Chiaroscuro

art technique · light and shadow · painting

Light meets dark. Chiaroscuro is an Italian word meaning light and dark. Artists use strong contrasts between bright and shadowy areas to make their paintings pop off the wall and feel more real and dramatic.

Creates volume and depth. When artists paint shadows carefully on one side of a face or object and bright light on the other, it tricks your eyes into seeing them as three-dimensional and rounded instead of flat.

Used in movies and photos too. Photographers and filmmakers use chiaroscuro effects by lighting scenes with strong contrasts, creating moody black and white pictures or dramatic shadows that make stories feel more intense.

Extreme shadow technique. When artists take chiaroscuro to its extreme, focusing most of a painting in deep darkness with just one small area of light, it's called tenebrism, which makes viewers focus exactly where the artist wants them to look.