Some Shadow Tests

I’ve been trying out a few experiments designed to explore the possibilities / could have beens among my last installation.  They are based on suggestions for the installation that arose from various critiques before spring break.

First is the pouring shadow.  This was a simple continuation of a shadow line until it became tangent to the adjacent zone of color.  It creates the illusion that the color zone is filling the shadow with color.

 

Second is the overlapping shadow.  In the test I simply allowed a shadow to extend into an adjacent zone and painted it accordingly. This allows the shadow to be free from the 1 to 1 relationship of the zone and shadow.  It creates a freeing effect.

The third experiment is a drop shadow of a shadow.  This experiment is an analogy / physical drop shadow for a painted shadow.  It lifts the painted shadow off the wall and creates the illusion that the shadow painting is an object itself hovering off of the wall.  I don’t believe this effect can survive as two shadows painted on the wall because I think it would reference a simple photoshop trick that would be cheesy or too simple.  The physical shadow tricks the eye into believing something exists that actually does not.