Shadow Drawing

Ah, the summer sun! There are so many ways to capture the power of the sun in creative explorations, and this prompt is perfect for those who are new to sketching or who are looking to see things in a different light - or should I say, shadow! That’s right, it’s shadow drawing!

SET UP

There are a few ways to go about shadow drawing. One method is to utilize the shadows cast by objects in nature. Another is to set up your own objects to create a shadow scene. A third is to track an object over time as its shadows move and change. All you need is paper, a drawing utensil, and a sunny day! This exercise can be done with a pencil or pen, which allows you to go back in with your preferred coloring media to add layers to the piece. You can also go straight for the color and create a piece with colored pencil or pastels for a looser approach.

HOW TO GET STARTED

For the first approach (drawing from nature) find objects in nature that interest you and set up your page where they cast their shadows. Morning and afternoon shadows will almost give you a tracing of the object itself when the shadows are elongated. Mid-day shadows will feel like a view from above as the object’s shadow condenses on itself. To create a scene or draw a beloved object, set up the object outside and trace its shadow onto the paper. This works best in morning or afternoon light in order to better recognize the object as its shadow is drawn. To track an object over time, you will need to come back and revisit your page over an extended period of time to create a day in the life of the shadow. No matter what and when you’re tracing, remember to follow the shadow’s edges and work fairly quickly. If you are too precious about the tracing, the shadow will move as you draw, distorting your resulting image.

EXPERIMENTATION TIME!

Now it’s time to have fun with it! Will you layer shadows on top of one another, or rotate your paper and trace the shadows again? Will you color in the shadow as if it were the object itself? Will you create your shadow art in one monochromatic tone? Will you use the shadow lines to create a different object altogether? This is the time to experiment and have fun with it!

ADDING IN SOME FUN FOR KIDS!

Kids’ toys make great subjects for shadow art! It can be a fun way for kids to bring their art outside, create their own shadow scenes, and practice their tracing skills in a new way.

WHAT’S NEXT?

This shadow art exercise felt like a fun exploration into solids and voids for me. When I picked up my trusty signature blue, it reminded me of another sunny art exploration - sun prints! Shadow and Light as a medium. And it seemed only fitting to jump into that creative exploration next! I’ll be sharing all about how to compose and develop your own sun prints from a variety of objects.

I hope you enjoy getting outside and seeing what shadow drawing can do for your artistic practice! For me, I love that it gets me right into a flow by giving me lovely loose outlines that I don’t have to think too hard about or be too precious with. It’s a wonderful view of the things we see all around us, and it gets me thinking about these bonus shapes and scenes all around us, especially with summer’s sun angles. I’d love to hear about your explorations in the comments!