Hyperrealism with Tom Mulliner

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...

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...