Talking Points: What is Chiaroscuro?
Why might artists use chiaroscuro in their artwork?
Chiaroscuro is a way of using strong contrasts between light and dark in an artwork. Artists can use shadows to darken some areas while using light to make others stand out. By playing with light and dark, we can create atmosphere, draw attention to certain parts of an image and make a drawing feel dramatic.
Use the videos, questions and resources below to explore chiaroscuro and how artists use light and dark in their work.
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What is Chiaroscuro?
Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which literally means ‘light-dark’. Artists have used it for centuries to help them describe form, and to create atmosphere or mood.
To appreciate that the artist is using the chiaroscuro technique, squint at the artwork. Half close your eyes and notice how you can now see the light and the dark, but not the mid tones. You can also use this technique to help you see light and dark when looking at a still life, landscape or interior which you are about to draw.
Find more information on Google Arts and Culture.
Leonardo da Vinci‘s Saint John the Baptist (1513-1516)
Art UK: The Superpower of Looking explores Joseph Wright of Derby’s An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
Strange Flower (Little Sister of the Poor) (1880) by Odilon Redon. Original from the Art Institute of Chicago
Moonlight, Strandgade 30, Vilhelm Hammershøi
A Good Pool, Saguenay River (1895) by Winslow Homer. Original from The Clark Art Institute.
Questions to Ask Children
How does emphasising the light and the dark help create mood and atmosphere?
Can you always tell in which direction the light source is?
Has the artist actually used “black” and “white” or are the light and dark areas different tones of “grey”?
Using Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro replies on you being able to create tonal values on a page which have enough difference between them. For example, you need to be able to create a “dark dark” and a “light light”.
Depending on the medium you are using, there are different ways of achieving this. For example if you are using graphite (pencil) then you might create dark darks by cross hatching, repeat shading, intense pressure etc etc, and you might create light lights by using the pencil very softly – or even leaving the light of the paper to shine through. If you are using ink, you might like to use your ink undiluted for the dark darks, and diluted for the light lights.
Take a look at these resources to help you explore Chiaroscuro.
See Three Shapes
Drawing by Torch Light
Graphic Sketches
Drawing Flames
This Talking Points Is Used In...
Pathway: Gestural Drawing with charcoal
ADDITIONAL PATHWAY: AN EXPLORATION OF COAL MINING, INSPIRED BY HENRY MOORE
using sketchbooks to make visual notes
Show me what you see
