sandr037

Humans have been drawing and painting for thousands of years. Making two dimensional art look like three dimensions has been in the mix nearly as long. Indeed, seeing a three dimensional object popping out of a flat surface is still a bit magical. There are many artistic tricks to help simulate three dimensions. Ancient cultures placed objects, animals and people at different heights on the surface to denote distance. Figures were made larger or smaller to show importance or position. Sometimes the shading and contrast would be varied suggesting distance. However, the strongest way to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface was, and still is, the use of perspective. One of the more interesting aspects of human development from nomadic hunters to settled farmers and urban dwellers is the shift from round dwellings to rectilinear dwellings. We don’t know what early humans were thinking, and sometimes the shift was inconsistent (the Pantheon) and retrograde (Roman camp to medieval...

In my post on Ada Louise Huxtable I mentioned Louis Sullivan, a brilliant, complex but flawed architect who was a leader in the break from Beaux Arts stagnation in the late 19 th century.   In his later life, when large commissions declined, he took to theoretical thinking, alcohol and writing.   One result of this creative decline was the beautiful little book entitled A Systemof Architectural Ornament, According with a Philosophy of Man’s Powers .   The title is almost as long as the book, but the ornamental illustrations in it are wonderful examples of the creative process of a true genius. Featuring a book on 2 dimensional ornamentation might seem off topic on this blog, but I have two reasons.   First, the illustrations are meant for the creation of 3D bas-relief sculpture; and you will see that he renders the designs to show depth.   Second, the designs are excellent examples of elaboration from simple themes; an idea that I will be exploring in my compo...