Tutorial 2A

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Shadow Secrets

There are two different shadows I want you to meet today.  Each holds special secrets that every artist should know.

The body shadow is the dark side of an object, found on the opposite side from the light source.

Notice the little arrow pointing to the dark side of this pewter tray.

A cast shadow is created when an object blocks the flow of light to another object. 

This happened when the wine bottle blocked the flow of light on the wall.  The bottle cast a shadow onto the wall as a result.  Notice the arrow pointing to the cast shadow caused by the bottle.

The body shadow has softer edges than a cast shadow.  Sometimes it’s hard to determine where the shadow ends because of the transition from dark to light that is so softly merged.

The body shadow is darker than a cast shadow because the light source cannot reach it.  Whereas the cast shadow may be in an area where there is more overall light and some of that light would spill into the shadow area creating a softer shadow.   

Shadows are necessary to make an object look 3-dimensional.  Look at the cast shadow on the bread.  It helps to define the shape of the bread.

The bottle casts a shadow onto the wall.  See how the bottle shadow is taller than the bottle itself?  That's because of the angle of the light source.  The shadow cast points in the opposite direction from the light source.

The cast shadow hugs the shape of what it falls upon.  See the cast shadow caused by the grapes.  That shadow falls upon the wine bottle and the shadow curves with the roundness of the bottle that it is cast upon. The shape looks even more rounded.

Now compare the cast shadow that falls upon the cheese that is caused by the same grapes blocking the light flow. The shape here is less circular because the cheese is not rounded. 

Cast shadows often have a defined edge that is quite visible, but it is also soft.  Cast shadows vary in value, depending on how far away each areas is from the object that cast that shadow. 

The closer to the object, the darker the shadow is. As the cast shadow extends away from the object that caused it, the shadow becomes increasingly lighter and softer.

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