Hyperrealism with Tom Mulliner

Day 13: Peripheral Drift and the Fraser-Wilcox Illusion Masterclass: The Constructed Eye: Visual Illusion, Perception Science, and the Work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka and Beau Lotto Observed Effects: The Fraser-Wilcox Peripheral Drift Illusions Classic Fraser-Wilcox ring pattern. When viewed peripherally, these segments seem to rotate. (Fraser & Wilcox, 1979; Kitaoka, 2003) ...

Modernism and New Binders: Acrylics, House Paints, and Artist Experiment Day 23 – The Chemistry of Binding Agents Masterclass Egg Tempera Linseed Oil Acrylic Polymer MODERNISM A new era of paint chemistry Diagram: The evolution of binders, from traditional (left) to acrylic polymers (right). Acrylics, developed in the 20th century, marked a profound leap for modern art. Sources: Tate, Getty, Kremer Pigmente. Dramatic Historical Opener The year was 1954. While Jackson Pollock stunned New York with his poured enamel whorls, across the Atlantic, artists like David Hockney and Helen Frankenthaler discovered a radically new substance–liquid, luminous, flexible: the acrylic polymer. Modernism's rush to new materials gutted convention—egg and oil now seemed ancient compared to a jar of brilliant, fast-curing color straight from the lab. But what was this new ...

Checkpoint: Construct and Test a Contextual Colour Illusion Course: The Constructed Eye: Visual Illusion, Perception Science, and the Work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka and Beau Lotto Day 12 A: Blue Context B: Grey Context Yellow Patch Yellow Patch Figure 1. The same yellow rectangle appears to shift subtly in saturation between blue (left) and neutral grey (right) backgrounds—a demonstration of simultaneous contrast illusion. All patch luminance and chromaticity values are physically identical. Observe perceptual effects over several seconds. Adapted after Lotto & Purves (2000), with reimplementation for this course. Expert Objective This session confronts you, as an advanced artist, with the challenge of precisely constructing and critically testing a contextual colour illusion within a digital medium. The objective is to systematically manipulate local chromatic and spa...

Old Master Mixed Techniques: Tempera, Oil, Glazes, and Transition Periods Day 22: The Chemistry of Binding Agents Masterclass—Decoding the Secret Alchemy Behind Renaissance Layering Egg Tempera Transit Mix Oil Layers Glazes / Fat over Lean 15th C. 1450-1600 Renaissance Peak Three Layered Periods: Visible track from pure tempera to oil overlays and glazing, showing how mixed techniques evolved from 15th-century egg-based layers to the classic oil-dominant approach of the High Renaissance. Adapted from Getty Conservation studies (see sources). It was the autumn of 1502 in Venice. At a honey-lit table, Giovanni Bellini held a panel that shone with velatura —soft oil glazes dissolving over an underpainted egg tempera landscape. The boundary between medieval and modern chemistry, held in those gummy hands, changed art forever. This...

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...