Creating Depth in Paintings

A few days ago I posted about William Holman Hunt's work and his use of color.

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection, 1868

Compare Hunt's work to the piece below, A Fair Reflection, by John William Godward.  Both have similar subjects, in similar settings, in similar poses and lighting conditions, with a similar use of extravagant color.

A Fair Reflection, John William Godward, 1915

I like Godward's piece much better and I think this has to do with his control of edges.  I did a post about kinds of edges here.  I have not had the pleasure to see it in person, but I suspect Godward made better use of the contrast between hard and soft edges.  The details of that get a little lost in a smaller reproduction, but they still come through in a heightened illusion of space and atmosphere when you shrink the painting down.  Notice how flat Hunt's painting appears compared to Godward's.  Godward also uses the cool trick of her foreshortened right elbow and a more zoomed in view to increase the amount of depth in the painting.  Cover her right arm and see how much shallower the painting appears.  Hunt had the same opportunity with Isabella's knee, but doesn't quite master it.

Check this out:

A Fair Reflection, John William Godward, 1915

By converting both images to black and white we can more clearly see the device that Godward used.  Notice how he clearly defined the two planes of her upper and lower arm with a strong change in value (and therefore direction) at the bend of her elbow.  Changes in direction of planes = changes of value.  Notice the alternating value arrangement on her left arm as it changes direction.  Also notice how her right arm is darker than the background, except for that very well placed darker accent in the marble behind her forearm.

Now, compare this with Hunt's piece again in black and white:

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection, 1868

See how Hunt misses the opportunity on Isabella's left leg to use the same device as Godward?  He uses a light spot on her knee, but the upper plane of her thigh and the lower plane of her shin are on average the same value.  The value next to her left leg is universally dark.  This all serves to make the depth of field surrounding her leg much shallower than that surrounding Godward's subject's right arm.

William Holman Hunt: Painter, Painting, Paint

131 Color Paintings of John William Godward