tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post3169924068226489824..comments2024-03-18T07:23:32.809-04:00Comments on Gurney Journey: What Are You Looking At?James Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-90289203646593747562009-02-27T01:07:00.000-05:002009-02-27T01:07:00.000-05:00Jim, I just have to say that I really enjoy readin...Jim, I just have to say that I really enjoy reading your blog. This one had an extra degree of interest because I'm reading quotes that I wrote to you in email, but also because one of the ways I got into eyetracking was due to my own thoughts as a youth regarding composition (mostly for me with photography) and how it effects what people decide to see. Thanks for writing.... it's refreshing.<BR/>--Greg Edwards, CEO, EyetoolsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14757915758061180297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-41193646575110616662009-02-25T17:25:00.000-05:002009-02-25T17:25:00.000-05:00Great Post,I look forward to reading about the oth...Great Post,<BR/><BR/>I look forward to reading about the other questions generated here. Certainly as an Illustrator, my goal is to communicate, to tell the story through every available means. Often times we're taught these lessons of value, eye flow, and color, and if this way of tracking vision helps us to understand what works and what doesn't, well, I am all for it. It seems to me only to aid and strengthen that initial intuitive notion of the heart.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17595177219042221686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-47395308473320192572009-02-20T08:20:00.000-05:002009-02-20T08:20:00.000-05:00Great post! I wonder, if we really do not understa...Great post! I wonder, if we really do not understand how composition affects how someone looks at a painting, and many of the rules we follow are simply malarkey, then why do our most famous painters and illustrators showcase such meticulous compositions?<BR/><BR/>It just seems odd to me, that we very well may be spending all this time trying to control the viewer in vain. Maybe the effect of a good composition is unrelated to how we view it, but powerful nonetheless.<BR/><BR/>Maybe well never know!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12506134594638782749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-23962598255689553982009-02-20T07:35:00.000-05:002009-02-20T07:35:00.000-05:00Erik, the point I meant to make from all this is t...Erik, the point I meant to make from all this is that a lot of the rules we learned in art school about composition are mumbo-jumbo, and we don't really understand very well how we look at pictures. So it is still a mystery.<BR/><BR/>I agree that intuition should be at the helm during the painting process, but intuition is only rational understanding made automatic.James Gurneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-35427288495938561892009-02-20T05:16:00.000-05:002009-02-20T05:16:00.000-05:00As I was scanning this post, I pretended to be rea...As I was scanning this post, I pretended to be reading the text and critically reflecting on the discussed concepts while at the same time pretending to be evaluating the esthetical and graphical aspects of the type font.<BR/>But in reality I was just looking at the girl.<BR/><BR/>Being silly, yes. But then again...<BR/>I think 've artiztz' should try to avoid to 'control' the viewer too much.<BR/>As a counterweight for this post :<BR/>let's just all paint from the heart, the belly and other organs rather than from the mind.<BR/>I'm sure the message to the viewer will be equally clear. I dare say, clearer.<BR/><BR/>(p.s. One of the reasons I love this blog is exactly because it gives so much rational info on artistic subjects, and because it indeed gives me a feeling I will have more 'control' over the viewers response. But sometimes this feels like clinging on to something (rationally) as opposed to 'just relax and we'll see')Erik Bongershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409523352634066030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-18765806736226541412009-02-19T16:36:00.000-05:002009-02-19T16:36:00.000-05:00Do those studies take peripheral vision into accou...Do those studies take peripheral vision into account? I've noticed that when I look at something, my gaze will fix on a certain point while I consider the area around it for several seconds at a time. Maybe I'm looking at a torso and tracking the overall shape of it, but it sure looks like I'm staring at its navel for no reason. This is also how I speed-read: by using peripheral vision to take in more than one line at a time, I don't have to whip my eyes back and forth trying to get to the bottom of the page.<BR/><BR/>Peripheral vision: saving you from visual whiplash!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03161111042441257413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-28513041836267334692009-02-19T14:51:00.000-05:002009-02-19T14:51:00.000-05:00Tom and Sour: You both said it! Those questions ha...Tom and Sour: You both said it! Those questions have been nagging me, too. I've wondered too if the assumptions of compositional theory really hold water. Does the eye enter the picture through the foreground, or follow lines of action, or go to areas of maximum contrast? Does the composition really control the eye? Do we tend to read pictures from left to right in a graphic setting like comics or book illustration, or not at all? I'll let you know if I find out!James Gurneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-74030294638142952142009-02-19T13:47:00.000-05:002009-02-19T13:47:00.000-05:00I would like to see how this translates into how a...I would like to see how this translates into how a persons eye moves through a painting and how much an artist can truly control that path with how the composition is set up.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16445626702211823317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-56968177611564092722009-02-19T13:16:00.000-05:002009-02-19T13:16:00.000-05:00Very interesting stuff.Related to this: I've ofen ...Very interesting stuff.<BR/><BR/>Related to this: I've ofen wondered about the truthfulness of the oft cited generality that Americans and (most) Europeans tend to "read" a picture from left to right, as they'd read text, while Asians (and presumably other right-to-left readers do the opposite). I've always been very skeptical of this concept since vision obviously redated reading.TomHarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18120654347448953846noreply@blogger.com