Blending and Value

'Blending' is a key skill whereby the paint is made to change gradually from one shade of paint to another on the canvas and is achieved through a variety of brush techniques.

'Value' (or tone) means the lightness or darkness of paint within a painting.

It is through the use of blending and value that objects and spaces take on the illusion of appearing real within a painting. This is because blending and value can be used to mimic the way in which light shines, falls and casts shadows in reality (which after all is what makes the real world visible to us). The Italians referred to a bold use of this as 'Chiaroscuro'.