Our World in Art: Chiaroscuro - the art of using strong contrasts between light and dark.

Chiaroscuro (from the Italian words chiaro, meaning “light,” and scuro, meaning “dark”) refers to the art of using strong contrasts between light and shade in a work of art to define three-dimensional objects. The masters of this technique were the Italians, for example Leonardo da Vinci. However, there are  some evidence that ancient Greek and Roman artists also used chiaroscuro effects. Leonardo da Vinci was an artist who brought the technique to its full potential in the late 15th century. Nowadays the term refers to a wide array of lighting effects. Another technique is called chiaroscuro woodprints. It is used in the graphic arts. In this technique the effects of light and shade are achieved by printing each tone from a different wood block. The key block is inked with the darkest tone and printed first. Chiaroscuro woodcuts are printed in only one color—brown, gray, green, and sepia being preferred. The process attempted to imitate wash and watercolor drawings and also became popular as an inexpensive method of reproducing paintings.

 http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9319482/chiaroscuro

Second graders have done a great job. They tried to use only three colors: red, white and black. And like Robert Delaunay once said, "but what is of great importance to me is observation of the movement of colors."

But what is of great importance to me is observation of the movement of colors.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/colors.html