This document discusses the artistic technique of chiaroscuro used by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in their drawings. Chiaroscuro uses light and shadow to create the illusion of three-dimensionality. The document examines several drawings by each artist demonstrating their mastery of using shadows, highlights, and gradual value transitions to depict form naturalistically without outlines. It provides background on both artists and their significance in advancing painting techniques during the Italian Renaissance.

1. Chiaroscuro by Leonardo da
Vinci and Michelangelo
Get to know the masters through their drawings
Presented by: bruceblackart.com

2. Chiaroscuro is the
Italian terms light and
shadow. It refers to
the way in which light
moves around an
object to create
shadows and
highlights. In drawing
understanding
churiscurro allows the
artist to move away
from line drawings
and into more
naturally appearing
images.

3. LEONARDO da Vinci
(b. 1452, Vinci, d. 1519,
Creating strong contrast is
important in establishing
Chiaroscuro. Notice how the
drawing moves from very light
values to black tones.
Biography
Leonardo da Vinci was a
Florentine artist, one of the great
masters of the High Renaissance,
who was also celebrated as a
painter, sculptor, architect,
engineer, and scientist

4. His profound love of knowledge and research was the
keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavors.
His innovations in the field of painting influenced the
course of Italian art for more than a century after his
death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the
fields of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics—anticipated
many of the developments of modern science.
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned
drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci
around the year 1487. It is accompanied
by notes based on the work of the famed
architect, Vitruvius Pollio The drawing and
text are sometimes called the Canon of
Proportions or, less often, Proportions of
Man

5. Notice How the light moves over the
hand. Leonardo is gradually
removing the outlines in order to
reveal the form through values.
The Italian Renaissance began the opening
phase of the Renaissance, a period of great
cultural change and achievement in Europe
that spanned the period from the end of the
13th century to about 1600, marking the
transition between Medieval and Early
Modern Europe. The term renaissance is in
essence a modern one that came into
currency in the nineteenth century, in the
work of historians such as Jacob Burckhardt.

6. Ledonardo worked for years on this
painting. He masterfully managed the
lights and darks to create a very lifelike
quality to the skin.
Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda or
La Joconde) is a 16th century portrait
painted in oil on a poplar panel by
Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian
Renaissance. It is perhaps the most
famous and iconic painting in the world.

7. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), commonly
known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and
engineer.
Notice how the muscles and
bones are revealed by how
the light creates shadows
in the valleys and highlights
on the crests. No outlines
here!

8. Notice how Michelangelo has
used a series of crosshatching
marks to create values. The
denser hashes make for the
darker values. This is great when
working with pen and ink.
The woman is turned towards the
light and shadows are created has
the light moves around the face.

9. Here is a student drawing of some simple objects. The student has created
chiaroscuro by exmamining the light and shadows and paying attention to
contrast.
Now it’s your turn!

10. End of show
• Presented by: bruceblackart.com
Please click and visit me!