Shadows Revisited: Color

In continuation of my blog on shadows, we need to address the effects of color. When we first think of shadows, we might automatically assume that they are gray or black. In reality, it’s more complex than that. The color of a shadow depends on two things, with some exceptions:
The color of the light source
The color of the surface the shadow is falling onto

The color of the light source

I tell my students that when there’s a cool light, you will see warm shadows, and when there’s a warm light, you will see cool shadows. By warm shadows, I mean that there’s a hint of a warm color such as red or yellow, and by cool shadows, there could be a hint of blue or purple in the mix.

Surface color

In addition to these colors, you need to look at the color of the surface.

For example, on a sunny day, leaves casting a shadow onto green grass would look different to leaves casting a shadow onto a brown dirt path. The green of the grass would affect the color of the shadow, and the color of the dirt path would affect the color of the shadows from the leaves.

You would have the same shadow color that would be purple/gray or blue/gray initially, (because of the warm sunlight) but then it would be altered by the general color of the surface that the shadow is falling onto.

There are a couple of exceptions to these rules:

Translucent objects: When you have a translucent object and light can pass through it, like a stained-glass window, or a liquid in a glass bottle. The shadow colors would be altered by the color of the object.

Reflective objects: When you have a reflective object, like a white building and the ambient light reflects off the surface and bounces into the cast shadow.

Recap

Step 1 – Observe the shape of the cast shadow. This is in direct response to the shape of the object casting the shadow and the shape of the surface the shadow falls onto.

Step 2 – Observe the edge quality of the shadow. How far is the shadow from the object you’re painting? How much has is softened (even in hard sunlight)

Step 3 – Observe the color temperature of the light source. Warm light, cool but very muted shadows, cool light warm but very muted shadows.

Step 4 – Observe the local color of the surface the cast shadow is falling onto.

Step 5 – Observe the value of the shadow.