Letters From Gene
A Study of Color and Design by Gene Wright

Originally published in Needle Pointers, Volume XI, Number 5, Winter 1983
Part 2 of 5

Dear Nellie,

I was absolutely delighted to learn that my last letter cleared up some of the things that had been confusing you regarding the subjects of color and design and the principles that govern them. And, of course I don't mind answering your questions. How else are you going to learn if you don't ask questions?

A good portion of the questions in your letter concerned color -- but, Nellie, there is an important tool that I should tell you about, and that you should understand how to use, before you attempt to tackle color. You see, you are asking me questions now about the Elements of Design, and although color is one of those elements, it is not the only one, nor is it even the first one that should be studied. Design is a process of constantly recognizing and solving problems. But, before a problem can be solved, it must first be recognized as a problem. Each design has its own set of problems and the elements as a whole are the tools that allow us to solve them. Therefore, we should attack the basic problems first, and then take on the more complicated ones.

However, since your interest seems to lie, at the present time, with the color elements and their application to your work, let's confine this letter to the first, most basic tool of color usage -- value -- and after you have gained some understanding of it and how it can be used in your work, we can move on to the other, more complicated, color elements.

Value is a separate and distinct element of design. It is not 'part' of the other color elements in any greater sense than a saw is 'part' of the overall equipment used by a fine cabinet maker. But, like the saw, it requires a certain basic understanding and the use of specific skills that are peculiar to the tool. You don't use a saw to hammer nails -- you use it to saw wood. And value is just as much a tool for the designer as the saw is to the carpenter.

It is possible to design using only value. Therefore, a good grounding in value is preliminary to the study of color and becomes an extremely important tool for the designer to use when trying to satisfy those principles of design that we discussed in my last letter.

First of all, let me explain precisely what value is. It has to do with the proportion of lightness or darkness within a given color. In a very real sense, value is the 'gray scale.' At the one end, the lightest, there is white. At the other end, the darkest, there is black. There is no color, even the lightest of pastel yellows, that is as light as white -- and no color, even the deepest shade of violet, that is as dark as black. The gray scale is the standard of measurement of color value and without it, there would be no such thing as value.

Neither black nor white are colors. They are 'neutrals' -- and they, plus their combinations which produce the various grays, are the only neutrals in the palette. The other popularly called neutrals (beige, brown, tan, wheat, etc.) are actually 'naturals,' and are colors because they are produced by mixing colors together. But, neither black, white nor their offspring -- the various grays -- are considered to be colors. The difference is an important one to understand when trying to decipher some books on the subject.

Yes, Nellie, I know all about the theory that says 'White is the absence of all color and black is the combination of all color' -- and as a theory it is correct. However, I suggest you not try to prove it out by tossing a bunch of various colored paints into a bucket and trying to produce coal black -- 'cause it won't work. You will get something that is very close to black -- but, it still won't be black. We still need black pigment to produce coal black.

In your reading, you might have noticed that gray scales vary in the number of grays included in the scale. The trained human eye, allowed comparison, can distinguish thousands of different values, but the normal published gray scale is only comprised of about 10 grays, plus their parents -- black and white -- a total of, usually at maximum, 12 various values placed in graded order. This is because of the limitations of mechanical reproduction of the scale. The camera cannot 'see' any more than about a total of twelve values, and so the scale has been more or less standardized at that number or below, for practical purposes. Personally, I have never used a value scale of more than ten total values, which I include for you to study, simply because I have never had the need to extend it further than that.

The grays on the scale are numbered, such as 'gray 1, gray 2' etc. and lead from the lightest gray to the darkest. When the term value is applied to color, it is referring to the lightness or darkness of the color in direct relationship to and in comparison with the gray scale.

When you add white to a color, or a color mix, it becomes lighter in direct relationship to how much white is added. If you add only a small amount of white, it will only produce a slightly lighter color. If you add a lot of white, it will be quite a bit lighter, and if you add a huge amount of white, the result will be a pastel. When white is added to a color -- that is a 'tint.'

By the same token, if you add black to a color, or a color mix, it will darken it to the exact degree of the amount of black that is added. If you add just a little black, it will only darken slightly. If you add a lot of black, it will darken much more, but it really doesn't take as much black to darken a color as it does white to lighten it, because black is the stronger value. When black is added to a color -- that is a 'shade.'

The shades and tints of a color make up the corresponding values to the gray scale, and somewhere in those color values, the pure hue will be included, because each pure hue has its own value, too, with yellow being the lightest and violet being the darkest of the pure hues.

In some color systems-that is, scientifically organized color mixing methods, and there are several -- the tints, shades and pure hue of the color value bear a corresponding number to the gray scale, such as red tint 1 (or RT 1), which would be the lightest, and red shade 4 (RS 4) which may be the darkest depending on the number of grays in the scale that is used.

In order to compare color value to the gray scale, view the color next to the scale in a darkened room. Squint your eyes to close out as much of the remaining light as is possible and still be able to see. With a little practice, you will be able to identify color value by comparison with the gray scale with ease.

Now that you have an idea of what value is, and how it can be identified, let's discuss some of the ways that you can use it in your work. There are several things that you should be aware of regarding the characteristics of value -- that is certain visual illusions that can normally be created using value. (I said 'normally', and I'll get to that more in a minute.) You can create 'perspective' -- a forward/backward illusion, where one area seems to be coming forward while another area seems to be going backward -- by using value. White and light values will seem to advance and black and dark values will seem to recede to the human eye under normal circumstances.

The illusion of weight or density can be created using value, because light values produce the visual illusion of lightness and dark values create a feeling of heaviness. Visualize the heavy/solid strength of the trunk of an oak tree, and the light airiness of a silver birch tree. You would automatically make the oak the darker value to help create the illusion of its weight and solidness -- but the birch would be of a lighter value to help in the illusion of its lighter more fragile nature, and this would be done regardless of the size of the trunks.

Value can create the illusion of dimension within a design. White, and the light valued colors will have the effect of expanding an area -- attracting the eye so as to make the area look larger than it is. Black and dark valued colors have the illusionary effect of making an area contract and look smaller than it actually is.

These things are normally what you can expect the visual illusion of value to produce. However, I hasten to add that a skilled designer not only can, but often does, manipulate value by using the other elements of design and their characteristics in order to create visual illusions that act in direct opposition to what is normally produced. Have you ever wondered what makes optical illusion or Op-Art so fascinating? It is because of the skill demonstrated by the designer in manipulating value and the other elements to create a totally unexpected effect. My own advice on this particular thing is to first gain skill in the normal applications of the value tool, before attempting to manipulate it to create the unusual, just as the cabinet maker first began as a journeyman to learn the extent of possible uses of his tools.

When value is used in a design, the designer must consciously decide where the light values are to be placed, and where the middle and dark values are to be placed according to what effect is desired. The process of deciding where the values are to be placed is called establishing the 'value key.' A wise and careful designer will work out the value key as a preliminary step to choosing a color scheme because the introduction of color very often gets in the way of the objective judgment of designing. Where the placement of value in black, white, and gray can be approached unemotionally, the introduction of color has a very definite emotional effect on the designer which can be detrimental. Many designers will work out their designs in the gray scale on paper, and only after a satisfactory product is achieved in grays, will they approach the problem of transposing to color. After all, if the design looks good in black, white and gray it stands a much better chance of succeeding in color because many of the problems of depth, protrusion, weight, etc. will have already been solved. It then becomes a process of choosing the tints and shades of various colors to match the keyed values. Let's face it, Nellie, there is a certain amount of discipline that is necessary when learning to use any tool, and this is one of the disciplines that is applicable in design.

If a designer is working out a value problem, one of the first considerations should be the value of the background. Yet, somehow, this is one of the last considerations for the novice. It seems that everyone automatically reaches for a sheet of white paper, works out the design and leaves the background as one of those things that will be thought about 'tomorrow.' But the choice of a background value can change a design to an enormous extent. Although the white paper is by no means wrong if you are planning a design with a white background, you should become aware that a design can also be planned using a valued background paper -- and that the mere choice of that paper will open up possibilities that you might not have thought of. Even construction paper may be used. By limiting the background to white, the design area values must automatically go darker in order for them to show up on the white paper. If a middle value background paper would be chosen, the design could be worked in values that extend to the far ends of the scale to both sides -- all the way to white and black. The completed effect would be changed dramatically. The same thing, of course, would apply to the choice of a dark value background paper. Again, the total effect would be changed because only the lighter values would be chosen for the design area. By adding a piece of white chalk or a chalk pencil and some valued background papers to your supplies, you can experiment with your designs and decide which effect would work best in each situation.

There are two basic ways of setting up a value key. It will depend on which of the principles of design (that we discussed last time) are being fulfilled, as to which of the methods is chosen.

The first of these methods is called a 'major' value key. This results when values of highly divergent character are included as the major emphasis of the design, such as limiting the values to three -- black, white and a middle gray -- with the gray being used for the background, white and black used for the design area. This would produce a design of great dramatic contrast. The high contrast of the values themselves would begin to satisfy the principles of limitation and balance. A major value key results when a dramatic play of the forces of light against dark are planned into the piece.

There is also the more subtle 'minor' value key. A minor key will result when the values chosen are low in contrast -- lie closer together on the gray scale. It is used when a less dramatic effect is desired. In some designs-- for instance one that would be used for a hanging in a baby's room -- the high drama of a major key would not only be unnecessary, but undesirable. Light to middle values that would translate well into light to medium soft pastels would not only be necessary but called for in a situation of this kind. A minor value key will go a long way towards satisfying the principle of rhythm since subtle gradations of value are used.

As you can see, many times the values chosen will have a direct relationship to what the ultimate purpose of the design will be, and what it will be used in conjunction with -- the other things that will surround it in a room. But, no matter which key is chosen, it is important to know how to use both of them and to recognize which problems can be worked out using the unemotional tool of the gray scale.

Fondly,
Gene