There is a saying in the art world, "Color gets the credit; value does the work." Think of a black and white photograph, or even a black and white movie. Color is actually unnecessary for complete understanding of what you're looking at. In fact, in photography, sometimes the visual is far more impactful when color is removed and what you see is only the contrast in value.
Consider this famous photo of Albert Einstein taken by Arthur Sasse.
Is it difficult to interpret this image because it lacks color?
No, all the information you need is provided by value contrast.
While it's fairly easy to capture a black and white image in photography, it can be exceedingly difficult to do so in painting.
For starters, you have to discern the intricate interplay of shadows and light across the form you are observing. This is a basic in Atelier training called "learning to see."
One exercise that students tackle at Texas Hill Country Atelier in order to sharpen this ability to see value involves scissors, construction paper in five values of grays including black and white, and a painting by a master or even a black and white photograph. The construction paper is Strathmore Gray Scale Paper and is available at various art stores.
Students recreate the reference image by simplifying the values and cutting them out of the gray scale paper. The results are simply stunning, and emphasize the truth that "value does the work."
There is a vast difference between understanding this truth and actually making a value decision, cutting out a specific shape in a specific value, and building a facsimile of the image you are looking at on a new piece of paper. The brainwork required to complete those tasks is surprisingly exhausting, but ever so fruitful.
This activity "trains" the brain to recognize how value shifts and changes across a form and by so doing, creates recognizable images. Year 2 in Atelier training drills down hard on these value relationships as students learn to paint in black and white, also known as "grisaille."
The first paintings created by second year students look very much like the paper cutouts as students focus on simplifying the value relationships of what they are observing and use only six values.
Notice the similarities between this six-value grisaille painting by Chris R., and the two paper cutout exercises above.
One reason that students work only in black and white for an entire year at the Atelier is because the addition of color can be very confusing for distinguishing value. But that's a discussion for another time.
Once the eye and brain are trained to see the value relationships across an object, the student can move on to creating a more realistic version of what he or she is seeing. Compare the two paintings below, both by Chris R.
In this first image, painted using only six values, you can clearly identify a pitcher and a pear sitting on a table, casting a shadow against the table and wall.
Even though simplified, your brain can distinguish exactly what these objects are because the value relationships and shapes across the forms are accurate.
Now that the value relationships and shapes are correct, the student can move into the next step which is to create a more realistic likeness of what she is observing.
Again, the pitcher and onion look realistic because the value relationships and shapes across the forms are accurate.
The forms in this painting convey more detail than the simplified painting, but the value relationships remain the same.
The paper cut out and painting below were crafted by two different students, further illustrating the point that value conveys the overall structure of a work, regardless of the artist. Compare Marie G.'s paper cutout study, also used above, to Teresa C.'s painting study of the same master, a Jean-Simeon Chardin still life.
The brush work and added detail of the painting provide the viewer with more information about the object, but not more structure or even understanding of what's depicted.
Value, indeed, does all the work.
If you are interested in Atelier training, we have room for YOU! Our fall term begins in late September. Click here for more information or email us at admin@texashillcountryatelier.org to secure your own studio space in our Atelier.
Come join the movement!