THE CON-GAME OF REALITY A SECRET OF GREAT OIL PAINTING FEATURING A WORK BY NICOLA SAMORI
In the red circle, the legs of this figure are
painted with highly credible anatomical detail. The knees are believable and even more important the cast shadow on the inner leg and modeling of light around the columnar surface of the leg is realistic and follows all the familiar laws of light (and physics) that we see when objects are illuminated. This accuracy and credibility allows us to forgive the pale white color, and we believe these objects are without question, legs.
This kind of convincing detail wins the viewers
confidence. Those legs are so right that I have to take the artist seriously and when the artist says: this is what I see, this is exactly what it looks like I must believe them. The convincing detail has won a psychological battle of believability and credibility that the artist can now exploit.
In the blue circle we see the face of this figure.
But its not like any face we are familiar with. Its a blackened egg-shape that we might never identify as a face. And though the lighting and shadows on the black egg are consistent with the other lighting in the painting, we still might not see it as a face. However, the accuracy of the rest of the image those legs, the convincing folds of fabric forces us to accept that face to be as real as the rest of the image. This is the true face of this figure.
The con-game of reality master power secret:
Create a section of your painting with high
fidelity to common reality. Make correct accurate anatomy and realistic lighting. Elsewhere, you can deviate in the extreme and incorporate crazy-looking elements that will be seen as real.