Hyperrealism with Tom Mulliner

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...

Simultaneous Contrast and Contextual Colour Day 8 | The Constructed Eye Masterclass Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Beau Lotto, and Advanced Vision for the Artist Light surround Dark surround Precise demonstration: Identical grey bars on light and dark surrounds. Observe perceived contrast shift. This classic effect, first quantified by Michel-Eugène Chevreul (1839), is crucial in both vision science and artistic practice. Expert Objective The aim for today is precise: develop the capacity to diagnose and intentionally produce simultaneous contrast effects in digital and material colour contexts, while critically evaluating mechanistic claims regarding their origin and neural basis . Observed Effects: Phenomenology and Consistencies Simultaneous contrast refers to the observation that a given chromatic or achromatic patch appears systematically different in hue, brightness, or satura...

Luminance, Contrast, and Context: The Constructed Eye (Day 7) Simultaneous Contrast: Both gray bars have identical luminance. Their appearance shifts dramatically depending on the luminance of the background, a foundational effect in 19th–21st century vision science. For controlled experiment parameters, see Whittle (1992) and Kingdom (2011). Expert Objective Today, you will learn to analyze how luminance, contrast, and context jointly constrain both visual appearance and material representation, using contemporary psychophysical methods. Conclusions will directly inform color, value, and material modeling methods in studio practice—particularly where appearance is modulated by context, as explored by Akiyoshi Kitaoka and Beau Lotto. Observed Perceptual Effects Simultaneous Contrast: A patch's apparent lightness or darkness shifts with its surround's luminance (e.g., Adelson, 200...

Drying Versus Curing: Evaporation, Oxidation, Coalescence, and Time Intensive Daily Masterclass — The Chemistry of Binding Agents Egg Tempera Linseed Oil Acrylic Polymer Three classic binders, three distinct pathways: Each relies on a fundamentally different chemistry for film formation. (Masterclass original visual.) The Timeless Wait: From Smalt to Synthetics It’s 1506. The golden light dancing on the wet oil glaze in The Mona Lisa is not just Leonardo’s mastery—it’s chemistry teased by time. Five centuries later, an acrylic dries within minutes, but centuries-old oil still slumbers, slow-curing deep beneath its crystalline glazes. Today, we untangle how binders truly “set”: is it mere evaporation, full chemical crosslinking, or something more subtle? Understanding the Underlying Chemistry Drying involves a physical process : water or solvent evaporates, leaving pigment an...

Pigment Volume Concentration: Matte, Gloss, Underbinding, and Strength Daily Masterclass in the Chemistry of Binding Agents — Day 17 Dramatic Historical Opener: Venetian Secrets and the Revelation of Shine In the candle-lit ateliers of Renaissance Venice, painters like Tintoretto and Veronese manipulated the subtle dance between velvety matte and mirror-like gloss. Their secret was not only in the rare pigments they sourced but in the calculated ratio of pigment to binder—what modern chemistry terms Pigment Volume Concentration (PVC). This variable governs a paint's appearance, durability, opacity, and touch, making it a keystone of both historic and contemporary art practice ( Tate Papers ). High PVC Balanced Low PVC Infographic showing blocks of paint with high, balanced, and low pigment volume concentration (PVC). High PVC yields matte finishes, balanced offers optimal properties, and low PVC results in gloss. C...

Checkpoint: Build a Taxonomy of Visual Illusion Masterclass Day 6 — The Constructed Eye: Visual Illusion, Perception Science, and the Work of Kitaoka & Lotto Luminance contrast Figure-ground Diagram illustrating two principal types of visual illusions used in taxonomy construction: luminance-based (left) and figure-ground (right). Taxonomy coding is foundational for advanced visual experimentation. Adapted from field standards (Kingdom & Prins, 2016). Expert Objective Today's objective is to construct a professional taxonomy of visual illusions, synthesizing historic, contemporary, and experimental categories. This taxonomy is to be operational ( i.e. , guiding for advanced perceptual studies or studio innovation) rather than simply descriptive, following the orientation of Kitaoka and Lotto's research ( Kitaoka, 2005 ; Lotto, 2003 ). You will differentiate illusions by observ...