Saturday, March 23, 2013

Nosy Rosy

And a Workshop on Perspective

My weekly art class takes a month-long "spring break" in March, but our instructor, Charles Brindley,  held a workshop at his art studio in Adairville, Kentucky. It was all about perspective, a subject that has sometimes baffled me. We discussed two kinds of perspective, atmospheric and linear. 

"Nosy Rosy"
16x20 oil on canvas
SOLD

Atmospheric perspective describes lines and objects as they move deeper into the picture. In other words, things in the distant background (like the grass in the painting above) will be less distinct.

Linear perspective, the kind that gives me fits, is absolute; it never changes. You find "eye level" in an object or scene. The further above or below your eye level, the more the horizontal lines slant. Lines above eye level slant down as they move into the distance; lines below eye level slant up. Eventually, all the lines meet at a vanishing point. Confused? So was I! The good news is that you don't have to have perfect perspective in a painting. Just have an understanding of the concept to make things "look right."

I painted Nosy Rosy several years ago and sold her at a local art show. In light of my recent lesson, I think the painting illustrates perspective. "Eye level" is somewhere between Rosy's eyes and nose so the wooden fence slants down as it moves farther away to the right. The wire below eye level slants up as it moves into the distance.

Clear as the mud Rosy was standing in???

Okay, I admit it... that grass in the background was NOT there in the reference photo, but Rosy and I like it better in the painting. Could we be hoping for spring soon?

I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday because R is for Rosy! 

Jenny Matlock

3 comments:

  1. Nosy Rosy is adorable! I figured the greenish patch is grass or perhaps a sky getting ready to have tornado (?)

    Joking aside, I love Nosy Rosy's eyes.

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  2. Rosy is gorgeous - and perspective is like math to me....completely incomprehensible!

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  3. Nosy Rosy is quite Remarkable...

    I'm looking forward to Spring too...

    Really good job for the letter R...

    Thanks for linking.

    A+

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