Shadows are one of the most important aspects of a painting in my opinion. And the most fun! (Maybe that’s just me…)
But the truth is that shadows convey a lot of useful information to the viewer.
The human eye recognises shapes and patterns. This happens in an instant and without us really being aware of it. There are two main types of shadow that will elevate your painting - cast shadows and form shadows.
Let’s review them both, shall we?
Form shadows
When we see a subject we pick up the large shape created by the outside edge of the form - like this.
We might see it as some sort of flat paddle, based only on the outside edge. But add a little shadow and highlights and suddenly the paddle is transformed into a 3 dimensional bulb shape - a tulip!
It is the form shadow that communicates the 3D shape of the subject to the viewer
Similarly, this flat rectangle becomes a cylindrical vase when we see the light and shadow.
The form shadow on the vase show the view that is is cylindrical not flat.
The best way of painting convincing 3 dimensional shapes is to make sure you incorporate one strong light source and keep it consistent throughout the painting.
Now if you happen to be painting from life, you can carefully position your subject next to a window, or even better have one strong lamp angled directly on the subject from one side.
Painting from a reference?
No need to be limited by the photo.
You have the paintbrush… you have the power.
Lighting may or may not have been the photographer’s main concern when the photo was taken and sometimes studio lighting may have even been carefully arranged to minimise the shadows, depending on the intended purpose of the photograph.
A much stronger painting is likely when the painter deliberately includes a single, directional light source. When light shines on an object in this way, the surfaces and planes of the object that are closer to the light source are paler. Those furthest from the light source are in shadow. This is what is described as a form shadow.
Our brains know that such a pattern of light and shadow indicates the volume of the subject. This is why most drawing programs and classes will include a lot of exercises that involve shading simple geometric shapes, like cubes, spheres, cylinders, boxes and prisms. These basic building blocks make up the shapes we see all around us. Learn to shade those and you learn to shade just about anything.
When we paint, we can add that shading really easily with the watercolour - as long as we remember where the shading goes. If we use wet in wet watercolour techniques we can also achieve very natural looking transitions from light to dark, quite simply.
Cast shadows
The second important shadow to be aware of is called a cast shadow.
This is the shadow cast by an object onto the adjacent surfaces. I love painting these shadows! I even made a painting where the shadow was the subject…
Watercolour Painting (6” x 8”) ‘Shadow Play’ from the World Watercolour Month 2019 Series
But back to the business of cast shadows.
While form shadows give the viewer information about the form (or volume) of the subject, cast shadows give the viewer information about the relationship between the subject and its surroundings.
A vase on a table can still have something of a floating appearance. Once you add the shadow created by the vase on the table we know that the two are connected. The vase suddenly has weight.
With no cast shadow, the subject appears to float in the painting
Notice that the cast shadow is deepest where the table and vase are touching and then gets a little lighter as the shadow expands away from the base of the vase. Watercolour does this rather marvellously for us when we use the softening off technique.
Psst…. want to paint these geraniums with me step by step? There is a tutorial for that!
Sometimes the object casting the shadow is not even in the picture frame. I rather enjoy this. You are able to create more a sense of the place and incorporate more information than fits within the picture plane.
In the painting below, the trees that cast a shadow in the foreground are not visible. However, their shadow is an important part of the composition. It gives some visual weight to the foreground and tells us a bit more about the light and ambience of this place.
Original Watercolour 8” x 10”, No 4 of the Palms and Beaches Series
Watercolour does us a favour when painting these cast shadows. Since watercolour is transparent, you can paint the whole scene and let it dry. Then you can place your transparent shadow over the scene and what is underneath will still be seen. This means the colour variation and important shapes in the surface over which the shadow is cast are all still there.
Another tip worth remembering is that the cast shadow shape will be affected by more than the subject that is blocking the light. It will also be influenced by the surface on which the shadow falls.
For example, if the ground on the path in the painting above is uneven, then the shadow created by the branches and trunks will have a few extra distortions where the shadow falls on bumps and dips in the path. But the vase that is casting a shadow on a smooth, flat table surface will have the clean, undistorted shape of the vase.
Want to paint these geraniums and their lovely shadow with me step by step?
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