AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

Watercolourist GRAHAME BOOTH explains this tricky concept and how it can be used to give a sense of depth to your paintings

- GRAHAME BOOTH

Painters frequently talk about “depth” in their paintings which is slightly ironic as paintings in general are completely flat with absolutely no actual depth whatsoever. Of course, what we all mean by depth is really the illusion of depth. Our paintings are optical illusions that try to fool the brain into believing that our two-dimensional flat sheet of paper has a third dimension.

Aerial perspective – also known as atmospheric perspective – refers to a combination of various methods we can use to enforce that suggestion. Aerial perspective is real. Distance has a neutralising effect on all of the main attributes of the subject: detail is reduced, edges become softer, colour saturation is lowered, colour temperature changes, and extremes of tone are suppressed. These effects are created by the uneven scattering of light by dust in the atmosphere. Very often we need to distort or exaggerate them to really make it work to our advantage.

Take the two photos below as an example. In the first, the effects of aerial perspective are very clear in the distant mountains where we are looking at tens of miles of depth; in the second, the distance to the far hills is shorter so the effect is more subtle. In order to create an illusion of depth we must consider the use of aerial perspective in every subject, irrespective of actual depth or the visibility of the effects. Photographers can influence this easily, but as painters we must be much more inventive. Below are five factors to consider that can help you amplify the effects of aerial perspective.