Temperature of Shadows
words from Matt Smith
One of my students heard a podcast where the person mentioned all shadows are warm. I am here to tell you that this is not true! Particularly when you are outdoors and you have varying sources of light. What happens outdoors is you have three light sources. You have direct sunlight, which illuminates everything. Everything it illuminates becomes a light source. They all become light sources that then reflect light back into shadows. This happens with warm shadows. You have direct sunlight, indirect light that come from areas illuminated by the sun, then you have reflective blue skylight which are areas that are in shadow (like a cast shadow facing upwards.)
So, what happens is , form shadow (the shadow side of an object) is influenced by areas that are struck by the sunlight and reflects back into those shadows. Those tend to be a little warmer because the light source is warmer. Then you have the blue skylight, which comes down and reflects into the upright planes and creates a cooler cast shadow. The shadow of the cliff is clearly warmer than the ground shadow. This is because they are influenced by two different light sources.
This is why it is tough to say all shadows are warm. The general rule of thumb is if you have a warm light source, you have a cool shadow. If you have a cool light source, you have warm shadows. It might not be obvious, but it is noticeable when you pay attention. Keep an eye out when you are painting subjects like this. Ask yourself if it is form shadow (the shadow side of the cliff) or is it cast shadow (the shadow the cliff is casting). There is a difference in temperature. They can be the exact same value, but there will clearly be a difference.
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