The loud conversation is the view of your art that you see from across the room…or even across the street! It is the combination of the high contrast light and dark shapes, areas, or representational forms that together create a pattern of light and dark. This pattern is called the loud conversation. This pattern, of high contrast dark and light, is what you can see from a distance. Your eye sees contrast between light and dark first, before color and texture. We want to have the loud conversation, this arrangement of light and dark shapes (realistic or abstract) be visually interesting. This can be achieved by having variations of size, shape and design within your art.

In the diagram above, the three high contrast elements on the right side create the loud conversation. On the left side, the three elements that are closer in value to the white background are not considered part of the loud conversation – they are the quiet conversation.

We want to have both a loud conversation and a quiet conversation happening in our art. Grouping your values is a great way to clarify. When we organize our values, to keep the darks grouped together with similar value darks, and the lights grouped together with similar lights, we can clearly see the two conversations. Those conversations are opposites and that is why they can create so much interest when seen together. “Quiet” and “Loud” when seen together enhance each other.