The Frame-Up by Wendy McLeod MacKnight

Author:Wendy McLeod MacKnight
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sargent knew that one of the most important techniques an artist can master is perspective, the ability to make a painting look three-dimensional. It had taken Sargent two years of intense practice to create mountain peaks that appeared to rise out of his pictures rather than look like they’d been flattened by a tornado, so he wasn’t surprised when Janice announced that the theme of the camp’s second week was using perspective in art. Nor was he surprised by the groans of the other campers. Perspective was hard.

“If you’re going to have the proper perspective in your work, you’re going to need a horizon and a vanishing point,” Janice said. “Perspective is where art meets mathematics, guys. When done correctly, our eyes enjoy looking at the painting because it seems natural, realistic.”

“My perspective sucks,” Adam moaned. “It always looks lopsided!”

“But that’s life!” Janice cried, circling the room as if Adam’s comments were rocket fuel. “How often have you thought your perspective on a situation was correct, only to discover you were missing a crucial piece of information, or in the case of a drawing, a crucial calculation?”

Sargent wasn’t quite getting the analogy. “But there are rules about perspective. All you have to do is follow the rules, and you’re able to trick the eye.”

“But sometimes our eye wants to take us to the horizon, but the artist wants us to look elsewhere. Like how the Renaissance painters wanted to point at the Virgin Mary’s womb.”

Troy stuck his finger in his mouth like he was going to throw up. “Gross! I don’t think my mother would want me to talk about the Virgin Mary’s belly.”

Everybody, including Janice, cracked up. She held up her hands in mock surrender. “All I’m saying is that artists can use perspective to draw our attention toward whatever they want us to see in their picture. And when they do that, we tend not to notice what they don’t want us to see. Perspective is a sneaky tool you can use to trick your audience.”

“What’s this week’s assignment?” Abby asked. She liked things to be orderly.

“We are going to trick one another!” Janice said. “Every day, you’ll do a new drawing or painting. And every day, you’ll do something different to the perspective. Sometimes you’ll do it correctly, sometimes you’ll move it around, and sometimes you’ll screw it up. By Friday, you’ll be masters of perspective! Now off you go to take a look at the different perspectives in the galleries. Then we’ll meet back here in one hour and start today’s project.”

Sargent followed Troy and Adam out of the room. It was funny; perspective was supposed to make art three-dimensional, make it look alive. But now that he knew the paintings actually were alive, he’d lost all perspective. He’d spent Sunday thinking about Mona, who was the most amazing person he’d ever met. Sadly, she was also the most amazing person he could never tell anybody about, because their or other people’s perspectives about art being alive might be way different from his.

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