In order to see the subtle, quiet areas in your art, it’s important to visually organize and “calm down” the values of your shapes, or forms. What do you want the viewer to see clearly? Make these things a higher contrast. What do you want to be subtle? Make these values much closer. A black shape on a white background is super noticeable, because it has high contrast. So an “almost black” shape within that black shape, will be subtle, and will be part of the “quiet conversation” in the dark. If you place an “almost white” value upon the white background, it will be subtle, less noticeable, and will be part of the quiet conversation in the light.
