“Of supreme importance in painting is the true understanding of values. Color is at all times. comparative, and values cannot be determined in any way by comparison.
If we takes white and add a pinch , we produce gray, which compared with the white is a value. Add to this value a pinch of black as before, which will produce a trifle lower than tint, and we have what is termed a second value. This value, with a pinch of black added, will produce a trifle deeper gray; and we can proceed this until we reach deep, or low, gray, and lastly black itself. Now if we lay the values thus proceeding in small planes close to each other, with their edges touching, we can lightly soften these edges with a dry badger blender without interfering with the individual purity of each value and thus produce an agreeable gradation of values ranging from black to light.
With these values set upon the palette, we could render a drawing in black and white which would be suitable for reproduction in a magazine or book illustration and whose proper name would be monotone.”
Excerpt from Frank Atkinson’s “Scene Painting and Bulletin Art” (1916, page 11).
Below are two value scales and an image from the Scenery Collection database (https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/scenicsearch). The online database has both pencil sketches and monochromatic paintings.
From a freelance standpoint, I frequently use value to show clients a composition with atmosphere while not distracting them with color. Often clients will react to color before the actual subject matter and composition. In my opinion, it is also essential in the artistic process to truly prepare the painter for the final color painting.
Author: waszut_barrett@me.com
Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
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