Hyperrealism with Tom Mulliner

The Chubb Illusion and Statistical Context Course: The Constructed Eye: Visual Illusion, Perception Science, and the Work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka and Beau Lotto Day: 11 Demonstration of the Chubb illusion: The central squares are identical in luminance but appear lighter or darker depending on the contrast of their surround. Advanced control of such context effects is crucial for perceptual painters. Observed Effect: The Chubb illusion, first systematized by Chubb, Sperling, & Solomon (1989), is a brightness and contrast illusion where a textured region seems lighter or darker depending on the spatial and contrast statistics of its surround. Critically, artists leveraging variable markmaking or backgrounds frequently encounter such context-driven shifts, often ascribed to 'contrast adaptation' in studio lore but rooted in physiology. Expert Obje...

Day 21: Conservation Science—How Labs Identify Binding Media Masterclass series: The Chemistry of Binding Agents: From Egg Tempera and Linseed Oil to Modern Acrylic Polymers "The Madonna’s Secret Lies Not on Canvas — But in the Bind..." Early 20th-century restorers puzzled over Botticelli’s muted glazes. Only in the lab did the organic glue— egg yolk emulsion—reveal itself under a conservator’s precise tests. Dramatic advances in scientific analysis have unlocked the histories of paintings’ binding agents, exposing recipes lost for centuries. (Source: National Gallery Technical Bulletin)  Imagine a silent Florence laboratory, 1932: A conservator, tasked with restoring the “Madonna of the Pomegranate,” wipes away dirt with trembling hands. What gummy substance once held these pigments in miraculous suspension? Today, we know answers once hidden from even the world’s best ey...

Day 10: Colour Constancy and Illuminant Ambiguity A pair of Mondrian patches under simulated shadows Same surface colour Shadowed appearance A digital demonstration of colour constancy. Both red squares reflect the same RGB values, but the right patch appears darker and less saturated due to simulated shadow. Still, most viewers will correctly perceive both as the same surface red. Compare your experience to Land's Mondrian experiments (Land, 1977). Expert Objective This lesson investigates the neural and computational basis for colour constancy : the visual system's ability to maintain stable surface colours despite changes in environmental lighting ( illuminant ambiguity ). An advanced understanding here underlies both perceptual artwork and digital colour design, especially when seeking or subverting realism. Observed Effects Colour Constancy: Viewers perceive ob...

Studio Safety: Solvents, Dust, Ventilation, and Sensible Handling From Renaissance Studios to Modern Labs—How Artists and Scientists Manage Risk THE CHEMISTRY OF RISK Solvents – Dusts – Airflow – Touch Infographic: Key studio hazards—chemical, particulate, and environmental—underpin safe creative practice across eras. (Based on conservation best practice: Tate ) Picture this: The 16th-century studio of Vermeer, shafts of dusty sunlight, apprentices mixing lead white, the tang of turpentine in the air. Artists, from Caravaggio to modern acrylic painters, have always negotiated a fine contract between chemistry and wellbeing. But today, scientific knowledge empowers safer, more sustainable art-making—if we follow evidence-backed practice. The Chemistry: What Makes Materials Risky? Binding agents and their companions—solvents, fillers, pigments—can each introduce physical or chemical hazar...

The Constructed Eye Masterclass Day 9: Beau Lotto, Dale Purves, and Empirical Colour Perception Empirical Colour Perception Editorial gradient visualizing a key theme: colour is not fixed in the world, but constructed through empirical experience. Colour perception research (Lotto/Purves) emphasizes context and adaptation, not direct photoreceptor signals. Expert Objective This masterclass aims to develop a robust and evidence-based understanding of empirical colour perception as championed by Beau Lotto and Dale Purves. Advanced artists will learn to critically analyze how environmental statistics and perceptual learning create illusions and drive ambiguous colour experience in art and vision science. We will scrutinize visual phenomena through rigorous psychophysics and neurophysi...

Accelerators and Retarders: What Helps, What Harms, and Why Day 19 | The Chemistry of Binding Agents: From Egg Tempera and Linseed Oil to Modern Acrylic Polymers Accelerator Retarder An overview: accelerators speed drying, while retarders slow it. Both profoundly shape an artist’s material process. When Michelangelo labored in the Sistine Chapel, he and his assistants faced the eternal race against time: plaster drying before their scenes could be realized in fresco. Conversely, in modern acrylic painting, artists find themselves wrestling against paint that dries too quickly to blend. From the Renaissance to now, the pursuit of the perfect working window—and the chemistry that controls it—has remained at the heart of the painter’s craft. Chemistry of Accelerators and Retarders Accelerators and retarders are additives...