What better time to write about shadows than now, just after Groundhog Day! This year, the Groundhog did see his shadow, and I have also been thinking about shadows in my paintings. Sometimes it is a struggle to get shadow colors correct. Why? Because a shadow is usually not a very intense color. Read on...
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| (c) Peggi Kroll Roberts |
If a color is "intense", it is easy to name immediately. Examples are an apple, or a well manicured golf green. It takes only a split second to identify one as "red" and the other as "green". But just try to name the color of the shadow beneath a car. No name comes to mind. The shadow color is of very low intensity, and thus very hard to identify.
"Teapot and Fruit"
12 x 16, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2021
That said, the cast shadow can be the artist's best friend. It helps define the object that is casting the shadow. And it anchors the object to the ground. Take a look at the paintings above by Peggi Kroll Roberts. The cast shadow is as just important as the person casting it! And it my teapot painting, the shadow shapes help unify the painting and connect all the objects.
For another illustration of the power of the shadow, we need look no farther than the painting above, featuring the bicycle shadow. I might even say that the shadow MAKES this painting what it is. Enjoy!
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| (c) Karin Jurik |
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