Square A and Square B are the Same Paint Color

The square marked "A" is painted with the same gray paint as the square marked "B."

On the YouTube video below, I show you how to paint this optical illusion 

The demonstration shows how our visual systems unconsciously and automatically interpret the raw data that our eyes receive. 

We can't interpret raw information. Instead, our estimation of tones and colors are relative, based on context cues. 

 

Looking at an illusion is one thing, but painting one is another. As Charley Parker said in his review of my new Gradients video: "The concepts behind making gradations of color in visual art can seem as though they should be simple, until you find yourself trying to paint something like different bands of color on a coffee mug as they round the form into shadow, and you suddenly realize you’re in uncharted territory."

You can watch this study being painted in the new Gradients video. You can download or stream the entire Gradients video at Gumroad. It's also available as a DVD.