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I was pondering what was the thread that runs through all of my work?   Even though I paint in several mediums and love diverse subject matter, there is something that compels me to the canvas and gives a spark of joy each time I paint.

It is the illusion of depth.

This is interesting since I am pretty much a one-eyed artist.  As a young child I was diagnosed with amblyopia in my right eye.  This is a condition where my eye does not communicate with my brain.   The world through that eye is a confusing jumble of shapes and almost images that never quite solidify.  Having one eye also affects my sense of depth perception.  Ophthalmologists say I see the world flat but I do not know any differently.  My brain has adapted so I do not run into walls or fall down manholes.  Toss a ball to me, however, and I will fumble and miss it.  It is fascinating how the brain can adjust for weakness and compensate.  There have been many one-eyed artists throughout history.   Our flat vision helps us translate the world onto a flat surface.   Our ability to compensate for that flatness also helps us identify visual elements that give the illusion of depth.

When I was first learning to paint, a friend, who is a very talented artist, would critique my work.  She told me my backgrounds were flat and that I needed to “paint through” the figures.  At the time I was so enamored with depicting the people that I failed to see what she meant.  Then one day she was critiquing me as I was working on a painting.  I added a stroke to the background where I used the broad side of a pastel to come up to the edge of the figure then lifted the pastel and continued the stroke on the other side.  “Perfect, don’t touch that!” she yelled.  Stepping back I saw the difference. This gave an instant sense of space behind the figures.  I had created depth on a flat surface.

Depth became the focus of my work.  I learned how to step values to bring objects forward and push others back.  I learned how to neutralize colors to make distance.  I practiced different applications and found specific strokes that would enhance the illusion of air. Often the last strokes that I make are those that add nuances of dimension and space.  Knowing how to control these elements has helped me when working with photographic references.  I can translate the flat image of the photograph to seem more dimensional in my paintings.

To me it is pure magic that artists can transform a two dimensional surface into a dimensional representation where the viewer imagines wandering around and through the painting.  The compensation for my weak eye has been the focus and joy of my painting.

I will be teaching a workshop, March 23rd - 25th,  in Ann Arbor on creating the illusion of depth.  The workshop also features a critique session for more information click here.

  This is a work in progress.  I love this composition because it is about layers of depth.  The values and colors are pretty much in place.  I will be finishing this piece by softening edges and neutralizing colors to push them back and adding a few hard edges and brighter colors to come forward.