Art Analysis; Shadowology

       Artist Vincent Bal, brings life to all different shadows of every and any kind of object. "Shadowology is the very scientific name that I gave my silly drawings" Bal says". "It's the science of discovering all the things that are hidden in the shadows. AAll these creatures and these things that we don't see. With shadowology you can make them visible." Vincent Bal created this type of art by a coincidence. He took a break while working on a film script and bam, a new perspective of art. "I was writing and I saw a shadow on my desk of a little teacup I had bought in Vietnam," Bal explains. "And it looked like an elephant. So I drew a couple of lines and I thought it was pretty cool so I took a picture and I shared it on Instagram and Facebook. Normally my Instagram posts would get like 20 likes. And this one got like 150 likes. I was really surprised because people really seemed to like it and I thought: 'Well, let's try to do one of these each day.' And I haven't stopped since."

Looking through Vincent Bal's portfolio, a lot of his work stood out because if you look at the shadow before the drawing you wouldn't even be able to imagine what could be created. It's impressive what you can create through a shadow. You can tell that his imagination and perspective of things can get very creative. If I was to choose ones that stand out for me, they would be the ones with references to music, like the one above on the left. It's just a preference nothing special about them other than the fact that I like music. In the picture above Bal used the shadow as a piano and drew in the rest. If you were to ignore the doodle Bal drew in and just focused on the shadow itself, you probably would have seen a piano. When looking at the picture above, you would actually notice that the shadow actually does look like a piano but if it wasn't for the drawing, that idea wouldn't even cross your mind. Other drawings that catch my eye are the ones with humor. Its hard to just pick one though because they are all really adorable.

If I had to choose, the image to the right is my favorite. I find satisfaction in this image for some reason. It puts me back to all those times I have sat back on the plane and enjoyed the view of the horizon. I find it interesting how Vincent Bal decides to use a shadow reflection of a glass cup for the plane window. As Bal became more famous and discovered over time he felt a little pressure drawing these adorable doodles. "In the beginning, there was no pressure at all. Now I feel each picture has to have a certain level," Bal says. Bal is not only known as the creator of shadowology. Vincent Bal also authors books and creates film scripts. He also travels around the world.

The type of art Vincent Bal creates is whimsical and adorable. There is a level of satisfaction that you get when looking at his work. After looking his work, I began to look at shadows differently. I try to see the hidden images that he sees when he draws his. When I compare his work to everyday life, I think about the times when I was younger and I used to play with flashlights, making all kinds of different things. Although not the same thing that Vincent Bal did, but the imagination was there.