12. Light, Shade and Shadows

The dynamics of colours and textures are especially sensitive to illumination. Imagine a world without sunlight or even without artificial lighting, for that matter. All colours, all textures and all forms respond instinctively to the light that falls upon them. The direction of light, as well as its quality and intensity determine our ultimate perception of a form - whether it's a painting, a sculpture, the human face or a massive building.

The area where light does not fall remains in shade and what lit forms cast upon themselves or the ground, are the shadows - and it is these light-shade-shadow interplays which dramatize our visual environment. Sciography is the science dealing with the technical details of shades and shadows.

Natural, or white light is the result of a combination of all colours in the rainbow: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red - the seven principle colours which the human eye can perceive; before violet are the ultraviolet rays and beyond red, the infrared rays - neither of which are visible. An absence of colour gives black, which, in this sense, means darkness or night.