This book, illustrated with drawings in pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, and brush and ink, shows how to interpret subjects in terms of light and shade. Hogarth demonstrates how a dark silhouette on white paper can communicate form and space. He then shows how the silhouette is transformed into three dimensions with the addition of highlights. There is a chapter devoted to each of the five basic categories of light and shade: single-source light; double-source light; flat, diffused light; moonlight; and sculptural light. Natural and artificial light sources are examined, and the effects of the five types of light on a variety of subjects - faces, figures, landscapes, still lifes - are illustrated. Hogarth also explains more complex light effects: how light and shade can create a sense of near and far; how light is affected by weather, time of day, and the changing seasons; how light reveals the surface qualities of forms; the effects of light passing through transparent materials like glass and water; and much more.
