[ MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS ]

Narrator: THE WORD "PHOTOGRAPH" COMES FROM TWO GREEK WORDS

THAT TRANSLATE TO "LIGHT DRAWING."

SOME PEOPLE DESCRIBE PHOTOGRAPHY, THEN,

AS DRAWING WITH LIGHT.

LIGHT DEFINES OBJECTS

AND LITERALLY ENABLES US TO SEE THINGS.

ARTISTS CREATE THE ILLUSION OF LIGHT

BY BEING ABLE TO PRODUCE A WIDE RANGE OF TONAL AND COLOR VALUES.

VALUE IS ONE OF THE SEVEN

ELEMENTS OF ART,

ALONG WITH LINE, SHAPE, FORM,

TEXTURE, COLOR, AND SPACE.

VALUE IS HOW LIGHT OR DARK A GIVEN COLOR OR HUE IS.

VALUES CAN BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD WHEN THEY ARE VISUALIZED

AS A SCALE OR A GRADIENT.

HERE'S THE VALUE SCALE FOR THIS GRAY TONE.

IT RANGES FROM PURE WHITE TO ABSOLUTE BLACK

WITH A NUMBER OF GRAY TONES IN BETWEEN.

ANY HUE OR TONE HAS A SIMILAR SCALE FROM DARK TO LIGHT.

DIFFERENT VALUES ARE CREATED BY LIGHTENING THE HUE.

IN THIS CASE, ADDING WHITE TO IT,

OR BY DARKENING IT WITH BLACK.

WHEN AN ARTWORK HAS MANY TONES IN BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE,

IT IS CONSIDERED LOW CONTRAST.

FOR INSTANCE, IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLAS NIXON,

NOTICE HOW MANY DIFFERENT SHADES OF GRAY THERE ARE.

A HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGE, ON THE OTHER HAND,

WOULD HAVE VERY FEW TONAL VALUES BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE,

LIKE THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY KENNETH JOSEPHSON.

THE TEXTURE OF AN OBJECT'S SURFACE

CAN PLAY A ROLE IN HOW WE SEE VALUE.

IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH BY BRETT WESTON,

NOTICE HOW THE VEINS IN THE LEAVES OF LETTUCE

CREATE AREAS OF DRAMATIC CONTRAST

BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK.

COMPARE THAT WITH THIS PHOTOGRAPH OF BANANAS,

ALSO BY WESTON.

THE SKIN OF THE BANANAS DULLS THE LIGHT,

WHICH GIVES THE PHOTOGRAPH MUCH LESS CONTRAST.

THE DIFFERENT WAYS ARTISTS CREATE LINES

AND IMPLIED TEXTURES CAN ALSO AFFECT HOW WE PERCEIVE VALUE.

NOTICE HOW HEAVY AND DARK THE BLACKS ARE

IN THIS CHARCOAL DRAWING.

ALSO NOTICE HOW CERTAIN AREAS

SMOOTHLY TRANSITION FROM DARK TO LIGHT.

THIS WATERCOLOR PAINTING'S BLACKS AREN'T NEARLY AS DARK.

NOTICE, TOO, HOW THE SHADING ISN'T AS SMOOTHLY BLENDED.

THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE LOOKING AT A PHOTOGRAPH,

PAINTING, OR DRAWING,

TRY TO NOTICE HOW THE ARTIST IS RENDERING VALUE.

AND WHEN YOU'RE CREATING YOUR OWN ARTWORK,

PRACTICE CREATING VALUE SCALES

WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT MEDIUMS AND HUES

SO YOUR ARTWORK SHINES IN ITS OWN UNIQUE WAY.