Controlled paint application or drawing creates accurate transitions from light to dark and from color to color that fully indicate the form of objects/characters/scenes. Such careful rendering can be used to create an immersive experience of a real or imagined scene, and it can provide a sense of the artist's affection for and/or connection with the subject.

Fully rendered light to shadow can also be used in purely abstract works that create the illusion of a three-dimensional abstraction.

Featured: Working in Marble by Jean-Léon Gérôme.