How To Paint Shadows In Oils

One of the questions that arises in the mind of an oil painting artist is: how to paint shadows in oils? Painting shadows can look tricky but it’s simple if you know the tricks.

First things first, practice a lot of drawing. Draw, sketch, paint from real life in your free time. Practice as much as you can. You will get familiar with shadows if you spend time with them. A sketch need not be perfect; a rough sketch can help too. However, the more minutely you observe the shadow, the better u will get.

Paint great shadows using these basic tips:

After considerable practice (continue practicing); you will understand some subtle details about the shadows that might get unnoticed in general. For instance:

• A shadow is darkest near the area where an object/person touches or almost touches the ground/surface. It gradually gets lighter.
• A shadow is darkest on the opposite side of the light source/sun’s rays etc.
• Shadows are not necessarily the same shape as that of the actual object. In fact, they also somewhat get merged with the surface they are falling on.
• An object can have more than one shadow out of which one is most well defined and others are somewhat blurred.
• Shadow doesn’t necessarily have a distinct outline.
• The colour of the shadow is not that of the object. Its colour is a bit darker than the surface it is formed upon.
• There are many other such features of shadows that you will understand once you practice lots of drawing of various subjects.

How to paint shadows in oils?

Painting shadows using oil colors becomes so much easier if you are familiar about the subtle details of shadows as mentioned above.

Whether you are painting shadows in a realistic or abstract painting; these subtle features are helpful in both cases. In my paintings Circle of Life and Still Life; you can observe how I painted shadows.

Observe or recall shadow features and apply on your painting. Some important aspects of painting shadows in oils:

• Brush handling – Remember that you are using oil paints to make shadows and they require a different way to handle brushes.
• Making a slightly darker version of the surface’s shade – Making a darker shade in oils is different than making in other mediums. Choose the colors to mix wisely.
• Careful with your brush strokes – The brush strokes you make using oil paints have to resemble that of a shadow. Go easy on blending or perfect it depending on the shadow and the source of light. Observe the original shadow closely.
• Familiar with different shadows – Observe as many shadows as possible irrespective of the painting medium.

Painting convincing shadows using oils:

Basically, with lots of familiarity through practice and understanding of usage of oil colors is the perfect recipe for a great shadow.

While you are reading this blog post, go ahead and observe your own shadow right now. Observe it like you have seen it for the first time!