Artists who exercise the chiaroscuro principle play with what happens when a unique light strikes an image. Parts of the image seem to leap forth into the light while others recede into shadow, like in this painting by Mary Whyte.
|"Before There Were Wings" Watercolor Mary Whyte|
So chiaroscuro relates specifically to illumination and how an artist translate it into a painting or drawing.
Chiaroscuro is as effective in a monochromatic (single color) painting as in one using multiple colors. This monochromatic 17th century painting by George de la Tour receives its illumination from a candle.
|"St. Joseph" George de la Tour circa 1642|
But this 21st century multi-colored still life by Qiang Huang receives illumination from a narrow light source outside the painting.
|Qiang Huang Oil Demo|
Click on image for larger view
Both are in chiaroscuro. In both it is the direction and strength of the light that give meaning to the content of the painting.
Our language is organic. Terms originate somewhere in time then their definitions evolve as we humans become conscious of their mechanics. Until the 21st century, art history authorities kept to a close-knit definition of chiaroscuro, limiting it to figurative and still life forms and a single light source. More modern understandings of the concept include the total interplay of light and shadow, no matter what the subject is.
Today we can say that Jennifer McChristian's "Marche aux Puces" is in chiaroscuro...
|Marche aux Puces Oil Jennifer McChristian|
...or that Pat Weaver's watercolor of a cow is in chiaroscura...
...just as accurately as we can say that Rembrandt's "Man in a Golden Helmet" is in chiaroscuro.
|Watercolor Pat Weaver|
|"Man in a Golden Helmet" c. 1650 Rembrandt van Rijn|
When I was a student in the sixties, chiaroscuro was on moth balls. It was an antiquated term associated with works of the past, delegated to the pages of stuffy art history books whose authors guarded its definition as if it were untouchable. Today, it is a vibrant tool capable of bringing life to a painting.
Sometimes we do well to jar from the annals their embedded notions and ask ourselves anew: what does this really mean?