Lessons
Lesson Info
Value Matters
So the lesson in all of this when we get to monochromatic is that the saturation of the color makes a difference. We really see that in the pink block right the such and this blue one that saturation makes a big difference but what also makes the difference is what we're going to call value so some of you may be familiar with this this is an art school correct term is that value is the relative light or darkness of, um of a fabric can it's relative right? Our designs are evident and not evident I'm going to show you more of these black and white blocs that I made that was the first one that I made let's take these off still sticking in that monochromatic thing this time I changed it up right? I tried really hard to make sure that my exes had a little bit more contrast right and that this busier print right it's a smaller print makes the x more prominent than it is here, right and that's how we get value in a block value really really does matter. And even when we're using low volume fa...
brics where we automatically think well that's a light value right we have light mediums and darks and our fabric world and low volumes air all lights relative to the mediums in the dark yes but within the low volume world there is still basically a light medium dark but more or less a light in the dark, right? And how do we get that? Its scale and texture are what count more than anything. So in this case I've used a denser scale of a print to give me that texture, right? This is a broader print, so this is color has mattered because that it's quite a black with big dark lines but this has a denser texture, so it gives me wait there as well. And so that's how we've seen, I've got a very pale texture here, right? It plays around, but I still wasn't one hundred percent happy. I still didn't think this block showed off the design quite a cz well, so I made another one right again low volume prince, but I've chosen much denser one's for my axes and a very dense print here. Everything on here is black and white there's no gray, it is just black and white, so it is getting that scale in that texture right there. And so we're getting it because we have the density of the print right? And it gives us the visual texture. So when I say scale in texture scale is the density of the print and the result of that is the texture we're getting on the print and the changes are what make it really, really interesting so here gives this gives you a little bit more of a difference in scale right the's air all cut to the same size but the size of the print on there they're all bright colors on a white background they're all low volume prince but we have a much larger dot we have, you know a very uniform closer together dot sparse and then really close together that gives us texture right right there so this is how we get contrast in a low volume quilt that very first quilt I showed you where it was all scrappy and everything like that the one I should you in person this one has quite a bit mima throw it on top again that in contrast it with the one that comes next right there's all manner of texture and color on density of prince it's in here it's very scrappy and that was the intention with this and this is how a lot of people do low volume is also how a lot of people think you can only do low volume but low volume you can have high contrast as well and assure you this quote for that okay, so these air all prince even my backgrounds here are prince he come closer, you'll be able to see it a couple of them are white on whites but some of them have a very faint print on them and they're all different, but they contrast because these all have black or gray, and the density of the print makes a huge huge difference, right? So to get value in low volume that's, what you need to look for is not just the color, but you need to look at the scale and the resulting texture, the denser it is, the more you'll get. So how do you test for value in something? So if you're struggling to tell the value difference, take out your camera or your phone and take a picture and black and white he removed color from it, you get that they're entirely if you're having trouble seeing it with the naked eye, I think in this quote, for example, we can see it with the naked eye quite well there. Um, so a denser print reads darker than dispersement, so even when prints are all in the same hue, then then they will still show up there, and so consider how dark the print is, so I've used black on this the's air, mostly black compared to the pale gray's next to it, I'm getting a difference in there and it's the same here. This is a black and white versace, a grand white, this is a black and white versus a gray and white, and you see value differences in all of them, but the density of this against the sparseness of this right that's, a tough one, right? And if you're having a hard time saying, I don't know if that's high contrast, switch out one of the fabrics and see what happens, right, we always want to play. It isn't if something's going, and you're like, oh, I don't know where to go with us, then try make a test block, right, that's, what I did make a test block, it's not working, let's, try again, still not enough contrast for me, let's, try again. Oh, look there, this and those air still all low volume prince, but I'm getting a much different look in the final thing.
Class Materials
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Ratings and Reviews
Sondra
Cheryl is an excellent instructor. Great clear explanations and demonstrations throughout the workshop. I also love her humor and non-judgmental approach. I very much appreciated her "value" explanation, since this can be very confusing. Cheryl also provided great tips and suggestions. This was a great experience for me. I signed up for all of her workshops and look forward to each of them. Thanks very much.
Beth Conkwright
I've already made a quilt top with low volume fabrics. You really changed my idea that quilts had to have a ton of color. I want to try using low volume for background fabric next. Thanks for such a fun class.
a Creativelive Student
Takes a bit to catch on as the progression develops from monochromatic, through the light, dark and medium values to backgrounds but then the click happens and wow! I also have gotten a much better understanding of value which is my own personal nemesis. I'm excited to play.