Light is an important aspect to all images. Light dictates the values we will see in a given image. For example, day looks different from night, sunset brings a specific light cast to it and range of values as does moonlight. All of these elements make a difference in the way we see. Normally we don't give these things a second thought, but as an artist you have to recollect the way light affects an object and replicate it in your art, especially if it is to be believable or done in a realistic fashion.

Shape is the first actual thing that you see, the silhouette of something. It is one of the first things babies can see and recognize immediately. Shapes are usually very simple at first sight and with them, our mind can give us the length, width and proportions of any given object or subject. You recognize the image to your right as a sphere, the values in the image give it a three dimensional quality. If you mouse over the image, you will see the shapes that comprise this form.

Form is what gives something the look of being three dimensional. It happens in the areas of an object where shadow turns into light, revealing the ‘topography’ or elevations of the surface of something. Subtle gradations of value usually represent smooth surfaces, like a sphere, seen here, while sharper shifts in value show surfaces that have solid and sudden plane changes, like a box for example. Values in an image help us understand and read the light on a given object. If there were no range of values you would see a circle and an ellipse instead of a sphere and its shadow above.

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