How do I find the quiet conversation in the lights and the darks?

In order to see the subtle, quiet areas in your art, it’s important to visually organize and “calm down” the values of your shapes or forms. What do you want the viewer to see clearly? Make these things a higher contrast. What do you want to be subtle? Make the values there much closer. A black shape on a white background is super noticeable because it has high contrast. So an “almost black” shape within or on top of that black shape will be subtle, and will be part of the “quiet conversation” in the dark. If you place an “almost white” value upon the white background, it will be subtle, less noticeable, and will be part of the quiet conversation in the light.