how do we create the illusion of depth
how do we fake three dimensionality in
the next few videos I'll try to explain
all the ways that I know of welcome to
proko my name is Stan Prokopenko now
this episode's not going to be about how
our eyes are binocular and they see two
slightly different versions of the same
picture and how our brain interprets
those as a 3d image none of that
scientific optical jargon about how our
eyes work I'm talking about how to
create depth on a flat surface like
canvas paper a wall or a computer
monitor I'm talking about actionable
things that you can do now to improve
your drawings we 2d artists have only
the Z and Y axis to work with but we
need to learn how to draw 3d objects and
3d environments to effectively portray
our world to do this we need to be able
to imply the z axis that's the one that
comes towards you or away from you
the first and one of the most important
concepts to know about to create depth
is
contrast this can include contrast of
value contrast of hues and contrast of
chroma but the most effective is
contrast of value areas with a lot of
contrasts will come forward areas with
little contrast will recede for example
in this image the foreground has a lot
of contrast which is fine but the
background also has a lot of contrast
meaning the range from the lightest
light to the darkest dark is wide it
includes almost the entire value scale
if we want to push the background back
and make the foreground elements pop out
we can lower the contrast in the
background elements I'm doing this
digitally with a photograph just to
illustrate the concept but I would do
the same thing if I was drawing a figure
or painting a landscape we make these
kinds of decisions to improve the visual
impact of our picture quite often when
drawing a figure or portrait I'll push
an area closer to the value of the
background to make it recede for example
with this collar as it wraps back around
the head I want to push it back by
lowering the contrast here I made the
values almost identical and show only a
thin line to suggest an edge here I
darkened it a little to match the value
of the Hat
I was looking for ways to make the
collar less visible as it recedes
instead of outlining the shape and
giving it its own separate value a
common mistake is when we try to make
everything important in the picture we
make everything pop forward and when
everything pops forward nothing pops
forward the image becomes too busy and
it loses a focal point I try doing the
same thing at the top of the Hat by
making the value lighter closer to the
background by doing this around the
perimeters of the portrait it draws the
eyes to the center of the face where
there is a lot of contrast this not only
creates depth but also a sense of
atmosphere and it unites the person with
the rest of the picture it makes it feel
like the object of the person belongs in
the environment
and not just a cutout shape on a page
unless that's what you want you don't
have to add depth to your artwork but
this lesson is not about not not what's
move on
you'll hear landscape painters talk a
lot about atmospheric perspective or
also known as aerial perspective this is
the effect of the atmosphere on distant
objects when things are really far away
from us like miles away this effect
becomes very obvious mountains that are
covered with green shrubbery or brown
dirt appear bluer that's because we're
looking through a layer of particles and
air molecules this atmospheric layer
scatters light from the sky and makes
distant objects blue during the day at
sunrise or sunset you can see warmer
tones reds oranges and yellows the
greater the distance the thicker the
layer you're looking through and the
effect is more intense values will also
get lighter and colors less saturated so
if you think about it atmospheric
perspective is really just a decrease in
contrast contrast of value decreases as
the value range gets pinched towards a
lighter value contrast of hue decreases
as the warm colors become cooler and the
contrast of chroma decreases as colors
become less saturated this could be even
more intense if there's fog mist smoke
or dust in the atmosphere sometimes the
air is so dense that you can't see
through it past a few feet so this
concept isn't just for landscape
painters you can use it to add
atmosphere to any situation steam in the
kitchen smoke at a bar or throw in a
really intense atmosphere into any
picture where you want to create a
better sense of air I've been
emphasizing decreasing contrast to make
things seem further away and add
atmosphere but don't forget about the
other end
choose your focal points and increase
the contrast in those
it's a great way to make those areas pop
out at the viewer and call for attention
finally you have change of planes and
gradations along forms a change of plane
on a three-dimensional object indicates
turning of the form let's observe the
planes of her cheek she's facing to the
right towards light source so this plane
is facing that way the halftone to the
left of that is facing us and the shadow
plane on the side of the cheek is facing
towards the left side these three
transitions along the forms come
together to create volume individually
they would look like flat values but
together as a gradation they appear
three-dimensional you can show a change
of plane with transitions of value hue
or chroma but the most effective is
value you can show a little bit of form
with transitions of hue or chroma but
not nearly as much as a gradation from a
bright highlight to a dark shadow other
rules or guidelines that I've heard of
are that cool colors recede and warm
colors come forward light values come
forward and darks recede I want to point
out though that these are very minor
ways of adding depth and they have a
really small role in the overall effect
a light object with little contrast
might still look further away than a
dark object with more contrast so it
really depends on the whole picture and
how you use all the concepts ok that's
it for this episode
next week I'll continue on the illusion
of depth and explore ways of adding
depth using shape related concepts like
scale detail and perspective if you like
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thank you bye-bye well in the next few
videos I'll try to explain all the ways
that I know of
I've been atmospherically kind of what
noise nose cuz the nose is fighting
fires there's this like this or away
from you that's the one that comes
towards you
why did you slide it down my face hahaha
you couldn't bring it back a centimeter
and then that need to learn how to draw
the 3d objects to eat is Christ man what
are you doing
you don't can you just look normal you
just do normal things just and I just
don't do anything bye bye thank you bye
bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
you