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Wooden Books
Perspective and Other Optical Illusions
A thinking person's guide to reality.
The science of perspective has informed the representational and decorative arts since their inception, and its gradual perfection during the Renaissance was as important an event as any of the other mathematical and scientific developments of the time. Beginning with the evolution of visual perspective, Phoebe McNaughton reveals how and why illusions work in the first place. Questioning the idea that what we see is actually what is out there, she offers further optical illusions to suggest to readers that the world they perceive is in fact a complex product of their brain, constructed from the sensory data. Closing with various magical, theological, and atmospheric illusions and a further philosophical discussion of the nature of reality, Perspective will appeal widely to artists, designers, architects, and anyone interested in the visual or graphic arts.
The science of perspective has informed the representational and decorative arts since their inception, and its gradual perfection during the Renaissance was as important an event as any of the other mathematical and scientific developments of the time. Beginning with the evolution of visual perspective, Phoebe McNaughton reveals how and why illusions work in the first place. Questioning the idea that what we see is actually what is out there, she offers further optical illusions to suggest to readers that the world they perceive is in fact a complex product of their brain, constructed from the sensory data. Closing with various magical, theological, and atmospheric illusions and a further philosophical discussion of the nature of reality, Perspective will appeal widely to artists, designers, architects, and anyone interested in the visual or graphic arts.
- GenresArtNonfictionDesign
64 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 6, 2019
I always loved drawing and sketching since I was small, and so when I first saw this book, I was excited to learn about perspectives and illusions which can enhance my knowledge in visual arts. But after I finished this book, I don’t feel like this book gave me a new insight about perspectives.
To start with, McNaughton did not fully consider about the readers. Not all the readers are experts; in fact, we are reading this book because we are beginners about arts and want to know about it. However, he is undermining it and is thinking we are all experts about this field of knowledge. For instance, in his book, he throws bunch of art jargons at the readers without explaining what it is, such as “lithography” and “perpendicular orthographic projections”. The readers are completely new to this whole field of visual art, and McNaughton confounds them by discussing some of the difficult concepts that is not fully explained.
In some part of the book, the ideas she mentions is somewhat connected to perspectives and illusions. For example, personally, I think rainbows and halos are not relative to perspective and illusions. Additionally, she even mentions a scientific equation by Einstein, F=mc2, which I think it has nothing to do with the art.
Although I had a hard time deciphering what McNaughton meant in her explanation and struggle to understand the connection she makes with the topic, there are some parts that I thought it was cool. One of them is the relativity rules where two things are compared. For example, you have two objects that have the same weight, but one is bigger than the other one. People usually think the bigger one is lighter than the smaller one because “we expect them to weigh more”. It’s interesting how you can perceive yourself by expecting it to be different from the reality.
Even though McNaughton makes some cool points about perspectives and illusions, it is still hard to understand some of her points because her use of vocabulary is hard to understand, and some of her idea is not connected to the main idea.
To start with, McNaughton did not fully consider about the readers. Not all the readers are experts; in fact, we are reading this book because we are beginners about arts and want to know about it. However, he is undermining it and is thinking we are all experts about this field of knowledge. For instance, in his book, he throws bunch of art jargons at the readers without explaining what it is, such as “lithography” and “perpendicular orthographic projections”. The readers are completely new to this whole field of visual art, and McNaughton confounds them by discussing some of the difficult concepts that is not fully explained.
In some part of the book, the ideas she mentions is somewhat connected to perspectives and illusions. For example, personally, I think rainbows and halos are not relative to perspective and illusions. Additionally, she even mentions a scientific equation by Einstein, F=mc2, which I think it has nothing to do with the art.
Although I had a hard time deciphering what McNaughton meant in her explanation and struggle to understand the connection she makes with the topic, there are some parts that I thought it was cool. One of them is the relativity rules where two things are compared. For example, you have two objects that have the same weight, but one is bigger than the other one. People usually think the bigger one is lighter than the smaller one because “we expect them to weigh more”. It’s interesting how you can perceive yourself by expecting it to be different from the reality.
Even though McNaughton makes some cool points about perspectives and illusions, it is still hard to understand some of her points because her use of vocabulary is hard to understand, and some of her idea is not connected to the main idea.
February 22, 2021
I can't stress how boring and confusing this book was. I was super excited about it, but it was such a hard read. The descriptions made little to no sense and I actually didn't learn anything. Sad day.
August 10, 2023
Nice-illustrated. Short but interesting. Explanation can be more in-depth but it's overall a fun read. It does a good job of showing the intersection of art and geometry.
December 31, 2020
occasionally a bit confusing, but educational
December 12, 2008
did you know that most comic books are drawn with a perspective that uses 3 vanishing points?
January 31, 2013
I realy like the pictures.it is a great book!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews