Art Appreciation
77foxtrotChapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Copyright © 2015 Thames & Hudson
Introduction
Techniques artists use to imply depth are:
Value
Space
Perspective
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FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Artwork: René Magritte, The Treachery of Images
1.3.1 René Magritte, The Treachery of Images (“This Is Not a Pipe”), 1929. 23¾ × 32".
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), California
René Magritte, The Treachery of Images
Magritte uses value and perspective to imply depth
He wants us to recognize that what appears to be a pipe is not really a pipe: it is an illusion
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte (1898–1967) invites us to re-examine our habits of visual perception
The painted shadows suggest depth
The top of the pipe bowl is composed of two concentric ellipses, which is how circles appear in perspective
Value
Value refers to lightness and darkness
An artist’s use of value can produce a sense of solidity and influence mood
Artists use dark and light values as tools for creating depth
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
For example, the serious mood of film noir (French for “dark film”) was enhanced by the filmmaker’s choice of dark values.
Value and Light
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Artwork: Spaceship Earth
1.3.2 Spaceship Earth, Future World, Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida
Spaceship Earth
Many triangular flat planes make up this surface
Each plane has a different relative degree of lightness or darkness
Value changes often occur gradually
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
The relative dark values increase as the planes get further away and face away from the light source
Spaceship Earth – a large sphere, inside which is an educational ride, located in the Future World area of Walt Disney World Resort
Values and Planes of a Geodesic Sphere
1.3.3 Values and planes of a geodesic sphere
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Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
There is a value range of black, white, and eight values of gray.
Chiaroscuro
This method of applying value to a two-dimensional artwork creates the illusion of three dimensions
Italian for “light-dark”
Renaissance artists identified five distinct areas of light and shadow:
Highlight, light, core shadow, reflected light, and cast shadow
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Diagram of Chiaroscuro
1.3.4 Diagram of chiaroscuro
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Artwork: Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, La Source
1.3.5 Pierre-Paul Prud’hon,
La Source, c. 1800–10. Black and white chalk, stumped, on light blue paper, 21⅛ × 15⅜". Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
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Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, La Source
Prud’hon uses chiaroscuro in this artwork
Black and white chalk on light blue paper allows the artist to accentuate the lightest and darkest areas
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chiaroscuro in Pierre-Paul Prud’hon's La Source
1.3.5 Chiaroscuro graphic applied to Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, La Source, c. 1800–10. Black and white chalk, stumped, on light blue paper, , 21⅛ × 15⅜”. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
There is an area of highlight on the knee, leading into the lighted thigh
Under the knee and thigh there is a strong core shadow
Reflected light can be seen on the calf and the underside of the thigh
The reflected light is accented by the dark cast shadow behind the calf
Artwork: Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew
1.3.6 Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, c. 1599–1600. Oil on canvas, 11'1" × 11'5".
Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesci, Rome, Italy
Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew
Chiaroscuro can produce dramatic effects
The intense difference between light and dark places emphasis on Christ’s hand
The light also frames Matthew
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Italian artist Caravaggio (1571–1610) uses strongly contrasting values to convert a quiet gathering into a pivotal and powerful event.
Hatching and Cross-Hatching
Hatching consists of a series of lines, close to and parallel to each other
Cross-hatching is a variant of hatching in which the lines overlap
Used to express value and create a greater sense of form and depth
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Diagram of Hatching and Cross-Hatching
1.3.7 Creating value using hatching and cross-hatching
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Artwork: Michelangelo, Head of a Satyr
1.3.8 Michelangelo, Head of a Satyr, c. 1520–30.
Pen and ink on paper, 10⅝ × 7⅞". Musée du Louvre,
Paris, France
Michelangelo, Head of a Satyr
This artwork is a cross-hatched pen-and-ink drawing
Gives the face solidity and depth
By building up layers of brown ink, Michelangelo overcomes the restrictions created by the thin line of the pen
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Italian artist Michelangelo (1475–1564)
The bright white highlight uses no lines; the surrounding hatch lines define the transition from bright light to a darker value
As the hatching lines cross over and over, the value appears to get darker
Portal Artwork: Albrecht Dürer, The Last Supper
3.6.16 Albrecht Dürer, The Last Supper, 1523. Woodcut, 8½ × 11". British Museum, London, England
The techniques of hatching and cross-hatching can be found in Albrecht Dürer’s version of the Last Supper.
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Space
Techniques for creating a sense of depth and the illusion of space include:
Size, overlapping, and position
Alternating value and texture
Changing brightness and color
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Size, Overlapping, and Position
The size of one shape compared to another often suggests that the larger object is closer to us
If one shape overlaps another, the shape in front seems to be closer
A shape lower in the picture plane also appears to be closer
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Size, Overlapping, and Position
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Artwork: Beda Stjernschantz, Pastoral (Primavera)
1.3.9 Beda Stjernschantz, Pastoral (Primavera), 1897. Oil on canvas, 49⅝ × 41¾". K. H. Renlund Museum, Kokkola, Finland
Digital rights not available for this image. See p. 81 of the textbook.
Beda Stjernschantz, Pastoral (Primavera)
The viewer sees the larger figures as closer because of this difference in size between the figural pairs
Implies depth by positioning the larger figure with the flute in a way that conceals the foot of one of the smaller figures
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In using such relative placement, the artist invites us to saunter visually from the foreground (where the two largest figures are placed) to the middle ground (where the smaller group of figures is set), and continue on our visual journey along the softly curving river and into the beckoning woods in the background (the uppermost area of the work).
Beda Stjernschantz was one of a group of artists known as the Finnish Symbolists, who were influential at the turn of the twentieth century. They were especially interested in landscape and the relationship between the arts, including music and what is known as synesthesia, where one of the body’s senses experiences something that triggers an experience in another sense—hence the inclusion of the flute player in this painting
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Alternating Value and Texture
The illusion of depth in two dimensions is often influenced by the arrangement of value and texture
Artists intersperse value and visual texture to create a sense of rhythm
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Artwork: Li Cheng, A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks
1.3.10 Li Cheng (attributed), A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks, Northern Song Dynasty, c. 960–1127 ce. Hanging scroll, ink and slight color on silk, 44 x 22". Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
Li Cheng, A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks
Each area of light and dark occupies different amounts of space
Note the change in visual texture from bottom to top
Visual layers create a sense of depth
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Chinese painter Li Cheng’s (c. 919–967)
As the landscape in this artwork rises, it also appears to recede behind the soft mist, then reappear with great vertical strength
Brightness and Color
Lighter areas seem to be closer as dark areas recede
For example, an intense green will appear closer to the viewer than a darker green
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Brightness and Color
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Artwork: Thomas Hart Benton, The Wreck of the Ole ’97
1.3.11 Thomas Hart Benton, The Wreck of the Ole ’97, 1943. Egg tempera on gessoed masonite, 28½ × 44½".
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Thomas Hart Benton, The Wreck of the Ole ’97
Benton used brightness and color to create a sense of distance
We perceive color that is more intense as being closer
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American painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975) used brightness and color to create and manipulate our sense of distance in his painting.
Perspective
Three common ways to suggest the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface are:
Atmospheric perspective
Isometric perspective
Linear perspective
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Atmospheric Perspective
Distant objects lack contrast, detail, and sharpness of focus because the air that surrounds us is not completely transparent
Objects take on a blue-gray middle value as they get further away
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Atmospheric Perspective
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The Effects of Atmospheric Perspective
1.3.12 The effects of atmospheric perspective
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Artwork: Asher Brown Durand, Kindred Spirits
1.3.13 Asher Brown Durand, Kindred Spirits, 1849. Oil on canvas, 44 × 36". Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Asher Brown Durand, Kindred Spirits
The trees in the foreground are detailed and bright green, but as they recede into the background they become a lighter gray and out of focus
Lines and shapes also become less distinct in the background
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By using atmospheric perspective, Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886) conveys an impression of the vastness of the American landscape.
Isometric Perspective
This system arranges parallel lines diagonally in a work to give a sense of depth
Derives from the Greek meaning “equal measure”
Has been used by artists in China for more than a thousand years
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Since Chinese landscape painters were never really interested in portraying space from a single viewing point—they preferred to convey multiple viewpoints simultaneously—isometric perspective was their chosen technique.
Isometric Perspective
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Artwork: The Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour
1.3.14 Xu Yang, The Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou and the Grand Canal, Qing Dynasty, 1770 (detail). Hand scroll, ink and color on silk, 2'3⅛" × 65'4½". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Xu Yang’s use of Isometric Perspective
1.3.15 Graphic detailing isometric perspective in scroll image
Lines are drawn parallel and diagonal to create depth in isometric perspective.
Xu Yang, The Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour
The parallel diagonal lines define the small L-shaped building in the center and give an illusion of depth
This method of implying depth is not “realistic” according to Western tradition
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The diminishing size of the trees as they recede into the distance helps us to understand how the space is structured.
Screenshot from Transistor
1.3.16 Supergiant Games, screenshot from Transistor, 2014. Art Director, Jen Zee
Screenshot from Transistor
The use of isometric perspective is common in computer graphics
Architecture of the game is designed using parallel diagonal lines to make “tiles”
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Players of the video console game Transistor move from level to level and space to space without distortion, because the individual tiles remain the same size.
Linear Perspective
This type of perspective is a mathematical system that uses lines to create the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional artwork
Based on observation of space in the world we see around us
Developed with knowledge acquired over centuries
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Mozi, a Chinese philosopher working in the fifth century BCE; Alhazen, an Arab mathematician from around the year 1000; and Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), an Italian Renaissance architect, each contributed ideas that helped artists to understand light and its properties more fully
Renaissance artists used a projection device called a camera obscura (Latin for “dark room”) to explore the possibilities of naturalistic illusion
The Baptistery, Florence
1.3.17a The Baptistery, Florence, Italy
The Baptistery, Florence
Filippo Brunelleschi, a Renaissance artist and architect, formulated the rules of linear perspective
He applied his rules to a painting he created of the Florence Baptistery
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Brunelleschi’s Proof
1.3.17b Brunelleschi’s proof of the accuracy of linear perspective
Brunelleschi’s Proof
The viewer could compare the degree of realism of his painting with the Baptistery itself
For hundreds of years, his discovery became a standard systematic process for creating an impression of realistic depth
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Brunelleschi drilled a small hole in the polished silver plate, on which was his painting of the Baptistery
A viewer could look through the back of this plate and, holding a mirror up in front of it, could see the painted image of the Baptistery reflected in the mirror
Linear Perspective
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Artwork: Edith Hayllar, A Summer Shower
1.3.18 Edith Hayllar,
A Summer Shower, 1883.
Oil on panel, 21 × 17⅜".
Private collection
Edith Hayllar, A Summer Shower
Hayllar uses linear perspective
Composition reflects the orderly life of upper-middle-class Victorian England
Parallel lines called orthogonals converge on a point (the vanishing point)
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British artist Edith Hayllar (1860–1948) exhibited many works at the Royal Academy—a rare honor for a woman artist at the time.
The Effect of Convergences in A Summer Shower
1.3.18 The effect of convergences: Edith Hayllar, A Summer Shower, 1883. Oil on panel, 21 × 17⅜". Private collection
The converging lines (orthogonals) represent planes that are parallel to each other in reality
The orthogonals appear to converge on a single vanishing point, in front of the male tennis player on the left
One-Point Perspective
This type of perspective relies on a single vanishing point
Has limitations—the scene must be directly in front of the artist and receding
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One-Point Perspective Technique
1.3.19 Applying one-point perspective technique
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Artwork: Masaccio, Trinity
1.3.20 Use of one-point perspective: Masaccio,
Trinity, c. 1425–26. Fresco, 21'10½" × 10'4⅞". Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
Masaccio, Trinity
Masaccio places the horizon line, an imaginary line that mimics the horizon, at the viewer’s eye level
Creates the illusion that the background is an architectural setting
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The illusion of depth in Italian artist Masaccio’s (1401–1428) fresco must have amazed visitors at the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy
His innovative work influenced other artists of the Renaissance, including Michelangelo
Portal Artwork: Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper
3.6.15 Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, c. 1497. Fresco: tempera on plaster, 15'1" x 28'10½",
Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
Another famous example of one-point linear perspective is Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
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Two-Point Perspective
This type of perspective uses two separate vanishing points
Both rely on the horizon line
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Artwork: Raphael, The School of Athens
1.3.21a Raphael, The School of Athens, 1510–11. Fresco, 16'8" × 25', Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican City, Italy
Raphael, The School of Athens: Perspective and the Illusion of Depth
Raphael introduces two additional vanishing points into a one-point perspective composition
Both new vanishing points fall on the horizon line
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Applying Two-Point Perspective
1.3.21b Applying two-point perspective: detail from Raphael,The School of Athens
Since the block in the center of the picture is turned at an angle, Raphael had to integrate another level of perspective into the work
One vanishing point is positioned to the left of the central vanishing point
The right vanishing point is outside of the picture
Multiple-Point Perspective
When looking at an object from a high or low angle of observation, we need vanishing points away from the horizon line
Three-point perspective: a vanishing point is placed above or below the horizon line
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Cone of Vision
1.3.22 Cone of vision
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Any object that exists within our cone of vision—the area we can see without moving our head or eyes—can usually be depicted using vanishing points on the horizon line.
Artwork: M. C. Escher, Ascending and Descending
1.3.23 M. C. Escher, Ascending and Descending, March 1960. Woodcut, 14 × 11¼". The M. C. Escher Company, The Netherlands
M. C. Escher, Ascending and Descending
This woodcut features three distinct vanishing points
Two on the horizon line and one well below it
Gives us a bird’s-eye view
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Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898–1972) uses a third vanishing point.
Three-point Perspective in Ascending and Descending
1.3.23 Three-point perspective, bird’s-eye view: M. C. Escher, Ascending and Descending, March 1960. Woodcut,
14 × 11¼". The M. C. Escher Company,
The Netherlands
Foreshortening
When the rules of perspective are applied to represent unusual points of view it results in foreshortening
Has the effect of grabbing our interest
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Foreshortening
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Artwork: Albrecht Dürer, Draftsman Drawing a Recumbent Woman
1.3.24 Albrecht Dürer, Draftsman Drawing a Recumbent Woman, 1525. Woodcut, 3 × 8¾". Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, Austria
Albrecht Dürer, Draftsman Drawing a Recumbent Woman
The female figure is reclining at an oblique angle
The gridded screen helps the artist translate the model into a foreshortened two-dimensional composition
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The German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) portrays an artist at work drawing a figure
The artist has a fixed lens or aperture in front of him to make sure he always views from the same point
He looks through the gridded window to view the figure
Then he aligns his drawing to a similar grid marked on the piece of paper in front of him
Artwork: Wonderwoman, Superman, and Batman
1.3.25 Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman, pages from Trinity: Volume 1™ and © DC Comics
Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman
Superman’s fist is placed in the foreground; its large size exaggerates depth
His body recedes back into space
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Chapter 1.3 Copyright Information
This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 1.3
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts Third Edition
By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Copyright © 2015 Thames & Hudson
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Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Picture Credits for Chapter 1.3
1.3.1 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), California. Purchased with funds provided by the Mr. and Mrs. William Preston Harrison Collection, 78.7 (www.lacma.org). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2018
1.3.2 Photo © Dzmitry Kliapitski/123RF.com
1.3.3 Ralph Larmann
1.3.4 Ralph Larmann
1.3.5 Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
1.3.6 Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesci, Rome
1.3.7 Ralph Larmann
1.3.8 Musée du Louvre, Paris
1.3.9 Courtesy K. H. Renlund Museum – Provincial Museum of Central Ostrobothnia, Kokkola, Finland
1.3.10 The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 47-71. Photo John Lamberton
1.3.11 © Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/VAGA, NY/DACS, London 2018
1.3.12 Ralph Larmann
1.3.13 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
1.3.14 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1988
1.3.15 Ralph Larmann
1.3.16 © Supergiant Games, LLC 2014
1.3.17a JTB Photo/SuperStock
1.3.17b Ralph Larmann
1.3.18 Private Collection
1.3.19 Ralph Larmann
1.3.20 Santa Maria Novella, Florence
1.3.21a Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Museums, Rome
1.3.21b Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Museums, Rome
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios
Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space
Picture Credits for Chapter 1.3 (contd.)
1.3.22 Ralph Larmann
1.3.23 © 2012 The M. C. Escher Company-Holland. All rights reserved. www.mcescher.com
1.3.24 Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
1.3.25 From Trinity: Volume 1, TM and © DC Comics
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios
Chapter 1.3 Implied Depth: Value and Space