When asked how to create more depth in paintings, my simple answer is always “Make everything paler and bluer as it recedes into the distance”. Making objects in the distance paler and bluer will create depth in a landscape but it is not the solution for every situation.
In this article, I will explain, in detail, exactly how you can use atmospheric perspective to create more depth in your paintings, whether it be across a landscape, underwater or even within a single object.
Mountain scenes are a good example of how making objects paler and bluer can give the impression of distance, as you can see from this photo of the mountains near my home. This peaceful country scene is the demonstration painting for my soon-to-be-released Paint a Mountain Landscape course
Two Types of Perspective
Creating depth in a painting is all about perspective. There are two types of perspective we can use, linear and atmospheric.
Linear Perspective
Linear perspective is when objects appear smaller as they recede into the distance, such as the boardwalk in this boat shed painting. Notice that in the foreground, the boardwalk takes up over half the width of the canvas but as it reaches the shed, it is only a tiny proportion of the overall width. Using a linear perspective to narrow the width of the boardwalk makes the shed appear further away.
While linear perspective does create the impression of distance, atmospheric perspective will give real depth to your artwork.
Atmospheric Perspective
Atmospheric perspective is when the colours in an object appear differently as they recede into the distance. You may have also heard the term aerial perspective but know that atmospheric and aerial perspective are basically the same thing.
How Atmospheric Perspective Affects Your Painting
In this article, I will use the term atmospheric perspective because the word “aerial” suggests air and I want to also talk about how to create depth in other atmospheres, such as water.
Understanding the “Why?” of painting techniques always makes them easier to remember, so that is where I will start.
Why do objects appear bluer as they recede into the distance?
As previously discussed, mountains viewed from a distance appear blue. But in the words of Julius Sumner Miller “Why is it so?” There is a scientific phenomenon, called, Rayleigh scattering, which is to blame for this. This is not a science lesson so I won’t try to explain that here.
The way I like to think of it is simple.
The sky is blue and the further an object is away, the more sky (atmosphere) will be between me and that object. So the further an object is away, the more blue will be covering the object in the distance. It’s like adding a blue filter to everything you see. In painting terms, this would be adding a blue hue.
The same thing goes for water. A brightly coloured coral, far into the depths of the ocean, for example, will appear much bluer than one that is near.
In this underwater scene the palest part of the whale shark is the point closest to us, the right hand edge of its mouth. It then becomes bluer towards the tail end. This is what makes it look like a long shark swimming towards us at a slight angle. If the shark were the same colour all the way along its length, it would appear like a short stubby shark swimming across towards the left hand edge.
Why do objects appear paler as they recede into the distance?
The air is always full of minute particles. They could be dust, smoke, ash, salt or whatever, floating in the air. Assuming it is daytime and the sun is overhead, the light will reflect off these particles so they appear white, thus adding a white filter to everything we see, making it appear paler. In painting terms, to make a colour paler is to reduce the tonal value.
The further away an object is, the more white particles obstruct our view. This not only makes the object appear paler but blurs some of the details as well. (More about that later) Again, this is not a scientific explanation, just the logic I use to make sense of painting techniques.
The first step in any of my paintings is to cover the canvas with a foundation layer of paint. Already you can see how much depth is created by focussing on making everything paler and bluer as it recedes into the distance.
When are objects NOT paler in the distance?
I mentioned objects underwater will also appear bluer, the further away they are. The bluing effect is even greater in water than in the air. This is probably because water is denser than air.
Water density also means that the deeper into the ocean you go, the less light penetrates the water. The tonal value of an underwater object still reduces as it recedes into the distance. The difference is that, in this instance, the tone becomes darker, not lighter.
When it comes to the ocean, the furthest point into the depths is the bluest and darkest tone.
In the sky, however, the palest part is at the bottom, not because it is further away. The sky is infinite so all parts are equally distant from us. The reason the sky is paler near the surface of the earth is because of light reflecting off particles in the air.
You may also notice that the whale’s body beneath the water is much bluer than the tail seen in the air.
Storm clouds are another example of when objects can be darker in the distance. As you look into a storm, the clouds get thicker and block out more of the sun so they become less visible. Speaking of clouds, sometimes it feels like they are doing their best to confuse artists. Light bounces off in all directions or one cloud may cast a shadow onto another, so all the principles of light and shade often go out the window when painting clouds. Anyway, that is a whole other subject I will have to leave for another day.
When are objects NOT bluer in the distance?
When the light source in your painting (usually the sun) is positioned closer to objects in the distance, i.e. shining towards the viewer, there is less atmosphere and therefore less blue, between that light source and objects in the distance. In this case, distant objects will still be paler but not bluer.
During the early morning or late afternoon, sunlight may take on a yellow, orange or pink glow. In this case, objects in the distance will take on that hue. Again, think of it like a light filter.
The Role That Tone Plays in Atmospheric Perspective
The lightness or darkness of a colour is its tonal value. A paint colour straight out of the tube often (but not always) has the highest tonal value. The tonal value of a colour reduces when you make that colour lighter (adding a tint) or darker (adding a shade).
Tonal Range
As previously mentioned, details in objects that are far away cannot be seen as clearly. Atmospheric perspective shows this when the tonal range is smaller in the background than the foreground.
So it follows that when you paint objects in the background using a small tonal range and objects in the foreground with a large tonal range you create more depth or, in other words, the feeling of distance.
This knowledge can also be helpful in troubleshooting problems in your paintings. If you want objects to appear closer, bring them forward by increasing the tonal range. In other words, increase the contrast. To move something backwards, reduce the tonal range.
Depth within objects
Atmospheric perspective can also be used to create depth within an object. Again, it is the relationship between the tonal range in the foreground and background that makes it happen.
Trees, for example, generally look more 3-dimensional when the farthest leaves are paler, bluer and have a smaller tonal range. I may use only a pale shade of blue for leaves that are farthest away. I make the leaves appear brighter and greener as I move forward. The green can then be separated to create even more contrast for the closest leaves. Red is added to darken the tone in shadow areas and yellow is added for highlights.
Atmosheric perspective is a fantastic way to give forest scenes more depth. Look how blue and indistinct the trees in the background appear in this painting. It gives the impression of looking deep into the jungle, which indeed we were, at these cascades in Vanuatu.
The great thing about using atmospheric perspective to create depth in your paintings is that you can control the amount of depth you want to show. You can choose how far away an object appears by the amount of difference you apply to tones in the foreground and background.
Paintings with a lot of depth are awe-inspring because it feels like you can walk right into them.
I encourage you to play around with all the techniques I have suggested for creating depth in your paintings. It will give you a feel for just how powerful a visual tool atmospheric perspective can be. If you are new to painting, check out my Free Resources section for helpful tools to get you started.
If you would like clear and detailed painting instruction, check out my online courses at Blue Beach House Art School
A Few Key Points to Remember
- Using atmospheric perspective, in combination with linear perspective, will create the impression of distance so that your paintings appear 3-dimensional.
- Atmospheric perspective means the atmosphere will reduce the tone of objects as they recede into the distance. This, in turn, necessarily means that the tonal range (difference between light and dark) will also be reduced.
- The hue of any object is altered as it recedes into the distance. The colour of the atmosphere in which the object is situated will determine which hue to apply.
- Paintings with depth are more engaging because they feel like you can walk right into them