Value is how light or dark something is. A value scale steps from white to black. You built one in Value and the Value Scale. As an element of design, value shows form and light, makes things stand out, and sets the mood.
Every color has a value too. Yellow is light. Blue and violet are dark. Two colors can be very different in hue and still have almost the same value.
Key idea
Value is lightness and darkness, with or without color. Strong value contrast makes things stand out; close values make them blend.
Why it works
Our eyes rely on light and dark to find edges, read depth and see form. That is why a black-and-white photograph still makes sense: the values carry most of the picture.
Worked example: Color versus value
Which is darker in value: the painter's yellow or the painter's blue?
- Ignore the hue and ask which would look darker in a black-and-white photo.
- On a lightness scale from 0 (black) to 100 (white), this yellow is about 89 and this blue about 41.
- So the blue is much darker.
Answer: The blue.
A picture made mostly of light values is called high key; one made mostly of dark values is low key. High key often feels airy and bright; low key, heavy or mysterious.
Common mistake
Thinking bright colors are always light. A strong, saturated red or blue can be quite dark: in gray, the painter's red is about middle gray. Check with "Show in gray," or squint until the colors fade and only light and dark remain.