Monet’s interest was color - not the creation of a high contrast image. If his paintings had extreme value contrast, it would distract the viewer from noticing the subtlety of his colors. Color contrast is less visually noticeable than value contrast. In order to understand the power of value, it is easiest to first learn how to make an incredibly striking painting using most powerful principle available...value contrast. Once you fully understand value, you can do anything you want. Therefore, there are several reasons why I teach value and design with an emphasis on leaving out the middle values (midtones).

#1 If your art is comprised of highly light and highly dark areas, then your painting will be easily seen and noticed from a distance. Value and Design are the two most powerful principles we can use in our art making that make our work noticeable. If your design has high contrast, especially in the beginning, you will be able to see it more easily as you work on it.

#2 Everyone craves differences. Differences in life, such as a trip to Hawaii or someplace different from where you spend most of your time, or having a massage when we are very stressed out, are just a couple examples. Birthdays are another. Things feel enhanced and special when we don’t routinely experience them. We also like seeing differences. We look for them everywhere because when we find them, they make us feel alive - think of how you feel when you see an amazing butterfly!  When we create differences in our art, such as the difference between light and dark, it makes us as artists, feel alive.  When we feel this way, we make better art and we also stay engaged. And guess what? Even though most viewers of art are unaware of what we are talking about here, they too, are attracted to art that displays contrasts. Value, the lightness and darkness of a shape or area, is one of the most noticeable of all contrasts.

Claude Monet