Techniques used in Perspective Painting

Atmospheric Perspective

Atmospheric perspective was also known as aerial or color perspective. To achieve a sense of depth, an artist used lighter, duller colors for objects far away in the distance and darker, more intense colors for objects close to the viewer. The earth's atmosphere, which contains dust and moisture, removes some red and yellow light, making distance objects appear duller (that is also why the sky is blue). This technique, therefore, was only used in outdoor paintings. Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to define atmospheric perspective.

Oil Painting

Oil painting was an important development in painting. Pre-Renaissance painters used tempera, an egg-yolk based paint. Oil, unlike tempera, could be layered on top of itself, allowing artists to create intricate details and subtle tones. Jan van Eyck pioneered the use of oil in painting. Oil painting paved the way for many improvements in painting, including:

Use of Fine Detail

Oil paint, easier to control than tempera, could be used on smaller brushes, making finer details easier. The layering ability of oil paint also made complex textures possible.

Improved Proportions and Sizing

By improving the detail level of paintings, oil paint also improved perspective and proportion. Artists could paint minute details which added to the illusion of depth.

Use of Light and Shadows

Because it could be layered, oil allowed artists to paint shadows, which had been nearly impossible with tempera paints. Shadows are one of the most important "clues" our brain uses to create depth.

Defining Space with Borders

Artists often used borders or masking to control and define the space viewed by the observer. By surrounding the painting, a border controls space both physically and psychologically. For example, in St. Jerome in his Study, Antonello da Messina painted a border around the picture to make the picture look like a window into St. Jerome's study. This defines physically what the viewer is able see, as well as drawing the viewer into the painting by creating the illusion of peering into St. Jerome's study from the outside.

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