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Some of the most important terms used in art are color, value and texture. They appear as a result of shedding light on the observed object. Therefore, light reveals and forms shapes in nature. By using the so-called value and by simulating the effects of light a painter gives an object its three-dimensional solidity. Value represents the degree of light in a painting, and its key - the scale of tones, ranging from darkest to the lightest.
The quantity of light in a painting affects the observer’s mood. Lighter tones develop positive moods, while dark tones develop negative ones.
Artist’s use of light resembles its use on a theater stage. By using strong contrasts, he makes a scene look dramatic, and by shedding light on particular persons and objects, he puts them in the foreground. Every style of painting throughout the history treats light in its own, recognizable way.
Every style of art treats the light in its own way. A great contribution to the use of light in the art of late Baroque was made by Rembrandt. His most famous painting, "the Night Watch", has always been controversial because of the specific way it treats light. In most of his paintings the light source cannot be exactly determined. It appears as a sign of God. Such a richly differentiated key of value, used by him, is called "CHIARO SCURO".
Light enables us to recognize the texture of the observed object without tactile contact. Some painters can achieve a high degree of realism exactly by using light. That kind of their work is often described as illusory.
The use of light in painting is best demonstrated in impressionist paintings. Impressionism is a style in painting which appeared in 1860s in France. It was called after a painting by Monet : "Impression".
For painters of this style, the primary elements of a painting are light and color. They insist on a visual experience that instantly produces natural light.
For these painters the motive and the need to represent a painting in a realistic way are not crucial. They are the first artists who aren't just copyists, but creators of their own realities. Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet and others paint in short moves of the paintbrush, with spots of pure color that blend in the eye of the observer to create an illusion of flickering light.
These artists often use the same motive painting it at different times of the day to achieve different refraction patterns.
They brought a complete revolution in painting and inspired many other painters for whom light will be the source of new, creative ideas.
In modern art, with the use of lasers and everything else modern technology is offering, light becomes the basic tool for creating fantastic visual effects.