Perspective and Illusion

Are things really smaller when they are further away Can something be clearly visible but not there at all Is it possible to have a direct and true experience of reality In this delightful and informative little book Phoebe McNaughton takes us on a classical journey through the history of artistic perspective, showing how the eye can be tricked and confused, the brain befuddled, and the philosopher inside all of us awakened by the nature of illusion.

• Sandro Del Pretes impossible chessboard. However much you look at it, your brain will continually s
• First published 2007 AD This edition Wooden Books Ltd 2007 AD Published by Wooden Books Ltd. 8A Mar
• to Luca Many thanks to Dan Davidson for starting this project, to Professor Fred Dubery of the Royal
• 1 INTRODUCTION Youre holding a book. Or you could be looking at a screen. Perhaps someones readin
• 2 3 The DepTh IllusIon a short history of points of view Perspective creates the illusion of depth o
• 4 5 orThographIc projecTIons top, front, and side views Whether you are a caveman or an architect, a
• 6 7 oblIque projecTIons slightly sideways glances With the arrival of slanting oblique projections i
• 8 9 The IsomeTrIc sysTem the allinone hexagonal projection A special case of oblique projection is t
• 10 11 onepoInT perspecTIve the dot on the horizon If you stand in front of an avenue of trees, or lo
• 12 13 OE Old English, MO Modern English, ON Old Norse, Sc Scottish. The fascinating extension of
• 14 15 DrawIng machInes tricks of the trade Today we are so used to the simple act of picking up a ca
• 16 17 some perspecTIve basIcs diagonals and inclined planes A few perspective primers are shown on t
• 18 19 perspecTIve IllusIons when equal things seem unbalanced The illusion created by perspective is
• 20 21 shaDows and the absence of light Accurate shadows are easy to draw in perspective and deepen t
• 22 23 reFlecTIons through the looking glass Mirrors are fascinating things. Why, for instance, do t
• 24 25 mIrages anD projecTIons nature working on a larger scale Shadows and reflections occasionally
• 26 27 lIghT on Form tonal illusions of the thirddimensional kind We glean information about the form
• 28 29 aTmospherIc perspecTIve and depth of focus Another way the mind reads distance and depth is by
• 30 31 relaTIvITy rules compared to what Most perceptions are relative. Have you ever experienced a
• 32 33 FIgure anD grounD either or this not that The illustrations on this page all show images that
• 34 35 ImpossIble objecTs and a fable for the certain A king, debating the nature of reality with a s
• 36 37 conTexTual clues seeing what youre looking for It is not easy to see things as they really are
• 38 39 The carToonIng mInD us and thempressing the right buttons Our brains have changed very little
• 40 41 upsIDe Down left to right and round about Our brains construct an incredibly real world for us
• 42 43 makIng sense oF The lIghT centres, curves, and edges Many people assume that their eyes resemb
• 44 45 percepTual IllusIons malfunctional clues to the system There are some illusions that really sh
• 46 47 moTIon IllusIons the page appeared to be breathing, doctor You do not have to resort to drugs,
• 48 49 ITs magIc the highest and lowest forms of trickery Sometimes things happen which seem impossib
• 50 51 oTher senses seeing things differently Next time you see a bee buzzing about a flower, stop to
• 52 53 raInbows anD moonbows you never see a rainbow from the side A rainbow or its rarer nocturnal s
• 54 55 55 halos anD glorIes windows into other worlds The figure opposite is from Flammarions 1888 tr
• 56 57 geTTIng real looking at the world in a new way In The Republic the Greek philosopher Plato 428
• 58 The northern lights over Iceland, a visual clue to the extraordinary electromagnetic world of whi