Shadow is a color as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relations of two tones.
~Paul Cezanne
Not bold enough with my shadows! |
I think a thing's placement in the Universe is shown by it's shadow and light gives that same object it's breath of life. By missing either element one loses an absolutely essential piece of the puzzle and the artwork looks flat and lifeless, it looks dead.
The above pink daisy was one of my first attempts at a more complicated painting and I loved how the actual drawing came out. Unfortunately, although the light on the underside of the petals is fairly good, the shadows just aren't bold enough so the piece looks kind of flat and lifeless, despite it's correct proportions. When looking at it there's just something 'off' about it. I see now that none of the petals throw a shadow on the background and the shadows that are there to define petals just aren't bold enough.
When, however, I get mad I seem to be much bolder with my shadowing. I had been working on this red rose and I just couldn't get it to look at all right. I got really spitting mad, frustrated at my inadequate painting skills. I started painting angrily which meant I certainly wasn't being soft and gentle. The bolder shadows made the rose come to life and this was the first really good piece I ever produced.
This week's APR is themed around "Shadow". I decided to explore what I've learned over the last two years and see if I've improved, lol. Since it's close to Halloween I chose candy as my subject,. Mmmm, did someone say candy?? So, here's my piece... (unfortunately, it didn't photograph very well, the shadows really ARE there, lol, the photo just doesn't show it much. The camera seems to have whitened both the background and the candy shadows. Grrr.)
Title: "Trick or Treat!" |
Looking for APR? Click Here! Hoping all my East Coast friends are safe and dry with no damage. Wishing all of you a safe and candy laden Happy Halloween!