Observation Skills and CG - An Introduction to Computer Graphics for Artists - page 41

their own designs for all of the internal details. This can create numerous errors if
the goal is to replicate the appearance of a specifi c object, but if the artist is good
enough, their stylized design will be appealing enough that it may be judged supe-
rior to an accurate likeness.

3.2.3 Myopic

The amount of detail in any given subject can be scaled up or down to increase or
decrease the level of realism or complexity in a fi le. Some artists have a tendency to
become interested in progressively smaller details while ignoring larger ones.
A model of an automobile made this way might have extremely well-observed tire
treads, but poorly observed larger features, such as the car doors or the hood.
Individually, the artist may see and record a great deal of detail convincingly, but the
details won't match each other. Curves won't line up, edges that should be parallel
are not, Size or scale errors may be present between parts, or edge patterns will not
match across edge borders. In fi gure drawings, this error causes the artist to focus so
intently on whatever part of the body he draws fi rst, that it is far larger than it should
be. All subsequent anatomical elements gradually decrease in size, for a telescoping
effect. Usually the drawing goes right off the page and the fi gure is incomplete.

3.2.4 Substitution

A trait that most people acquire as they mature through life is the ability to remember
things they have seen, and then to cease looking carefully at those things. Once we
know what a tree is, we don't have to re-examine every tree we see to know what it
is. This trait is probably helpful to the extent it saves us time, but for artists, it can
cripple a likeness. Think about the color green for instance. This is a color commonly
associated with the color of leaves on trees, as indeed, many leaves are green. The
problem is that there are a wide variety of greens, and the variety alone is proof that
whatever concept of “leaf green” we might have is more likely wrong than right.
Here is another color-related example: What color are shadows? If you are like
most people, you will answer either black or gray. In truth however, shadows come
in a wide variety of colors, and are less often black or gray than any other possibil-
ity. It isn't even necessarily true that they are going to be low saturated colors (black
or gray being the most extreme form of this). Depending on the lighting present,
shadows may be much more vibrant than whatever color the shadow is crossing. It
will be darker, but not always less saturated. This observation error comes from the
correct observation that shadows are darker than the color of the thing they rest
upon. Darker does not mean black , yet this popular misconception persists regard-
less. Many professional artists make mistakes related to this, as can be easily seen if
you look for it in their work.