Saturday, November 27, 2010

Tangencies in Real Life

A tangency happens when two objects in your drawing touch instead of overlapping. This can attract attention where you don't want it and confuse the sense of depth.


Sometimes a real scene is full of tangencies, as it was in this airport sketch. Normally you’d want to change the viewpoint or move elements around. But just for fun, I drew it the way I saw it. It’s so awkward I sort of like it.

Previously on GJ: Tangencies

6 comments:

EZ Goodnight said...

I try and stay aware of this sort of thing. I had a professor that always would gasp in horror when anyone would hand him a drawing with "tangent edges" as he would call them.

Max West said...

I know tangencies all too well in comics - it's a frequent term. I didn't know tagencies also applied to illustration and fine art.

Davinder said...

It also applies to photography and cinematography.

Heidi said...

My undergraduate professors called this a "kiss." It's extremely important to avoid tangencies (I like that word better) in medical art, as the overlapping arrangement of anatomical structures can be unfamiliar and confusing, and when lines meet in uncertain ways, there might be no way for the viewer to work out what the actual layout is!

Marc said...

Like all rules, it is worth mentioning that, in the hands of an expert, tangencies can be used to your advantage as well.

I like how Gary Kelley uses them to play up the contrast of the illusion of 3 dimensions and the graphic flat patterns in his work.

http://www.garykelleyonline.com/pastels/big/10.jpg

Johan said...

Fun! But please show us one without the rings, as the rings sort of fights the puprose of this experiment.