A painting or drawing, even if it is proportionally correct, looks flat and lifeless without shading. Chiaroscuro is an essential element, especially in portraits and still life, where it is not only functional – giving the shapes depth and definition – but a potentially explosive means of conveying drama and emotion.

The basis of chiaroscuro stems from the observation of the way light behaves on surfaces. By reproducing this behavior accurately on paper or canvas, you can create an image that is visually authentic to the eye of the viewer. We all have an intuitive grasp of how light interacts with the world around us – for instance, we all expect to see an area of brightness where light reflects off an object, or a patch of shadow where light is blocked. But light sometimes behaves in more subtle ways of which we aren’t always conscious. The artist can take advantage of these subtleties to create a convincing chiaroscuro effect.

Image: University of Evansville

Adding the dimension of color creates a whole new set of complexities in working with chiaroscuro. Because the level of intensity in the lighting changes the way we perceive a given hue, color chiaroscuro is more challenging for artists to work with than just black and white or gray-scale (more on light and color here). But black and white is the best way to learn chiaroscuro, since it illustrates how powerful a tool it is even in the absence of color. With a little study, it is a simple and effective application of the comparatively difficult science of optical physics.

Chiaroscuro first came to prominent use during the Italian Renaissance. An especially popular form known as tenebrism, pioneered by painters such as Caravaggio, used exaggerated lighting contrast for heightened effect. This was a favorite style of painters like Rembrandt and El Greco and heavily influenced later styles of painting in the 19th and 20th centuries.

It is interesting to note that many of the famed artists who made the strongest use of chiaroscuro were also great draftsmen, having first mastered the use of shading through drawings in mediums such as pencil or silverpoint.

Rembrandt, The Philosopher in Meditation

More on this subject:

Chiaroscuro in Painting: The Power of Light and Dark – illustrated article from Empty Easel

WebExhibits: Color Vision & Art – fully interactive, with lots more on the history of contrast & color in art

HINTS OF COLOR: Light & Color

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Purple

Copy the URL of any image viewed in your web browser to generate a color scheme (complete with hex codes, so no guesswork). Simple but effective – I can think of multiple ways this tool could come in very handy! Just off the top of my head:

1) Graphic design, web design/blogging – creating templates, identifying color codes, etc.

2) Art – use it to analyze colors in a reference picture, then select your paint colors. Or make choosing a mat color easy. Or use it with a color wheel to narrow down your color scheme.

Click the screenshot to see an example:

TRY IT OUT:
http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

Really nice interactive website from WebExhibits – explores the historic use of pigments, the science of painting, and color theory. One of my favorite reference sites!

WebExhibits: Pigments Through The Ages

A few sample screenshots (click for larger view):

Purple is the most mysterious and elusive color in the spectrum, and the rarest color found in nature. The expense of purple pigments is responsible for its association with royalty throughout history – a distinction for which it is best known. Garments dyed with the Tyrian purple manufactured from murex snails were a status symbol throughout Europe and Asia, and for many centuries were worn only by the wealthiest tier of society, including kings and queens, giving rise to the name “royal purple.” For the Phoenicians who originally produced this dye, the color became a national signature; their name comes from the Greek “phoinikes” meaning “purple.”

Elsewhere in the world, the indigo and purple shells of certain clams and whelks were ground into wampum beads by Native Americans of the eastern seaboard. These beads were woven into belts for record-keeping purposes and for legal and ceremonial contracts.

Purple combines characteristics of both cool and warm color groups, making it balanced and tranquil. It is easily incorporated as a secondary color anywhere black, blues, or browns are used, and is best balanced by accent colors with opposite characteristics, such as yellow or orange.

Q: What’s the difference between purple and violet?
A: Purple is a color, the combination of blue and red. Violet is a light signature or a range in the light spectrum. It marks the far end of the visible light spectrum and has the lowest wavelength and the highest frequency humans can see short of the ultraviolet range. True violet can’t be reproduced through the primary color scheme, so for all practical purposes, we use purple.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – Purple

The copper compound azurite is the oldest and most widespread source of blue pigments. In modern times, both cobalt and Prussian blue – one of the first synthetic pigments – have been in great demand by painters. Like purple, many organic sources of blue pigment used for making dyes are extremely rare and have been highly valued throughout history; thus the association with royalty or divinity. Tekhelet was a blue dye prized by ancient Israelites for ceremonial uses, and although its source has been lost over time it is believed to have been a specially prepared formula derived from a cuttlefish.

Blue is the color of the deepest things we know, the sea and the sky, so it has come to represent truth and wisdom. Blue tones have the most soothing effect, which may be why it is the most common favorite color. Because it is calm and clean it is a popular color in professional design.

There are almost no drawbacks to applying blue in artwork, as long as you know what you want to convey. It’s hard to overuse this color, but be selective of which tones you use to avoid a washed-out or dismal look, as some can appear gloomy – or “blue.” It contrasts well with orange and warm or golden browns.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – BLUE

Green is predominantly a color of nature. It’s is considered fresh and invigorating because it is the color of growing things; lush and fertile, it’s often used to represent renewal and hope. But it’s also remarkably versatile in its diverse tones – from olive to hunter to sea foam green, and has many symbolic associations.

While green in the form of chlorophyll is most abundant in nature, green pigments for use in art are derived primarily from compounds of oxidized metals (such as copper) and even semi-precious minerals. In pastels, it’s one of the more difficult colors to produce, especially in its darker tones. (I have found Art Spectrum’s greens to be among the best – they are hand-made from Australian mineral soils and are extremely rich and blendable.)

Green is a cool color and very restful to the eye, but not as cool as blue or violet. Combine with blues for a smooth, chilled-out look, or with warm reds or browns for balance and contrast.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – GREEN

Sunny, lively, energetic, whimsical – what color comes to mind? Yellow, of course. It’s one of the three primary colors, and no other seems to match its effervescent vibrancy.

The oldest and most widespread use of yellow in art dates back many millennia to pigments derived from yellow ochre. More recently, many yellow pigments traditionally used by artists were made with highly toxic ingredients such as cadmium, arsenic, and antimony. In modern times yellow paints and chalks are still made from natural sources such as ochres, but with safer synthetic compounds replacing most of the heavy metals.

Yellow is a color with a demanding “type A” personality; while it’s never heavy, it is highly stimulating – so use it in moderation. On account of its vibrancy, it pairs best with colors having no chroma – that is, black or white. It is also complemented by violet, its opposite.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – YELLOW

Color in Motion: Flash Presentation

(Click screenshots for larger view)

While this next-door neighbor to red in the color spectrum may not be as intense, perhaps no other color best conveys warmth. Orange tones blend the best of sunlight and shadow. They are a predominant feature in palettes of earth tones, and coordinate very well with adjacent brown colors, or with opposites such as turquoise or violet.

Orange chalks, paints, and clays are usually made from pigments containing ochres.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – ORANGE

This website is an amazing tool for developing color schemes using a color wheel and the basic patterns of color harmony. Select any dominant color and adjust its chroma, shade, etc. and it will create a perfectly-designed palette. It comes with presets for varying tonal levels and will even generate a sample web template as an illustration. I give it five stars!

Color Scheme Designer

Red is possibly the most important color in art, and our long history of attraction to it is very apparent. There’s evidence that we’ve been using it for decorative and ceremonial purposes for over 70,000 years. Archaeologists have uncovered caches of red ochre pigments at Paleolithic sites all over the world; the famous Ice Age cave paintings at Lascaux and Altamira, for instance, feature this pigment predominantly. Recently scientists have found a Neanderthal site in Spain with remnants of what appears to be body paint made from red ochre. In many ways red is our signature color. It has always represented life (because it is the color of blood), vitality, and emotion.

In scientific terms, red lies at the far end of the light spectrum, and as reflected light it has the highest wavelength our eyes can detect. So in its fullest chromas it has a powerful sensory appeal – a real attention-getter. That’s why stop lights and warning signs are bright red, and not bright green, and by the same token it’s why red roses are considered romantic and traditional Chinese brides wear red wedding gowns. Red used in composition creates warmth and draws a viewer’s focus, and is most intense when contrasted against black.

The red pigments used in art derive mostly from clays containing iron-based compounds, such as red ochre. Other sources are metallic compounds, such as mercury and sulfur in cinnabar or vermilion; pigments extracted from insects (carmine); and plant dyes. In pastels, many of the finest and most colorfast reds are made in parts of the world where the clays are found to have a high degree of color intensity from the minerals they contain, and exceptional texture that makes the pastels highly blendable.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – RED

This page has a very good rundown of the terms associated with the color wheel and the concept of color harmony. Very useful!

Because of its wave properties, light shares some interesting features with sound. For instance, colors complement one another based on their wavelengths exactly the same way as musical notes harmonize based on their sound frequencies. These groups fall into several different categories:

Complementary - colors that lie opposite one another on the color wheel complement one another by contrast; e.g., a very warm red contrasted by a cool green (we all see this scheme in Christmas decorations).

Analogous - these are colors that lie next to one another; they blend well because the have much in common. Think of a color scheme that combines blues and greens – there is little contrast and the cool color range creates a pleasing and soothing effect.

Split complementary – this color scheme combines both complementary and adjacent color schemes. It forms a narrow triangle on the color wheel. By blending a main color with two adjacent colors from the opposite end, you can achieve color harmony with high visual interest.

Triad - a group of three colors that lie equally distanced from one another on the color wheel. Draw an imaginary triangle and pivot it around to see what color combinations this creates. None of these colors will belong to the same group – but the harmony lies in the fact that there is a pattern to the choice of colors. If they were completely random, the resulting visual chaos would not be pleasing to the eye.

Interestingly, these color patterns are best illustrated by examples in nature. Think of a beautiful Southwestern desert scene with a turquoise sky, golden sand, and reddish-brown rock formations. This is a classic split complementary scheme. For analogous harmony, picture a tranquil seascape painted in tones of blue and purple. Flowers often illustrate color harmony, such as the viola with contrasting yellow and violet, as do color patterns in the fur of many animals.

Compare the color schemes in the following photos:

Photo credits: Public domain

Read more about patterns of color harmony and the color wheel:

http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm#Color_Wheel

Red, yellow, and blue are considered the primary colors. They are equally spaced from each other in the spectrum – and hence in the color wheel. They combine to form white light (which represents all colors). And they can blend together in various combinations to form every other possible hue. The first three levels of color combinations fall into the following groups:

Primary Colors – Red, Yellow, Blue, that combine to form all the other colors
Secondary Colors – Orange (Red + Yellow), Green (Yellow + Blue), Violet (Blue + Red)
Tertiary Colors – Combinations of secondary colors – such as blue-green or red-orange

An example of how primary colors combine to form white light

If an artist was restricted to using only hues, however, his paintings would probably look more like something done with a first-grader’s crayon set. This is because the colors or light signatures in the spectrum can’t represent realism without the variation of light. Remember, artists don’t paint so much with color as they do with light – because the appearance of the things they portray with pigments is based entirely on the interaction of light with a given surface. This is why we have shades, tones, and tints (see my last post about Birren’s triangle).

Color wheel showing primary and secondary colors

Click the screenshot below to enter.

Technically, it’s how our brains interpret a narrow range of light wavelengths as reflected by objects based on their atomic properties. However complicated (and unglamorous) that may sound, the artist can take advantage of the fact that color is something we experience and use it to create an intense and powerful method of communication.

Most people tend to think of color as an absolute property – the sky is blue, an apple is red, paper is white, etc. But there is no such thing as a “default color,” because color itself is an optical illusion and the appearance of a given surface varies greatly. No one is more keenly aware of this dilemma – and its potential – than the artist.

Take an eye for example: the white of your eye may properly be white, but it rarely if ever appears so. Under any kind of shadow it will appear gray or blue.

Because it is fluid, it tends to reflect its surroundings. And because its surface is curved, the more distant area will reflect light differently and thus appear a slightly different color. Now turn your head in a different direction, or turn on a light, and all of these variables will change. Much the same is true about skin tones. A Caucasian person’s skin may be a pale pink, and an African’s dark brown, but at any given moment, depending on light conditions and environment, human skin will reflect any number of shades of red, purple, blue – and in dark shadows it can appear black.

Think of everyday life as a film made up of hundreds of frames per second; a painting, like a photograph, freezes the appearance of an object or surface in a single frame, with the position and lighting conditions as they existed at that exact moment. An artist has to train himself to see these actual conditions, rather than what his brain tells him to see. A painter working in realism can use his understanding of the properties of light and color to his advantage by manipulating hues and tones to create the effect of depth, shape, and texture on a two-dimensional surface (that is, a canvas or paper). A viewer’s eye will notice these details and interpret them as consistent with reality, even if he is completely unaware of them.

Next: The Properties of Color