What is Chiaroscuro?

Did you know the term “Chiaroscuro” is an Italian expression that literally translates as "light-dark." Famous artists who used the method of chiaroscuro include Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci.

A balanced play of the high contrast light and shadow is created in chiaroscuro to provide the impression of depth in the painting to achieve a stronger dramatic effect. Using the Chiaroscuro technique, you can create the 3D effect on a 2D surface by darkening the background and illuminating the subject in the foreground that will capture the viewer's attention.

My Inspiration

Like friends, flowers add color to your life by brightening it up!

Meet my new friend exclusive from my studio!
I have been spending such lovely and colorful time with this friend.

This friend is teaching me new things about myself and how I paint, including the fact that both as a person and as an artist, my decisions, ideas, and perspectives are constantly evolving.

Flowers inspire me to be my fullest self, to blossom with flying colors, to embrace each phase and state of my being, to celebrate all the colors and shades of myself.
As a tiny bud holds such greatest potential to bloom into a happy flower, being able to create something chromatic on a blank canvas is a fulfillment.

As always, (as you call it my signature style) I began with massing
1. Shape of the Light 🧡
2. Shape of the Shadow 💜

These two colors warm orange and colder violet, allow me to produce a stunning chiaroscuro effect because of the contrast in their respective temperatures.

The Development

As the earth transforms into the plant and the plant into leaves and blossoms into the flower, evolution is a symbol of expansion and growth

I sincerely hope you like this new phase in my artistic development and the creation of my latest self-portrait, in which I used a method I created myself called "Chromatic Chiaroscuro," in which the monochrome grisaille has an orange and violet chromatic base.

As the painting develops, I continue to transform the larger masses into smaller shapes by arranging the light and shadow structure into subtle chromatic value shifts.

It is so fascinating to look at this stage that is unfinished yet offers a sense of gratification for being able to visualize the painting coming to life.

Rembrandt

Inspired by Rembrandt, I allow the brightest light to shine on my cheek gradually fading it towards my hands.
The fun starts here when the traditional and modern are juxtaposed and blended, and the monochrome welcomes the chroma.

My Palette

I am thankful for the fact that color makes me happy, and I appreciate how much fun it is to blend just two colors with opposite temperature contrasts to create a wide variety of values.

To capture the chromatic value subtleties within my portrait, I started with 5 values between my orange and violet and eventually enlarged them to 9 values.

This allowed the Chromatic Chiaroscuro to happen as the waterfall of the light strongly rains at the top and fades at the bottom of the image.

It's a lovely and intimate moment for me to capture with my flower and color friends.

What are your thoughts on this new technique?

Should I add more full-spectrum colors?

Check out all the folks and their portraits I painted if you liked this method on my self-portrait here >>

• ASHWINI