Low key

{{Other uses}}

File:Stilleven met rode en groene appels-Jules Grandgagnage.jpg

Low key as a term used in describing paintings or photographs is related to but not the same as low-key lighting in cinema or photography.{{cite web |url=http://photo.stackexchange.com/q/10232/1943|title=What does it mean for a photograph to be "high key"?|work=Photography - Stack Exchange|accessdate=December 15, 2011}} A photographic image, painting or movie can be defined as "low-keyly" if its dominant values are black, dark brown or dark blue.{{cite book|last=Toogood|first=James|title=Incredible Light & Texture in Watercolor|year=2004|publisher=North Light Books|pages=[https://archive.org/details/incrediblelightt00jame/page/45 45]|isbn=1-58180-439-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/incrediblelightt00jame/page/45}}{{cite book|last=Pastoureau|first=Michael|title=Black: The History of a Color|year=2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=216|isbn=978-0691139302}}

Some authors describe the term "low key" as the so-called Rembrandian light{{cite book|last1=Rice|first1=Patrick|title=Master guide for professional photographers|date=2006|publisher=Amherst Media|location=Buffalo, N.Y.|isbn=978-1584281955|page=32}} while others describe how to obtain such photographs or paintings.{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Norman|title=Lighting techniques for low key portrait photography|date=2004|publisher=Amherst Media|location=Buffalo, N.Y.|isbn=978-1584281207|pages=34–47}}