Turner's art and perspective

I have a sister who enjoys painting. She will usually find an interesting scene from a magazine photo, often including buildings and streets, then draw from that inspiration to make her own art.

One day I was visiting her and she was working on one and said it just didn't seem right but she couldn't isolate the reason why. I looked at it and said "the perspective isn't correct." She had no idea what I was talking about so I bought her a couple of books on art and perspective.

I gather that Turner as a young man was trained as a draughtsman, and that training always focuses on perspective. As a result if you look at Turner's paintings which include buildings, streets, objects both far and near, all of them "look correct." It is because of his mastery of perspective. If you are trained in it then it becomes impossible for you to ignore it.

I am only a mediocre amateur artist. I can draw and paint but you would never mistake my work for anything good. But I HAVE learned to look at drawings and paintings critically and you might be surprised to know how frequently otherwise talented artists do NOT pay proper attention to perspective.

Why is it so important? Because our eyes and brains process perspective every waking minute even if we don't specifically realize it. If we see something which is a violation of normal perspective it looks wrong, even if we can't isolate the reason why. Look at any of Turner's art (do an internet search) and notice how he treats perspective. It is almost perfect and that is a big factor in why his art is so widely appreciated. Even if most people don't realize why.

I didn't know of Turner before I watched this movie, but now I am happy to know him a little.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.