Cross's photograph of the white group in strong light and deep shadow; part of the cylinder's outline disappears where it passes into the shadow of the block.

Concept · Light in Painting

Hard, Soft and Lost Edges

A hard edge is sharp, a soft edge is blended, and a lost edge disappears where two values match.

In Cross's photograph the cylinder's outline is lost for a short stretch inside the block's shadow. He wrote that a contour should not be drawn where it cannot be seen.

  • Losing some edges, Cross argued, is part of "the charm of the best artistic work".

See

Image: Internet Archive · Public domain (published before 1931)

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