Question about chiaroscuro....

[Klandestineone]

From what I read of this technique you would apply glazes of burnt umber and reds, but is it possible to achieve this effect using other colors like blues and purples?

[ryster007]

Chiaroscuro is light coming from darkness. Its more of an effect rather than a technique in its own right- Carravagio was amazing at this effect.
The trick is to have a really dark background and your subject well lit in contrast
It is absolutely possible to use any colour you like. The colours you mention (umbers and red ) are just well suited to skin tones
Ryan

[Klandestineone]

Ok I understand. But isn't it a rule that warm light produces cool shadows and vice versa for cool light? I'm a little confused.

[llawrence]

Originally Posted by Klandestineone

Ok I understand. But isn't it a rule that warm light produces cool shadows and vice versa for cool light? I'm a little confused.

Hi Klandestineone. What you're describing happens often but not always - a lot depends on how you're trying to depict the reflected or secondary light sources, and a lot of that depends on the color of the surrounding objects that are reflecting that light. At least that's the way I think of it. I wouldn't think of the warm/cool juxtaposition as a rule, but maybe more of a compositional device that often works well, or a way of livening up the chroma or temperature variety in the shadows.

[Klandestineone]

Ok I understand. Thanks for replying llawrence.

[LunaMoth]

Originally Posted by ryster007

Chiaroscuro is light coming from darkness. Its more of an effect rather than a technique in its own right- Carravagio was amazing at this effect.
The trick is to have a really dark background and your subject well lit in contrast
It is absolutely possible to use any colour you like. The colours you mention (umbers and red ) are just well suited to skin tones
Ryan

I thought what you described above was tenebrism. I learned that chiaroscuro is a much softer form of modeling with light as seen in Leonardo da Vinci's work.

[scottbaird]

Tenebrism is the dramatic effect that Caravaggio got with extremely dark darks and brightly lit spots that create such a violent contrast. Gentileschi and Tintoretto are both well known for following in Caravaggio's footsteps with this technique. As LunaMoth said, chiaroscuro is less dramatic and more about modelling than about the extreme light and dark.