CLASS NOTES:
CG130 Drawing & Design Fundamentals
 
 

 

Value Patterns
 
 
OVERVIEW:
 
   


Before jumping into the patterns there are a few more concepts involving Values which are good to understand. Many artists find a comfort zone in the Values they choose to use in their works. These sections of the Value Scale are termed keys, and are generally broken into High Key works, Low Key works, Mid Key works, or Full Key works. Below is a breakdown of the four named keys. Take the time to look at each one, and some of the linked examples.

Examples of Master Works can be found in the
Applied Color Theory notes on Value Scale or at Mark Harden's Artchive
a good reference site for viewing artwork by many Masters.

   
 

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High
Key
(1-5)









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Low
Key
(5-9)

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Mid
Key
(3-7)

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Full
Key
(1-9)
 
 
Monet
Rembrandt
Da Vinci
El Greco
 
 

As colors move into Highlights they become White. As they move into Shadow they become purer, not just blacker.

Impressionism

Highlights become purer while shadows become blacker

Northern European
Reformation

Highlight become Clean Tints while shadows become Rich Shades.

Italian Renaissance

Highlights become White and Darks are Rich Shades.

Instead of 7.5 heads tall, sometimes 11, 12 or 13 heads tall.

 

 

Additional Terms
 
 


Luster
Hard shiny surface color

Luminosity
Glowing from within

Irridescence
Shining, flashy, spotty

Chromatic Light
Bathed in overriding dominant light

Chromatic Light in Mist
Bathed on overriding dominating light implying an atmosphere

 
 
12 VALUE PATTERNS:
 
   


The famous Water Colorist Edgar Whitney took 100 paintings of the Masters and analyzed the "Distribution of Masses" within each work, attempting to classify and organize them. What he found, to his amazement, was that they all fell into one of twelve different piles, which have hence been named Value Patterns.

Of the twelve value patterns six of these are Plane-Oriented, four are Area-Oriented and the remaining two are Surface-Oriented patterns.

Plane-Oriented Patterns
The Plane-Oriented patterns deal with depth into and out of the design and the general assignation of a single value to each of three distince planes, the foreground, middle ground and the background which pulls the viewer's eyes into the design.

   
 
 
 
 

   

Area-Oriented Patterns
The Area-Oriented patterns are concerned with the center of interest and the object (or objects) to be shown within the design, and thus divides up the Values into four general patterns.

   
 
 
Large Light
on a Midtone Background
Large Dark
on a Midtone Background
 
 
 
 
 
Small Light on a Large Dark
on a Midtone Background
Small Dark on a Large Light
on a Midtone Background
 
 


[Side Note:] Of the 100 paintings analyzed by Edgar Whitney,
60 of them fell into the two patterns directly above this sentence.

Also take note of the Mommy, Daddy, Baby balance/proportion
which is readily apparent in these patterns.

 
   

Surface-Oriented Patterns
The Surface-Oriented patterns have no center of interest and, in fact, defy the concept
of a center of interest with no tension pulling the eye along a path.

   
 
 
Gradation
Rarest of them all

Even Surface Tension
Checkerboard Animation

Subject matter of modern art
is internal, not external

Often found in textiles, fabric, carpet, tiles...

 

     
 
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