Shadow

Curriculum

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6 Lessons
2 Hours

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6

Chapter 1 | SHADOW PLAY

Shadow figures (or silhouettes) like the ones below resemble elusive beings in a shadow play. In this lesson, you can experiment with shadow shapes.

Schimmenspel, tekenles over schaduw

Exercise 1: Place a few small newspaper or magazine clippings of recognizable figures loosely on paper and trace their outlines as lightly as possible. Move the clippings aside and fill in the remaining shapes as evenly as possible with shades of gray (2B pencil or softer) or dark colors.

In my example, the clippings of a dog and a bird are included. The other two shadow shapes were leftover clippings that I thought would complement them nicely.

Shadow shapes of four newspaper clippings, 20 x 20 cm.

Unexpected shadows on walls, especially when it’s late at night, can give someone the shivers. They’re often used in movies. In a famous shot from an old horror film, the shadow of a creepy figure (Dracula) walks up the stairs to the door of a room where his victim is.

Shot from the film Nosferatu, (Murnau, 1922)

Exercise 2: Draw this shot on a small size (e.g. 15 x 10 or 12 x 8 cm). Use light lines to indicate where the gray tones change. You can also print out my drawing. Then, using a soft pencil (2B or softer), try filling in the different gray tones. Sometimes the transitions are sharp, sometimes they are blurred.

Compositietekening van een beroemd filmshot uit Nosferatu, uit een tekenles over schaduw

EXTRA: Create your own small-scale shadow play with fantasized shadow shapes in a style you like.

Shadow play, 2B basic pencil and digital color, 20 x 20 cm.

Next Chapter 2 | MODELING

Shadow

Curriculum

Chapter 1 | SHADOW PLAY

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