What is chiaroscuro Lighting?

Chiaroscuro is the use of contrast between light and dark to emphasize and illuminate important figures in a painting or drawing. It was first introduced during the Renaissance. It was originally used while drawing on coloured paper though it is now used in paintings and even cinema.

This is what the lighting set up in the studio would look like.

This type of lighting balances high-contrast light and shade to give the appearance of depth, creating an enhanced or more dramatic effect. It also creates three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional plane, darkening the background and highlighting the subject in the foreground, drawing the viewer’s focus and attention.