VA week 7

Size and Shape Constancy

This week, we're going to continue to explore foreshortening. In particular, we'll try to understand why foreshortening is so challenging for artists.

Part 1 - Write a comment for the 2 of the question below. Please only use the source what provided. And Please use the own word and use the 1st subject to write the comment.

The photographs below show an L-shaped desk from two different viewpoints. In the first photograph, the two sides of the L-shaped desk appear to have about the same length and depth.  Now look at the second photograph.  Do you still perceive the near edge of the desk as having a similar length as the edge on the far right? (I'm asking about the two ends of the desk.)   If you measure those distances on the screen, you'll see the closer edge is almost three times as long as the more distant edge.  1. Discussion:  What is an illusion and what is real? (200-250words) This question might be trickier than it first appears. Consider three scenarios:

· You are designing a robot that can see. How would you want it to perceive the desk in the second picture? Would you want it to perceive the distances in the photograph (what you measured) or the actual distances as revealed in the first picture?  Which is the illusion and which is real? 

· You are making a realistic drawing of this scene. What would you want to draw, the distances that you measured, or the actual distances revealed in the first picture? In this case, which is the illusion and which is real?

· You were building this desk, what would you build? The proportions you measured or the proportions revealed in the first picture? In this case, which is the illusion and which is real? 2. Discussion:  you could also discuss the following painting by the surrealist painter Magritte. Is it a pipe or isn't it?  We know the difference between a thing and a picture of a thing, but we often overlook it. Why? Does it matter? (100-150words)

3. Last year, a student asked me "If the cylinders on the screen are the same size, why doesn't the more distant one look smaller?" What's the answer?