“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see,” Edgar Degas rightly quotes.
This saying perfectly fits our Uncommon artist of shadows and photography, Vincent Bal.
He makes us see what a shadow shows him. His love for drawing, photography and the power of imagination makes him do something really uncommon “Shadowology” and we present you the 16 shadow doodles by super endowed uncommon Shadowology artist, Vincent Bal.
We, at Uncommon box are honoured to feature the multi-talented artist, Vincent Bal from Belgium, who is a Film Director, Photographer, Film-Making Teacher, Animation Voice Director and also a Shadow Doodler!
(Wow! He truly is an Endowed Artist! Don’t ya think? We are completely blown away with his Multi-talents!)
(And he is also the one with “Great Looks” – We can literally hear the hearts falling for him)?
You might have as well come across many doodlers, but we assure you that this uncommon artist is one of the unique doodlers. Who doodles and creates art from the shadows of every day mundane objects.
We asked Vincent, a few questions as part of our interview process and here’s what he has to say –
Also check out his amazing Shadowology art while knowing about him, and not just that, he has a unique naming style for all his artwork, so read on…
On How it all started –
“I have always been drawing, since I was a kid. And I loved comics, which is not surprising if you come from the country of Tintin and Lucky Luke.
And even though I drew comics when I was a teenager, I decided to go to film school. Directing films, my drawing came in handy making storyboards and poster designs.
Two years ago, I was working on a filmscript when I noticed how the shadow of my teacup looked like an elephant. I drew some lines on the paper and took a photo. Living in these screen addicted times, of course I shared it on social media. People really seemed to like it, so I decided to make one of these shadow doodles every day. I haven’t stopped since.”
(And please don’t stop ever!! Because we looove it and going cray cray with your creativity)
“Elephant End with a Tea” (Do you sense the PUN? LOL)
“Tin Tin Tape” (Hahahaha “Tin Tin Tape” Can’t-Stop-laughing)
On Passion –
“I love drawing, because you get into this zen-like state of mind when you do it. It seems like your hands take over the thinking. Very different from writing film scripts or directing. I also love the power of imagination, and I love photography. So, a lot of stuff comes together in my Shadowology works.”
“The Shape of Water” (And We, totally second on the Zen-like State of mind! I mean, look at this art – We already feel “Zen-tastic” just looking at it! And we know you feel the same too)
“Yoda Vs. Gouda” (The Zen Master himself says – May the force be with you! Vincent Always, you draw, no stop!) 😀
On Inspiration to begin and keep it going –
“I love the work itself. I’m always surprised myself what I discover in the shadows and I’m happy when a drawing turns out well. Besides that I really enjoy the reactions I get from people from all around the world. One of the nice things about social media is the very direct line there exists between you and the audience.”
“Go with the Flower” (Ohhh, look how lovely it is!! We are falling in love with this Every day Shadows Art) ?
“Birdy on Shore Leaf” (we hear the bird’s tweeting and oh so happy tone) 🙂
On the Inspiration behind his art –
“I always start with an object I like. Something I find at home in some drawer or a flower I pick from the street, anything. I then play around with it in the light until I see a form emerge in the shadow. What’s great about this, is that I’m never looking for inspiration. The shadows inspire me. What I see in the shadows are probably things that are on my mind, so that way it works like a Rorschach test. When the image is finished, I try to come up with a good and funny title.”
“Duck for the Police” (Dayumm! Such a Pun-iest title) We are Rolling on the floor and laughing! Literally!?
“Cable Guy, Cyber Criminal” (Woah! What a badass shadow) 😛
On Challenges –
“In the beginning I always worked with real sunlight. So, a lot of the time it was a challenge to finish the drawing before a cloud covers the sun, or before the sun has moved so much the shadow is changed. Also, living in Belgium we don’t see the sun for most of the year…
Now I have a little lamp.
Then there is the challenge of finding new interesting objects. After a while I’ve tried everything in my house, so I’m always looking for nice new things. The good thing is the shadows are very unpredictable. If the sun is higher or lower makes a huge difference, the possibilities are practically endless. I hope.” (And we hope too, cause we wanna see more of your Shadowology! Yas!)
“Falling from 35MM high” (Do you see it’s a film roll? Sooo cooool!)
And here’s one more –
“Tanqueray Boulevard” (So, for those who don’t know – Tanqueray is a London dry gin” and we are HIGH on his way of art) ?
On his Unique Creativity –
“I guess what’s unique is the way I see the shadows and what comes up in my imagination. The different skills I have developed in my professional life, like storytelling and photography, will also help. But it all boils down to imagination. I guess that’s what I want to share. The message that there is magic everywhere if you take your time to look.
I also like my images to be funny, putting a smile on people’s faces is a nice mission in life.”
“Salsa Sunglasses” (We are sure this surely did put a smile on your face! We are smiling all along! Soo… the Mission’s running Great, Vincent! Thank you from all of us! 🙂 )
“He would comb the city for a better Hairdresser” (WOAH! Such intense art!! And all just with a Comb!! AWESOME!)
On Milestones in his journey –
“The first drawing of course, of the teacup/elephant.
Then there was a moment when I suddenly had a lot of followers in Indonesia. I remember thinking, ‘how did all those people find me’? And it was because an Indonesian website had posted some article about my work. That was cool.
At a certain point I also started making signed prints and postcards of my work and selling these. So now I have this little shop.” (Yes! Yes! You can buy these awesome artwork’s, we have provided the link, you will find it in the end of the article! So, keep on reading, folks!) ?
“They came from Planet Merlot” (And once again, for those who don’t know – Merlot is a French Red Wine… and we are tripping over this Shadowology)
(Well allow us to let you play trippy music in your head, because Music and Wine is the best combo of all)
Vincent, titles this as “Dinner Music”
A Word from the Amazingly, Extremely talented artist to other fellow artists –
“I think you should find something that you like and make your art because you want to see it. It does not work if you copy stuff, or if you try to make things that you think will be popular.
I try to keep completely independent and really create because I want to.”
“Copy Cats” (Don’t be one)
“The Owls are not what they seem” (How could one be so creative!! Its just the remains of eaten apple and his shadow art game is on-point and beyond! Truly brilliant!!!)
We are completely in AWE with all the “Shadowology” art by Our Uncommon Artist – Vincent Bal!! and we know you too are still going back to the art pieces or got stuck looking at almost all of his artworks in amazement!!
Here a BONUS picture with Vincent in Working still!! We know you already love it! 😉
So why stop here, when you can follow him on his Social Media and catch up with all of his previous and latest masterpieces –
Instagram | Fb Page | Twitter | Website
And Yes! We know you are eager for the link to his Etsy shop, here you go – The “Little Shop”
Wait we are not done yet! There’s something more to it!!
In June, A book is gonna be published by Lannoo publishing house, also Vincent is currently working on a short film combining live action and the Shadowology technique. (Yayy!! Can’t wait to watch it already!!)
Signing off!!!
P.S. – Let us remind you, we are in continuous search of such uncommon artists. We wish to connect to them and extend our family, so if you think you are an uncommon artist or you know any uncommon artist, do share your work at theuncommonbox@gmail.com or leave us a DM on our Instagram @theuncommonbox
Content Writing by Nandini Rawat
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