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12 - On contours seen and contours drawn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Jan B. Deręgowski
Edited by
Chris Lange-Küttner  and
Annie Vinter
Jan B. Deręgowski
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
Chris Lange-Küttner
Affiliation:
London Metropolitan University
Annie Vinter
Affiliation:
Université de Bourgogne, France
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Summary

Deręgowski describes the ambiguities of object representations in pictorial space, in terms of dimensionality as well as view-specificity. On the basis of models of visual perception, he distinguishes between boundary contours, which result from the interaction of the solid and the background, and typical contours, which are inherent characteristics of the object itself. In several studies, he demonstrates empirically that typical contours can facilitate recognition if the object is in a fronto-parallel plane and thus this view is the most commonly depicted. However, several typical contours may compete for attention, in particular in children and illiterate adults. One solution was to depict several views of the object simultaneously in a co-planar fashion, as is demonstrated in several examples from ancient art and children. Another instance of the conflict between boundary and typical contour is the depiction of eyes (eye spots) in the fronto-parallel plane versus in profile, or, when in conflict, in a mixed version with eyes depicted en face but with the face contours in profile. Deręgowski finally concludes that whereas canonical contours establish themselves with experience, typical contours could be specified also for novel objects, and typical contour therefore seems the more satisfactory concept.

On contours seen

Each object within the observer's field of view furnishes a great variety of cues from which, combined and blended, his percept of the object arises.

Type
Chapter
Information
Drawing and the Non-Verbal Mind
A Life-Span Perspective
 , pp. 239 - 258
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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