Understanding tonal values and contrast in painting

Table of contents

• Selecting a photo
• Tonal value study
• Saving a tonal values image
• Printing tonal values images
• Comparing tonal values
• About ArtistAssistApp

This video explains how to do the tonal value study using ArtistAssistApp.

Use tonal value sketches that capture the light and shadow of your subject to learn how to create contrast and depth in your paintings. Balancing tonal values is just as important as accurately mixing colors. Correct tonal values make a painting look realistic.

Selecting a photo

Select your reference photo on the Photo tab.

Tonal value study

ArtistAssistApp Tonal values tab does tonal value study for you.

Tonal values are as important as accurate color mixing.

The right values help create contrast and depth in your paintings.

Tonal value sketches are displayed next to the original image, so it's all on one screen to paint from.

If a painting has a big first wash with just a few highlights, it can be a challenge to know where to paint and where to avoid.

However, having light tones in front of you when painting the first wash is very useful.

Midtones and shadows can be painted over in the following washes.

Saving a tonal values image

You can save a tonal values image to your device by pressing the Save button.

On devices with a small screen, to access the Save button, first press the ⋮ (vertical ellipsis) button.

Printing tonal values images

You can print tonal value images by pressing the Print button.

On devices with a small screen, to access the Print button, first press the ⋮ (vertical ellipsis) button.

Comparing tonal values

You can compare the tonal values of your paintings with the tonal values of reference photos. This will help you find missing shadows or midtones, and perfectly balance tonal values and contrast. To learn how to compare tonal values, check out in this tutorial.

About ArtistAssistApp

ArtistAssistApp, also known as Artist Assist App, is a web app for artists to accurately mix any color from a photo, analyze tonal values, turn a photo into an outline, draw with the grid method, paint with a limited palette, simplify a photo, remove the background from an image, compare photos pairwise, and more.

Try it now for free at https://app.artistassistapp.com to improve your painting and drawing skills and create stunning artworks.