Page 58 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

and the movement. For example the change
of texture is very important in perceiving
depth. For example, the ground that we walk
on in a farm full of flowers is actually a

tissue. The tissues closer to us are more
detailed while the tissues further from us
seem pale and harder to discern. Therefore, it
is easier to estimate the distance of objects
located on a tissue. Besides this, effects of
shadow and light also contribute to the
perception of a three-dimensional view.

The reason we admire a picture made by
a successful artist is the sense of depth and
reality which are given to the picture, which
is created by using the elements of shade and
perspective.
Perspective results from the fact that
distant objects appear smaller in proportion
to those which are nearer, depending on the
person who is looking at it. For example,

when we look at a view, distant trees appear
small, while those nearby appear large.
Likewise, in a picture with a mountain in the
background, the mountain is drawn smaller
than the person in the foreground. In linear
perspective, artists use parallel lines. For
example, train tracks produce an effect of

distance and depth by meeting with the
horizon.

In this picture, the line in the back appears twice the
size of the line at the front. However, in reality both
of the lines are the same size. As we can see from
this example, the use of lines, perspective, the light
and shadow cause people to observe the same
objects differently. In fact, all of these objects are
viewed in a single place, in the visual center of the
brain.

56 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION