Optical Illusions in Art

Various types of optical illusions that I came across..

Oblique Anamorphus illusions –  Anamorphosis is the distortion of an image by projecting it at an angle, so that when it is viewed normally, the image looks abnormal, but only when viewed form a certain angle and distance looks like a normal image. One of the famous artists who is excellent at creating anamorphus illusions is the pavement chalk artist Julian Beever.

This sort of illusion has always interested me, and we see it very cleverly used commercially during cricket matches, where the advertisements or sponsor names are painted on the field obliquely such that the main camera that has a view of the pitch can view the image correctly without distortion.

Here’s one of Dali on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Another example of anamoprhism

My favourite type of illusion is illusion created with colour – the neo-Impressionist style called Pointillism, where every colour is broken down to more basic elements and painted as dots. The whole image is painted in dots of colours, and only when viewed from a distance, the whole image begins to take shape. Georges Seurat is said to have founded this movement and it was all about juxtaposition of coloured dots such that it created the impression of a whole object.

Joaquín Sorolla

Sorolla is known for his bright, beautiful sun-lit scenes from the beach. An artist  from Spain, he is not known very well outside his country and doesn’t seem to be as famous as the Monet or Vincent, but his work is magnificent. I haven’t seen sunlight being captured so brilliantly on canvas before. Apparently, he’d stand on the beach for hours in the sun and compose his paintings.

Sorolla_Return from fishing_1894

Sorolla_Sewing the sail_1896

Writer Peter Saint Andre feels that Sorolla is not really an impressionist : “Sorolla’s style is probably more accurately described as luminism — literally, the painting of light — or even, overcoming all collective categories, simply and uniquely Sorollism”.

Sorolla seems to be extremely humble when he talks about sunlight in his work: “I hate darkness. Claude Monet once said that painting in general did not have light enough in it. I agree with him. We painters, however, can never reproduce sunlight as it really is. I can only approach the truth of it.”

His fundamentals in drawing were extremely strong, having studied art from the age of 14.  He dedicated nearly 4 decades of his life to art. He has the same thing to say about drawing that George keeps telling us : “The older I become, the more I realize that drawing is the most important of all the problems of picture-making.”

Most of his work is exhibited at the Sorolla Museum in Madrid or the Hispanic Society Museum in New York. His life is not documented extensively online. Fortunately for us, a French artist Iain Vellacott has documented and dedicated a website to his life and work. Quotes courtesy Iain Vellacott.

Portrait study in dry pastels

Portrait in dry pastels

I started making portraits of an old couple from a photograph this evening using dry pastels and came across something unusual. The husband’s face was easy to draw – because of the sharp features and angles in the face, whereas, it has been very difficult to get the wife’s portrait – her features are much softer and rounder. I wonder why I found it difficult to draw a round face as opposed to a sharper face. Is it that reference angles are harder to find in a round face during construcion?

I decided to continue with the husband’s face, and found a little difficulty in getting the volume around the eyes behind the spectacles. I think I have also missed the obvious tilt in the head. Any other observations anyone? The resemblance is not exact, so am going to try and do it again another time.. Critiques, please?

Module 2 Class1 – Art appreciation

Here are the artworks that we discussed in class today. It was interesting to go through everyone’s favourite work and study the artwork in detail with respect to composition, medium and tecnique. I dont know if my art vocabulary has improved over last time, but I am certainly excited about discovering artists I had never heard of before, such as Valentin Serov, Roy Ranson and Sorolla. Discovering Sorolla has caused quite a bit of excitement for me.. he is a Spanish Impressionist and his beautiful oils are happy pictures, full of the sun , sand and the sea. Will be reading up more about him soon.

Jules Bastien Lepage

Jules Bastien Lepage – Potato Gathering in October

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida - Mending the Sail

William Bouguereau - The birth of Venus

Mario miranda

Mario Miranda

Mario Miranda’s line work always fascinates me, and I can keep looking and studying details for hours together. I am bowled over by the sureness and steadiness in his lines, and I think it comes from a lot of practice and patience. He is so brilliant when it comes to using the line to manage perspectives, volume and shade!

Hey Pencil Jammers

Hey fellow boot campers. I tried almost an hour to get a valid name that was not already taken!

Today I was reading about Gustave Caillebotte and the more I look at his work, the more I like them. Also came across another artist – Jules Bastien Lepage – and his work called “October – Gathering Potatoes” that caught my eye.  Shall read up more about it soon, and maybe get a printout of it to discuss in class..