Themes > Arts > Painting > Painting Principles and Techniques > Depth or Distance Cues > Shadow
Dewdrop (Dauwdroppel) by M. C. Escher Shadow can play a very powerful role in defining form by giving the object a three-dimensional feel as in the title to this page. In addition, artists can take good advantage of shadow to define form by highlighting how different portions of an object are at different depths and therefore the object closer to the light will cast a shadow on the more distant object. The etching below by M.C. Escher of a leaf uses shadow as the primary means of defining the form of the leaf that is in the sun. If you look at the portion of the leaf that is lit up you will notice that lines are not drawn for the veins in the leaf but shadow defines where they are. Shadow can play a broader role in defining depth between objects since objects that are in shadow must be farther from the light than objects that are not in shadow.
copyrightkrantzj@hanover.edu    John H. Krantz, Ph.D. Information provided by: http://krantzj.hanover.edu