‘The Shadow’ was one of several popular, American fictional characters that Warhol drew inspiration from for a series of prints called ‘Myths’ in 1981. The figure (The Shadow) first appeared on the radio in the 1930s before his stories were developed into a comic-strip. This self-portrait drawing is based on a photograph of Warhol as this character and although he doesn’t wear The Shadow’s black cloak or broad-rimmed hat, the lighting used causes a strong shadow to be cast of his profile. Warhol then made a simple, stylised line drawing based on this image.