Table, Chair, Egg, and a Dollar Bill

By now you are familiar with my didactic method of explaining drawings . This drawing picks up where the theory of the another drawing leaves of, and like the other drawing it involves looking at an egg. So, if we put that brown egg back on the table, as before, lit by a single light source then we can observe that it is mostly “middle tone” but there is a section toward the light which is almost white, and a section of the egg away from the light, in shadow, which is a dark brown. Now I want you to consider the section of the egg that is darkest. It will be darkest in a smooth band at a certain point on the egg. To the left, and to the right of this dark band it gets lighter. Now,( this gets complicated but it is worth the effort.) If you sit down and look at the egg from any accidental angle, what are the odds that the darkest edge of shadow will fall exactly at the outer edge of the egg? Almost nil! The darker shadows on curving forms almost never coincide with the outer edge of the form. It is just against the odds. This happens so often that it creates the rule that we could call “Light in the shadow side.”

Now, for an example, look at my drawing, do you see that the round form of the building is lit from the left and goes into shadow as it turns to the right. But after the turret shape gets darkest it gets lighter again before its curve ends. So also with the chimney shape over to the left. It is lit from the left, gets darker part way around, and then gets lighter before the outside edge is reached.

Now look at the face of Washington on a dollar bill. See how there is a shadow on his chin where the form turns under. But further under, in the shadow area you can see “Light In The Shadow Side”. Where else can we find this phenomena. The cheek of the Mona Lisa, Donald Ducks neck. The fingers of a Raphael Madonna. As a matter of fact it is like “ the law of the middle tone”, this visual phenomena is everywhere and is so universal that it escapes detection. Are there any variables? Yes, the glossier the curved object the more noticeable the effect, and if a form is very rough it is hard to see the light in the shadow side.

And now a few words about this drawing. This is an absolutely great drawing, that is all I have to say about it.