STS #38: Creating The Illusion of Depth

In this episode of Stitch the Sketch, I’m exploring one of the principles of art: how to create the illusion of depth.

Creating the illusion of depth is important when working on a 2-dimentional surface. Needless to say, real life is three-dimensional so when working on a two-dimensional piece of work you’ll have to find a way to introduce the illusion of depth to reflect life. My stitched drawings will not have depth unless I make an extra effort to make the shapes look solid instead of flat.

2 Methods for Creating The Illusion of Depth

To overcome this challenge, in “Circular Blocks #6”, I used two methods to achieve the illusion of depth. I used overlapping shapes and transparencies.  Making shapes overlap on a flat surface makes the eye understand that the shape is not flat but solid or has form.

The second method I used to create the illusion of depth in this piece is transparency.  When two objects or shapes overlap, the point or junction at which they overlap, a shadow or some other effect is created.  To show the effect of the overlap, I used the idea of transparency. In this case, I didn’t stick to making that area necessarily transparent, all I wanted to do was make that area noticed as different from the other parts of the shapes.

I think it worked. The overlapping circles turned out looking like galaxies orbiting around each other or intersecting with each other.  You can see them going behind each other and not necessarily through each other. They remind me of Saturn’s rings, which makes me know that my eyes aren’t visualizing the circles as flat objects but rather, 3-dimensional objects. So in that sense, my attempt to create an illusion of depth was successful.

Varied Shading Methods to Create Interest

I also used more shading methods in this piece than I’ve done recently.  I’m of the view that if I’m getting bored of doing something in a particular way, then the viewer will similarly get tired of seeing that same thing.  So, I didn’t only concentrate on creating the illusion of depth but I also worked on varying the shading methods I used.

Finally, here’s the video showing how I used stitch to achieve the illusion of depth.

Question: What techniques do you use to achieve the illusion of depth in your 2D work?

Warmest Regards,

 

 

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