1-3 AERIAL PERSPECTIVE AND ATMOSPHERE
The best magicians will pull a rabbit out of the hat then the rabbit will become a balloon that floats into the air, the balloon will burst and pigeon will appear in its place, the pigeon will explode into a cloud of confetti and as it settles we find the magician has vanished.... You see great magic, like great art, has many levels - and they are usually subtle and seamless. That is why it will last. Whereas rabbits and hats may be for the children, works of Titian or Watteau might be for the adult. Like the magician’s guild we don’t need to promote magic or art, we need to practice it and do it better and better. To do this we must understand atmosphere!
We live in a world of atmosphere. The closer to the ground the thicker the veil. This mist of suspended particles interferes such that objects on the horizon seem fainter and have less color (saturation) than were they to be situated much nearer. Let us apply the 'atmosphere' to a (midday when the veil is white) view of the sea and see how it works.

The horizon will appear the lightest (whitest)...
The sequence of events is thus ...

1.The whole scene is painted with a red/blue.(color at the top)

2.Beneath the horizon an additional marine (cerulean) blue is added.

Water usually appears a little (half value or more) darker than the sky.

3.Successive layers of mist are placed between the viewer and the scene - the greater the distance the more the layers.

As the water shallows, yellow sand adds a veil of green. The veil of green is added to the bottom foreground.

Now we can add some boats. They are identical - only the second is minimized to allow for distance - and then placed behind four layers of atmosphere.
STUDENT ACTIVITY: Using strips of cellophane (semi-transparent) paper and two small cut out 'images' construct an atmospheric 'collage' as I have done. Allow 40min.

But at dusk and dawn the sun sinks to the horizon and the atmosphere changes. What then?

GO TO ... dusk and dawn

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