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 Relative value can refer to which side of the family you want to spend holidays with but it is also an important concept in painting.

Value is defined as the lightness or darkness of a pigment regardless of its color. Painting relies on placing different masses of values next to each other. How these values connect is what creates the composition.

Good composition happens when the artist translates the scene before them into a simple pattern of value masses.  Realistic and impressionistic painters create patterns by interpreting their world into light and shadow. The lighter values describing what is being hit by light, the darker values describing areas covered in shadow.  The area where the light and shadow meet is where there is a stark difference in value.

A work in progress miniscape (6x8 pastel) The light of the building on the right contrasted against the dark roof and shadow side is the focal point.  Nothing else in the painting will be as contrasted. 6x8 pastel

Our eyes are naturally drawn to this area of sharp transition which creates a focal point.  Good design uses focal points carefully to guide the viewer's eye around the composition by contrasting only what is important.  Problems occur if an artist paints objects and details without regard to the surrounding values.  If there are too many spots of contrast scattered throughout the painting then viewers will be confused about where they should look.

Values can be expressed as degrees of light and dark.  If you want to add a detail that appears dark in the light areas, you do not need a dark value. You only need to paint that detail darker than the value around it.  The same goes for the shadow. If you want to paint a light detail in the shadow, you do not need a light value. You only need to go lighter then the surrounding shadow value. You paint the smaller values relative to the larger value mass.

In this oil miniscape ( 5x7) The base of the trees are darker than the tops of the trees. They lighten as they go up so the contrast dose not take away from the white house. Compare it to the photo on the bottom where I photoshopped the tops of the trees the same value as the bottom.

In a previous blog post I wrote about how value ranges and music scales are similar.  I think of values as musical notes with the lightest being the high notes and the darks as low notes.  In music, how the notes connect creates the melody; in painting how the values connect create the composition.  Using that same comparison we can think of the relative value as how the notes connect.  Rather than jumping from high to low randomly we can go a half note lighter or darker without visually breaking up the value mass.

This miniscape of a sunset over a marsh (6x8 pastel) shows the importance of simple value masses.  Nothing in the sky or water is as dark as the mass of grasses. Clouds being hit with light are lighter than the surrounding sky.  The water is the same value as the darkest value of the sky.  Blades of grass in the foreground are suggested by painting slightly darker and lighter than the surrounding values.

Understanding the power of connecting values is core to creating good paintings.  Learning to control the amount of value contrast based on surrounding values will simplify and strengthen your compositions.