ILLUSION OF DEPTH

Techniques to Create Depth

Foreground, Middle Ground, Background

Atmospheric Perspective Overlapping Size Placement Detail

Foreground, Middle Ground, Background

The surface of a painting or drawing is sometimes called the picture plane. The part of the picture planet that appears closet to you is the foreground. The part that appears farthest away is the background. The area in between is called the middle ground

Atmospheric Perspective

Atmospheric Perspective is sometimes referred to as aerial perspective. As space recedes into the far distance in a landscape painting or drawing, the intensity of the color fades and there is less contrast of lights and darks. The further back in spatial depth, the lighter the color. Often, colors in the far distance appear as lighter, cooler tones of blue to gray.

Overlapping

Overlapping is the placement in a composition of one object in front of another, which creates the illusion of depth.

Objects that are placed either low or high in the picture plane seem to be closer to the viewer that objects placed closer to eye level. The most distant shapes are those that seem to be exactly at eye level.

Scale

Relative size (scale) is the size of one object or part of a landscape in relation to another. For example: a tree in the foreground would appear much larger than a tree in the background.

Objects with clear, sharp edges and visible details seem to be close to you.