Academy
This picture could use some improvement
All the colors in the middle ground in the left-hand picture are the same value. I desaturated the bright, pretty colors (high chromas) out of the left-hand picture, and what's left is a plain flat gray field, shown on the right.
If your picture has lots of bright colors everywhere, and/or they tend to be all the same value, you have not fully exploited the possible range of tricks for creating position in space.
Yellow, red, and high chroma advance
If you keep in mind that yellows (especially) and reds advance, you can add a sense of depth without especially shifting value. Just leave the yellow content out of distant land areas (Sky and clouds, playing a role as a light source, can go by other rules). Also note the shift in chroma. Reducing chroma in distant areas can cause recession. Reduced chroma in the foreground can be helpful for other reasons, not covered here. Notice that the color version has much more spatial depth than its gray counterpart.
Light/Dark/Light/Dark
Use banding value changes to get some stepping back in space. This, combined with appropriate hue and chroma changes, can achieve dramatic jumps in distance. Note -- the effect works almost as well without hue and chroma changes as seen in the gray version at the right.
Contrast advances
Increase contrast with proximity, and decrease contrast with distance.
Note -- the effect works almost as well without hue and chroma changes as seen in the gray version at the right.
Please don't assume that lightening-with-distance is the actual solution demonstrated here. Contrast is the operative force that creates this spatial positioning.
Also, note the reducing scale of shapes over distance.
Perspective dramatically changes the scale of subject matter; an artist may change the scale of the mark to enhance spatial relationships further.
1998 by Rebecca Alzofon. All rights
reserved.