We’re excited to showcase the unique illustrations of Belgian artist Vincent Bal. His inventive doodles not only feature everyday objects but also incorporate their shadows as part of the final artwork. These playful and humorous creations are truly one-of-a-kind. We reached out to Vincent to learn more about the artist and the story behind his work. We were especially curious about the inspiration for his first doodle and how it led to his passion for creating art with shadows. Bal explained, Like all good things, Shadowology started by accident. On a sunny spring day in May of 2016, I was working on a film script when I noticed that the shadow of the teacup on my desk looked a lot like an elephant. I drew some eyes in the shadow, gave it legs, and snapped a picture. I posted it on my social media, and my friends reacted enthusiastically. I thought it was funny too, so I decided, I’m going to try and make one of these shadow doodles every day and see if I can create a hundred of them.
More info: Instagram | Etsy | Facebook | youtube.com
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The artist shared, Now eight years later these shadow doodles have completely changed my life. I share my work almost every day with over a million followers, I’ve had exhibitions all over the world and most importantly, I still enjoy discovering new landscapes and creatures in the shadows of everyday objects.
When asked about his creative process for starting a new piece Vincent explained The great thing about making these images is that you don’t need any preparation or inspiration beforehand. You can just play with the shadows and see what images appear in your mind. It’s a bit like cloud-watching. All you need is some paper a pen and a relaxed mind. I’ve found that it doesn’t work if I’m stressed so I usually listen to music to unwind.
6.
Also Read:
- 20 Rubes Comics That Show the Funniest Side of Life
- 20 Relatable Cartoons That Make Aging Look Fun
- 20 Aging Moments Captured Perfectly in These Cartoons
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
The illustrator shared more about his music routine, which helped him get into the right creative mindset Prince, The Beatles, and James Brown’s music I Love and Know Well keeps my left brain occupied so it doesn’t start asking, Do you think this is a good idea? I let my hands do the thinking and I allow the images to create themselves. It’s like a treasure hunt and most of the time, I’m surprised by what comes out. He added In my office, I have a table with three adjustable lights, and I just start playing with the objects and lighting until something clicks.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
We were curious about how the Belgian artist chooses which objects or scenes to incorporate into his shadow art. Vincent explained that due to limited space in his office, he prefers to work with items that can easily fit on his table. He shared that for the image to work well the object should be easily recognizable and feel constructed. Beyond that, anything is fair game. After eight years, I’ve tried just about every small item in my house, so sometimes I’ll visit thrift stores to find something that catches my eye. The exciting part is that it’s impossible to predict what kind of shadow an object will cast or what I’ll see in it. He added Glasses are great to work with because their shadow can look like an entire world like a set where you just need to add a few actors to create a little movie.
18.
19.
20.
