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Aerial Perspective A Tutorial by Richard McKinley
When artists paint, they create the appearance of something real from something that is not, producing an illusion. Pigment deposited on a surface magically becomes something recognizable. And, by properly rendering a drawing, value relationships and color associations, they create something that looks real.
One of the strongest tools an artist has for creating this illusion is the phenomenon known as aerial perspective, sometimes called atmospheric perspective. Leonardo da Vinci, through his observations, described it as "the perspective of disappearance." A better understanding of the science behind aerial perspective makes it easier to employ it as a tool for portraying depth in landscape work.
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My Evening Place, Pastel, 13" x 24" (33cm x 61cm)
Copyright 2011 by Richard McKinley. All Rights Reserved
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Why the Sky is Blue
Aerial perspective describes the way an object's appearance is altered by the atmosphere between the viewer and the object he or she is viewing. Atmosphere--which comes from the Greek word atmos, meaning vapor, plus sphaira, meaning sphere--refers to the layer of gases, water vapor and smoke (haze) that may surround a material body of sufficient mass. A key condition affecting atmosphere is the scattering of daylight, which becomes skylight. The short or blue wavelengths of light are the most easily scattered by the particles in the atmosphere,which is why the sky is blue. This scattering adds the skylight to the reflected light of the object being viewed, making it appear bluer (cooler in temperature), weaker in value contrast and fuzzier. |
Since a painter is looking across the surface of the landscape , this effect becomes compounded as things recede into the distance, and is altered by elevation and general climatic conditions. Da Vinci went so far as to make a mathematical equation to apply distant perspective: Paint the nearest area its true color. Paint the one behind proportionately bluer, and the one behind that bluer still. "Thus, if one is to be five times as distant," de Vinci said, "make it five times bluer."
The Third Dimension
In Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, artist John F. Carlson refers to atmospheric perspective as the third dimension--the prime means of creating a
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sense of space and air in an otherwise two-dimensional surface. Stated simply, the effect of aerial or atmospheric perspective is that objects get cooler in temperature, lighter in value, grayer in brightness and softer in edge as they recede. Thinkng in terms of basic color families, yellow falls away quickest, becoming a weak tan and eventually a silver-gray. Red is next to fade, transferring into violet and eventually gray-blue-violet. Blue carries the farthest, getting slightly grayer, as well as lighter, as it recedes. Darks become cooler and lighter, with light white objects becoming cooler and eventually slightly darker as the scattered distant light affects them. |
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ATMOSPHERIC MANIPULATION
In my painting, Long Shadows, I purposely made the large cast shadow in the foreground warmer and darker near the bottom, though in reality it looked pretty much the same. The effect is that you feel a heightened sense of distance as you journey through the painting back to the old stone structure.
Long Shadows, Pastel, 11" x 14" (28cm x 36cm)
Copyright 2011 Richard McKinley.
All Rights Reserved.
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Applying Aerial Perspective
When applying the lessons of aerial perspective to my work, I use a simple order of influence: cooler, lighter and finally softer. First, I attempt to make things warmer in the foreground and progress to cooler in the background, even if this isn't easily visible within the scene. My next step is a darkening of the foreground and general lightening of the background. I avoid softening objects as they recede into the background if I can, for reasons connected to the area of interest and focal points. |
Using this system may, admittedly, lead to a degree of confusion in certain situations. What if there is something warm or dark in the distance, and a cool light mass in the foreground? The thing to remember here is that everything is relative within the framework of the painting; it all shares a relationship. It's perfectly acceptable to have a dark area or warm object in the far background and a cool or light object in the foreground, as long as they relate properly to the other distances within the painting.
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Make a game out of this as you apply your pastels to the three zones of the painting: foreground, middle ground and background. Ask yourself, "Could I make this element even warmer and darker if it was in the front? Could I make it cooler and lighter if it was in the back?" If the answer is "yes," then you have chosen your pastel temperature and value wisely. |
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SMOKE AND FUMES
In the painting, Winter Morning, all the tools of atmospheric perspective were employed. Colors became cooler in temperature and grayer in intensity as they recede. Values become generally lighter and edges soften. It is the Italian word sfumato (as if through smoke and fumes) being put into action.
Winter Morning,
Pastel, 18" x 18" (46cm x 46cm).
Tutorial and artwork copyright 2012 Richard McKinley.
All Rights Reserved.
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