Visual Literacy Quiz 2

Pictorial Depth Strategies

> Figure & Ground

> Gradients

> Overlapping

> Size Change

> Vertical Location

> The Pictorial Box

> Space Moving In

> Space Moving Out

> Enclosed Space

> Open Space

> Packed Space

> Empty Space

Figure & Ground

Simplest visual duality; creates space

> A stimulus will be perceived as separate from its ground

e.g. Child with Load by Loretta Lux

Gradients

any gradual, orderly stepped change in visual quality; creates space

> Vanishing-point perspective gives gradients

e.g. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy poster design

Overlapping

Simple depth cue; can imply importance

e.g. A Bigger Splash by David Hockney

Size Change

Another basic depth cue

Vertical Location

Typical realism expectation is that foreground is bottom

The Pictorial Box

Stresses stage-like space

Space Moving In

> Frontal Recession

> Diagonal Recession

Frontal Recession

Overlapping areas parallel to picture plane; orderly

e.g. Christ Handing the Keys of the Church to St. Peter by Piero Petrugino

Diagonal Recession

Overlapping at angle to picture plane; dynamic

e.g. Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio

Space Moving Out

Illusion of things coming out of picture; Baroque innovation

e.g. The Man with the Movie Camera by Georgi & Vladimir Stenberg

Enclosed Space

Sense of containment; cue-dependent--intimate or oppressive, etc.

e.g. Untitled by Tina Modotti

Open Space

Space seems to continue beyond picture confines

e.g. On His Holidays by John Singer Sargent

Packed Space

Compressed energy; expressive

e.g. Paris Crowd by Felix Vallotton

Empty Space

Eloquent by omission; less is more

e.g. The White Jabot by Henri Matisse