Elements of Visual Perception
There are five (5) elements of visual perception. However, as you read, remember that although we are studying each element as a separate individual entity, they are part of a greater whole.
1. Line or Edge
Very few lines exist in nature. There are however, edge, outline or contour (all meaning roughly the same thing). Lines of flow, visual movement, and rhythm are often invisible to the eye but can be "seen" nonetheless. Lines have certain built-in feelings and associations... Most of us can find adjectives to describe various kinds of line; when we do, these words suggest that some kind of meaning resides in the lines.
Exercises:
- Find lines which are expressive, which convey a sensation in and of itself.
- Can you see music and rhythm in line? Can you sing it?
Look for:
- auras
- relationship between edge, volume and space
- invisible or implied lines
- visual movement
- interrelationship of lines
Questions:
- What does line tell you about the way a tree grows?
- What does it tell you about its personality?
2. Shape
Shape is an area that stands out from the space next to it or around it because of a defined boundary or because of a difference of value, color, or texture.
Shapes contain certain meanings within themselves, some readily recognizable, others more complex and less clear. Some common meanings ascribable to squares, for instance, are: perfection, stability, solidity, symmetry, self-reliance, and monotony. Every visual experience is embedded in a context of space and time. Just as the appearance of objects is influenced by that of neighboring objects in space, so also is it influenced by sights that preceded it in time.
The dots within the squares illustrate:
- shape relationships
- energy fields
- positive/negative space
- tensions
- balance
Exercises:
- Follow the interplay between shapes. Look for counterpoint, dance, rhythm, theme variations, tensions, conflict, and balance.
- See shapes as alive.
- Form follows function. Look at an object and study how its shape or shapes are directly a product of function.
- Walk through an area and watch the interplay of shapes. Note the relationship between three-dimensional shapes and the two-dimensional images of those shapes. Experience your own shape in relation to the shapes around you.
3. Color
Color is the visual response to the wavelengths of sunlight identified as red, green, blue, etc.; having the physical properties of hue, intensity (or saturation), and value. Color perception seems to involve the one hundred million rods and six and a half million cones in the retina at the back of the eye.
We are able to hear a single tone, but we almost never (without special devices) see a single color unconnected and unrelated to other colors. Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions. In no reliable sense can we speak of color "as it really is"; it is always determined by its context. The same color in two different contexts is not the same color. This means that the identity of a color does not reside in the color itself, but is established by relation.
Exercises:
- Look at the many colors; just look, do not name.
- Try to find as many colors as possible within a single color.
- Look at color combinations. See how adjacent colors affect or change each other. Remember that all color is relative and exists in context.
- What moods and emotions do colors convey to you? Find a color that produces strong emotion. Play it out. Stay with the emotion as long as possible. Analyze the experience but only do so after the initial impact is gone. Is it even possible to bring rational thought to the experience?
- Obtain a color wheel and experiment with the colors in various lighting.
4. Value
Value is the relative degree of light and dark. There are several types of light:
- direct
- reflected: (primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.)
- absorbed
- translucent
- symbolic
- inner
- divine
Light is required for the eyes to observe shape, color, space, and movement; but light is more than just the physical cause of what we see.
The scale below shows a gradation from dark to light.
Each rectangle contains a single color, yet the eye makes it appear to change value from the left side to the right side.
Exercises:
- Look at sharp edges and rounded surfaces. Follow value change from the broadest, sharpest contrasts to the subtlest nuances, to the most gradual flow of one value into another.
- Watch the play of light and shadow.
- Follow reflected light through primary, secondary, tertiary reflections.
- See how light creates volume.
- See how light affects the way things grow.
- Study shadows. Look at edge, shape, flow and value.
- Look at how light clarifies shape. Look for light that dissolves shape.
- Try to see, feel, and experience the light within things (including people).
- Can you see, feel, know your own inner light?
- Draw a picture of a hen egg sitting on a sheet of white paper. Do it without using lines.
- Study a black and white photograph. Notice the shades of gray.
5. Texture
Texture is the surface character of a material that can be experienced through touch or the illusion of touch. The illusion of touch can be experienced visually. Light and shadow patterns on an object define its texture. So, visual texture really amounts to exploring light and shadow, value and contrasts. Physical touch can be experienced in the following ways:
- hot cold pressure pain hardness resistance/pliability
- texture wetness vibration shape flow & movement
- weight rough smooth jagged
Exercises:
- Touch everything.
- Find something that you have never touched and "feel" it with your eyes first, then actually touch it. Compare the difference.
- Create various textures by drawing them.
- Do various textures convey emotions? Find something that creates a strong reaction mood-wise, emotion-wise, aesthetically. Do this with both visual and actual texture.
Concentrate on using the five elements of visual perception whenever you can. Through practice it will be possible to see more than you saw before.
How can you use this knowledge in the art of camouflage? Can you see how you might be better able to hide from the untrained eye? Can you determine which colors/values/patterns might be the hardest to see in specific locations? Can you see that standard camouflage patterns can be picked out easily? What visual methods do the animals use to escape detection?