The Value Scale
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| value/ˈvæljuː/ | The relative lightness or darkness of a colour or tone. |
| value scale/ˈvæljuː skeɪl/ | An ordered series of tones ranging from light to dark. |
| high-key/haɪ kiː/ | Describing an image dominated by light tonal values. |
| low-key/ləʊ kiː/ | Describing an image dominated by dark tonal values. |
| local value/ˈləʊkl ˈvæljuː/ | The relative lightness or darkness of a surface's own colour, distinguished from changes caused by illumination. |
| squint/skwɪnt/ | To narrow the eyes, reducing visible detail and helping compare larger tonal shapes. |
Light before colour
- Value 明度 is lightness and darkness — the backbone of drawing.
- We see form as light before we see colour, so value carries the illusion.
- A value scale 明度阶 runs from white through greys to black; a smooth 9-step scale is the classic exercise.
A drawing made mostly of light values is called ____.
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High-key = mostly light values.
Select all true statements about the value scale.
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Beginners usually draw too LIGHT, not too dark.
High-key, low-key, local value
- High-key 高调 drawings use mostly light values (airy); low-key 低调 use mostly dark (heavy, dramatic).
- Local value 固有明度 is how light the object's own surface is — separate from the lighting on it.
- A white cup in shadow is still a white cup: local value + lighting = what you see.
A value scale, and value modelling a form
High-key, low-key, or full range?
Sort each drawing plan by its value strategy.
A white object in shadow has changed its local value.
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Local value belongs to the surface; lighting changes what falls on it, not what it is.
Match the term to its meaning.
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Three value vocabulary terms.
Squint and push the darks
- Squint 眯眼 at the subject: detail vanishes and the big value shapes appear.
- Beginners draw too light and too narrow — push the darks to use the full scale.
- Full range is a score signal: black-to-white confidence stands out immediately.
To see the big value shapes, ____ at the subject.
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Squinting removes detail and reveals value shapes.
Grey-on-grey timidity is the most common weakness scorers see. If your darkest dark is a middle grey, the drawing has no light — audit every finished piece against a real black.
Draw a 9-step scale, then an egg using only steps 1, 5, and 9. Three values already model the form; the other six refine it. This is why squinting works — it reduces the world to a few values.
Value is drawing's backbone: build a full white-to-black scale, know high-key from low-key, separate local value from lighting, and squint to see the big shapes.
Write from a 5-value study before colour
- A student makes a grey study with 5 values.
- Colour is added only after that study.
A student builds a grey study with 5 values and only then adds colour. Why does the value study come first?
Value organises the form. Colour sits on that organisation.
Why make the 5-value study first?
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The value structure has to hold even after the colour arrives.