Depth with COLOUR

Illusion of depth is one of the hallmarks of representational painting. The genres of landscape, still life, portraiture and figurative painting often depend on illusions of three-dimensional forms existing in a perceptual space. While some art does not require illusions of depth to convey its visual narrative, many do, particularly in traditional genres.

Creating a visual sense of perceivable depth in a painting depends on several artistic principles working in combination with each other. A very important area is colour, but colour in and of itself might not create the full illusion of depth in a painting unless it is combined with the elements discussed below.

Colour must be modified by – and added to –