Eyes in portrait paintings
GilianFrye
And knowing is half the battle.
>What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
Bad guys spying on you from within secret passageways.
--
"When life hands you a lemon, pull out a gun and start shooting."
[Not all comics are meant for kids, people. Read some!]
"Tylenol is dangerous; take only one or it will kill you" - Columbia University
tunnel graffiti
The father of my children
>What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
Skillful technique, naturalism.
" He talks as the man of his age talks--that is, with rude wit, a lively sense
of the grotesque, a disgust for sham, and a contempt for pettiness." -- Raymond
Chandler, The Simple Art of Murder
John S. Colton
>What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
Same thing that causes the same effect on photographs. The person is
looking at the camera (or the equivalent of where the camera would
be).
(The other reply was funnier.)
John
WKRP
eyeballs/corneas/pupils set behind the two holes a couple of tenths of an
inch. Works great!
Jeff Wisnia W1BSV MIT '57 ee
GilianFrye wrote:
> What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
--
GrapeApe
>
>Skillful technique, naturalism.
Actually, sometimes the phenomena is stronger in badly drafted portraits.
But someone hinted at one of the illusions sometimes involved, misdirection by
the orieintation of the skull and the eyes themselves facing different
directions. And the accentuation of anatomy around the eyes or lack of same can
add to the effect.
Some of the portraits on our currency are well known for this illusion.
Chris
<20000906034045...@ng-fq1.aol.com>, gilia...@aol.com
(GilianFrye) wrote:
>What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
The painting being on rubber, and falling apart.
"The eyes follow you around the room!" <s/fx> "Plop, boing, boing,
boing."
--
Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Did you exchange a walk on part in the real world,
For a lead role in a cage?
RM Mentock
>
> On 06 Sep 2000 07:40:45 GMT, gilia...@aol.com (GilianFrye) wrote:
>
> >What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
>
> Same thing that causes the same effect on photographs. The person is
> looking at the camera (or the equivalent of where the camera would
> be).
Yep. That's all it is.
OTOH, have you seen the three dimensional representation of a head
that seems to follow you (the whole head) from side to side?
--
RM Mentock
So great a writer, all men swore,
They never had not read before.
-- Jorrock Wormley
Steve Klein [at] mac dot com
> have you seen the three dimensional representation of a head
> that seems to follow you (the whole head) from side to side?
Disney actually had a patent on one method of doing this. You can see a
sample in their Haunted Mansion. (The patent has probably long-since
expired.)
--
Steve Klein
NOTE: My EMAIL address has been munged to foil spammers.
Geoduck
>Well, the "cheaters" have the "eye" shape cut out and the painted
>eyeballs/corneas/pupils set behind the two holes a couple of tenths of an
>inch. Works great!
I have an old computer game box which was made with a 3D model of a
human head on the front- the eyeholes are cut out, and there's a flat
sheet behind with a pair of eyes printed on it. It's amazing how
strong an illusion is created when you walk around the head- the eyes
seem to track you constantly.
--
Geoduck
Slightly new, somewhat improved website:
http://www.olywa.net/cook
Lalbert1
<men...@mindspring.com> writes:
>"John S. Colton" wrote:
>>
>> On 06 Sep 2000 07:40:45 GMT, gilia...@aol.com (GilianFrye) wrote:
>>
>> >What causes the "eyes that follow you" phenomena in portrait paintings?
>>
>> Same thing that causes the same effect on photographs. The person is
>> looking at the camera (or the equivalent of where the camera would
>> be).
>
>Yep. That's all it is.
>
>OTOH, have you seen the three dimensional representation of a head
>that seems to follow you (the whole head) from side to side?
Being more than an "eye man", I noticed that Victoria's Secret store windows
are featuring a larger than life photograph of a woman in her underware, and
her eyes and other body parts move as you walk by. But it's a hologram.
Les
Briar Rose
>OTOH, have you seen the three dimensional representation of a head
>that seems to follow you (the whole head) from side to side?
They've had those in the haunted mansion at Disneyland
since I was a little kid. When I was young, they were
creepy. Now that I'm older, they're just cool!
:) Connie-Lynne
--
"In this country, we have eight different kinds of Coke,
but only two political parties!"
--Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
GrapeApe
>
>sample in their Haunted Mansion. (The patent has probably long-since
>expired.)
Hmm, they can really patent a reversed out releif, but they probably could do
so for one that acted as a projection screen. I wonder how they kept all those
2 way mirrors clean in the Haunted mansion. Its still extremely well done, and
I can't see how they maintain the parallax without having the ghosts to full
scale.
On a complex shape like a face, an inverse mold can appear just like a normal
bust, with the added effect of it appearing to 'turn' and follow you.
Steve Klein [at] mac dot com
> Hmm, they can really patent a reversed out releif...
(I assume you meant "they CAN'T really...")
See US5407391: Negative bust illusion and related method
Here's the URL:
http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/cgi-bin/viewpat.cmd/US05407391__
It expired last year because they failed to pay the maintenance fee.
"Abstract: A negative bust illusion is formed of a surface
(representing a negative of an object) that presents a concave side to
viewers to generate an illusion that the object always gazes at viewers
as they move within an enlarged field of view. The negative bust is
analogous to a mold of the object, with its depth flattened to impart a
wider effective range the illusion. The rigid shell has a cavity that
defines the bust and is formed of a thin, translucent styrene material
such that rear projection is readily imparted to the convex side for
imparting animation to the gaze effect."
GrapeApe
>> Hmm, they can really patent a reversed out releif...
>
>(I assume you meant "they CAN'T really...")
>
>See US5407391: Negative bust illusion and related method
>
>Here's the URL:
>
>http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/cgi-bin/viewpat.cmd/US05407391__
In correcting my wording, you left out the rest of my thought.
As I had intimated, they CANT really patent the reversed out relief BY ITSELF,
it must be the relief idea bundled with film projection. Which seems to be
exactly what the patent describes.
I did see some other museums use regular 'positive' translucent busts with rear
projection, such as talking crystal balls. Tough to get an actors face to fit
the mold well, or hold focus at decent light levels when projected on the
relief.
Dana Carpender
They have these in the Haunted Mansion at the Disney parks. The illusion
is quite good; really looks like a normal bust turning to look at you.
--
Dana W. Carpender
Author, How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet -- And Lost Forty Pounds!
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