Term: Counterchange

Counterchange is the reversal of value relationships between a form and its background which occurs from one end of the form to another. Counterchange is a visual phenomenon that is based on the way our eyes adjust to extreme value contrasts. The effect is that the form appears light when in front of a dark object and dark when in front of a light object.

Artists use counterchange when a tree trunk appears light against its surroundings near the ground, and then switches to become darker than the sky nearer the top. See how Edward Seago has arranged the following passage so that the trunk of the most important tree sits in front of the dark grouping of trees behind it. A little further up the same trunk is dark and the landscape is now light behind it. Then several of the branches above that are counterchanged against where the trunk itself becomes dark.