Doubt of a Shadow

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Fontainebleau Forest 1865 Claude Monet

Shadows are very important in defining the form of any object, but they are often the least understood and most difficult element to master in painting. Most importantly, shadows must have transparency, or light in them, to be effective. Going by the old rule, “warm light casts cool shadows; cool light casts warm shadows”, is a good start but doesn’t fit every situation and may be dangerous to rely on. It is far more accurately stated this way: “warm light generally casts cooler shadows and cool light generally casts warmer shadows. What is important is seeing accurately and understanding what is before us and why.

The color and temperature of cast shadows are influenced largely by four things: the color of the light source, the color of the surface that the illuminated object is sitting upon, the color of any light cast into the shadow from a secondary source (including the object itself), and any light reflected …