How Do Artists See?

Do painters view the world differently to the rest of humanity? Do they view shapes, lines, and colors differently? 

According to David Dunlop, a landscape artist and painting teacher, people who are unable to sketch landscapes or basic objects very well struggle because their brain is distorting of how they view things compared to how they really are. People anticipate what they are about to see, rather than viewing the world around us as a camera would.  

Dunlop advises his students against identifying objects within a scene, but instead to view the entire scene as a collection of shapes, lines, shadows, and contours. This advice tends to help students produce sketches that are more three-dimensional and realistic.

For a long time, artists have known that we see the world in two different ways, that is seeing objects verses lines, colors and curves. Artists have learned to switch off the brain’s capability of identifying objects, and are able to rather sketch the object in detail as opposed to a simple icon that represents the object.

What other experts say?                                

Stine Vogt, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Oslo conducted a study which shows that the eye’s scan patterns of artists and non-artists differ substantially. The study published in Perception (Vol. 36, No. 1) required nine students from the discipline of psychology and nine from the arts discipline to look at a set of pictures while monitored by a camera, while a computer tracked their eye movements. The results showed that artists on the whole scan the entire picture, even seemingly empty spaces. Non-artists, on the other hand, tend to focus more on objects, with a particular interest in people. These results can mean that non-artists are more focused on transforming images to concepts, while artists are more interested in the contours and colors in the image.

It takes an artist many years to train them to see scenes in this way. According to Wellesley neuroscience professor, Bevil Conway, Ph.D. visual disabilities may prove to be an advantage for some. Bevil conducted a study together with M.S. Livingstone, Ph.D. in which they analyzed 36 self-portraits by artist, Rembrandt. Their findings showed that he always depicted himself with a wandering eye, a condition called strabismus.

Strabismus affects around 10% of people and causes stereo-blindness- the inability for someone to construct a picture of their surroundings that are integrated using both eyes.  Rembrandt’s stereo-blindness may have been his great advantage as an artist. Teachers often suggest to their art students that they close one of their eyes and then sketch a scene, as it blurs the scene and helps them to sketch the scene better. It is, thus more likely for artists to experience some sort of visual disability as compared to non-artists.

Stereo-blindness together with concept-blindness enables artists to see their surroundings as they are- a variety of colors and shapes. This is how artists are able to paint pictures in a way that astounds non-artists. It is an artist’s job to encourage people to make the most of the vision they have beyond their daily routines.