes of color-intensity which are inevitable. A complete and perfect Value-Harmony is, as a rule, undesirable because it means that all the colors are reduced to one value which gives a monotony of value. Approximate Harmony of Values is generally sufficient. The range of values is narrowed, the contrasts are diminished, and an even tonality is secured. That is all we require, in most cases, an approximation to one value. ”

“ Many houses are left in the white plaster for a year or more until the plaster settles. In this condition a small unit of light is sufficient, but when the decorator completes his work, adding fabrics and wall-papers which absorb and diminish the light, the householder, unaware of the cause, notices a material increase in his bills for illumination. These facts must be understood to be remedied, and it remains for the illuminating engineer to determine by direct experiment the value of any light as it affects and influences color, as well as the value of color as it affects light. ”

“ The standard of value adopted by a painter, is light. The value of any color depends upon the amount of light reflected from it. Thus, if you look at a man dressed in black, you will notice that the black upon the shoulder, or the chest, or whatever part receives the greatest quantity of light, will seem less black than those parts which receive less light. ”

“ To understand and correctly use light and shade, one must have a basic understanding of values and know how by using these values different effects may be achieved. Using as a key a scale of nine values (bearing in mind that the term value means degree of lightness or darkness without regard to any particular color) ranging from black to white, one finds that the grey tones toward the white end of the scale are light values and shade toward white; those toward the black end of the scale are dark values and shade toward black; in the center is a medium grey tone. ”

“ What developments in the direction of color the future may hold in store for us, it is of course difficult to say. One thing, however, is sure; the mathematics which govern the laws of color will be worked out and tabulated, as have those relating to music; so that it will be possible and easy for any one, either expert or layman, to produce a harmony in color by the simple application of the prescribed formula. But beyond this the mathematicians' contributions to art will have little value. Its direct benefits will be found to be negative rather than positive. ”

“ In the use of one color with another of contrasting character the question frequently arises, what proportion of each should be used to obtain the best effect? Illustrative color books show usually samples of color of the same size, leading one unconsciously to the error that contrasting colors should occupy the same surface dimensions. ”

“ Diagram III is of the utmost value to the colorist, illustrating not only the composition of color, but showing the origin of each secondary from the two primaries, the origin of each tertiary from two secondaries, and of each quaternary from two tertiaries. ”

“ In practical demonstrations the study of color will be confusing unless it is understood at the outstart that pure prismatic colors can seldom be found in manufactured pigments, hence any demonstration of the theory of color composition is usually unsatisfactory. ”

“ In music, a tone which is formed by a certain number of vibrations per second is the same the world over, and each and every tone has a name; but in color no such standards exist. People have attempted to formulate a system by denominating the primary colors, red, yellow and blue, respectively as R, Y and B, and the combinations of these colors as combinations of letters. For example, red, with varying degrees of yellow added, is denominated by the letters R R O, or R O R, or O O R. This system tends to confusion, and is inadequate to express tints and shades. ”

“ Neither is it vagueness nor negativeness of color. Truth of color-quality, and justness of relation will do most in getting it. You had better not try for atmosphere as a thing, but as a result. Anything so universal and so indefinite can be expressed by no one thing. If you try to get it by any one means you will miss it. Study, then, the subtlety of color relation and justness of value. Try to be sensitive to the slightest variety of tone, and be satisfied with no least falsity of rendering, and you will find that your picture will not lack atmosphere. ”

“ It is often well to paint in grays a study that you have painted in color. On page 9 is a picture in values of the sunset scene on page 8. While we cannot express the actual color of objects with anything but color, we can show the light and dark effect of color with a gray medium, such as pencil or charcoal, ink or charcoal-gray water-color.
In using a gray medium, we must try to keep our contrasts as well marked as though we were using the actual color itself. Suppose in this wash-drawing of the hyacinth, the flower, the leaves, and the flower-pot had all been of the same value. ”

“ The importance of such a definite image can hardly be overestimated, for without it one color sensation tends to efface another. When the child looks at a color, and has no basis of comparison, it soon leaves a vague memory that cannot be described. These models, on the contrary, lead to an intelligent estimate of each color in terms of its hue, its value, and its chroma ”

“ We do not wish to be understood as stating that the work of the colorist is solely mechanical; but we would emphasize that the influences of color are very largely the result of studied proportions. The basis upon which one operates must be soundly constructed upon the theory of scale, and scale is mechanically determined. ”

“ Although these names may be very convenient terms to express three general classes of colors, they must of necessity be too general and indefinite to be of value for accurate expression of color effects, and are in fact so vague that hardly two persons can be found in a large company who will agree as to the best expression of either of them. ”

“ As there may be many tones of each, and many intermediate combinations from red to green, or green to blue, the number of grays in nature is infinite, but these four classes with two tones of each in the papers form what may be called standards or stations from which to think of the grays, the same as the six standards in the spectrum constitute points from which to think of pure colors. ”

“ These six bright colours, when used in conjunction with black and white, with each other, or with their complementaries, will strengthen, intensify and enrich each other without altering their true value—when such vivid effects and sharp contrasts offend the taste of the worker, when they appear too crude, too conspicuous and too obtrusive—which they are apt to do—they may be harmonised quite simply, either by modifying the complementaries or by using a tint or a shade, that is, a lighter or a darker tone of the same colour. ”

“ Returning to our classification of harmonies, already stated, we find the first to be Contrasted Harmony, which covers those combinations in which a positive color, as a spectrum color for example, is combined with white, black or gray, leaving out for the present silver and gold, which may be confusing, and can at best be used only as outlines. ”

“ If colours are not placed in harmony with each other, they must be in contact with such as give them value; as red against a cold, or green against a warm colour. In short, the grand principle, in all its constituent parts, simply amounts to this. ”

“ In consequence of this law of contrast of tone the contrast of black with active colors generally tends to intensify the black and lower the tone of the color, i.e., to weaken it as though white or light gray was mixed with it, but this effect is modified by contrast of color. ”

“ If it were not that colors can be compounded, we should be limited in hue and shade to the seven spectral colors; the wealth and beauty of color in nature, art, and commerce would be unknown; the flowers with their thousands of hues would have a poverty of color undreamed of; art would lose its magenta, its lilac, its olive, its lavender, and would have to work its wonders with the spectral colors alone. By compounding various colors in different proportions, new colors can be formed to give freshness and variety. ”

“ For this purpose white, black and the neutral gray papers are included in Selection No. 2 of the paper tablets and should be made familiar to the children while the tints and shades are being studied. The suggestion that a neutral gray is a tint of black or a shade of white may or may not aid a child to better understand the relation of the neutral grays to the color chart, but it is a thought worthy of the attention of the teacher, as expressing a fact important in the consideration of color impressions. ”

“ The painter's estimate of the tone of a painting may be understood by applying a test cited by a writer upon art: "If the canvas were placed upon a revolving pin and whirled rapidly around, the coloring would blend into a uniform tint." The color tone of a painting must then be the dominant color, modified by the subordinate colors. If the color tone be yellow for example, as it is in some of the good work of Dutch artists, there must be enough yellow so that it will be a yellow blur if the piece is spun rapidly around. ”

“ White and black represent extremes in color. Mixing of all the color rays of the solar spectrum produces white, and mixing of all the colors in the solid form of printing ink produces black. From this contrast of white and black maybe drawn a lesson in color. (Example 31.) Light represents warmth, darkness cold. As the colors are toward light they are warm; as they are toward darkness they are cold. Red becomes warmer as it takes on an orange hue, and colder as it takes on a purple hue. A warm color should be contrasted with a cold color—as orange with black. ”

“ If in an attempt to match a color which seems to be a broken blue, something else besides the blue, white and black is required, it must be either green or violet, i.e., one of the two standard colors adjacent to the blue in the spectrum. In other words, every color in nature is a spectrum color, i.e., either a pure spectrum color, a tint or a shade of a spectrum color, or a broken spectrum color. ”

“ It is next to impossible to reproduce colors with perfect accuracy, and even if the hues, values and intensities could be exactly copied, it is doubtful if the inks would remain absolutely unchanged for a great length of time. The plates of Color Theory here shown are intended only as statements of the fundamental color-relations. They are not scientifically accurate, nor do they need to be,–they are to be used in art, not in science. ”

“ If light broken colors are properly combined a beautiful imitation rainbow is produced, which is more harmonious than the spectrum made from full colors. A series of such colors combined in spectrum order produce a more pleasing effect when separated by a small space of white, black, gray, silver or gold. ”

“ Experiments of this kind are particularly difficult, inasmuch as the material, usually colored paper, varies considerably from the spectral color, and differences in saturation, hue, and brightness make great differences in the results, while the feeling-tone of association, individual or racial, very often intrudes. But other things being equal, the bright, the clear, the saturated color is relatively more pleasing, and white, red, and yellow seem especially preferred. ”