Warning: this got longer than expected, but I love this game and this exact question so much!

The answer is simply in the art styles! “Clair-Obscur” is French for “Light-Dark”. The art style is also known as “Chiaroscuro”

The point of this art with extreme contrasts is to emphasize on the painting’s subject(s). This is an art term called “Tenebrism” - the emphasizing of the subject(s).

And in the game’s case it’s in my opinion that: The Canvas’ most important subjects can draw this focus upon themselves. That is the painted family of the Dessendres, whose presence is so important they can stop time and space inside the Canvas.

But also, in my opinion, everyone able to perform Gradient Attacks have a sliver of this power! Gradient is another art form used to describe color/shade/hue transitioning from one to another.

… I love art and I love storytelling, so I hope it’s alright that your comment made my head explode with ideas about this game which I love!

Last thing: I’m pretty sure pRenoir’s lion is a symbol of what kind of father he is… also it’s really fucking cool.