Drawing portraits and still lifes from 2D and 3D sources.

Abstract

Drawing is hard, and portraits especially so. To characterize what is hard or easy about it, 258 charcoal drawings, completed in real-world conditions from photographs (two-dimensional, 2D) and from direct observation of the same subjects (three-dimensional, 3D), were assessed both subjectively and objectively. There was no difference between drawings made from 2D and 3D in their subjectively rated accuracy or quality, or their objectively measured geometric accuracy. However, the semantic contentportraits versus still lifes-had a significant impact: By most objective measures, portraits were more accurately drawn than still lifes but viewers rated them as less accurate and of lower quality.

Visuospatial components of drawing skill correlate with mental transformation performance.

“…Some individuals may be particularly adept at drawing from photographs but may use different approaches when drawing from real life. However, other studies have shown that when participants are asked to draw from photos and real life, they do not show significant differences in their drawing quality (L. Carson et al, 2021).…”

“…Some individuals may be particularly adept at drawing from photographs but may use different approaches when drawing from real life. However, other studies have shown that when participants are asked to draw from photos and real life, they do not show significant differences in their drawing quality (L. Carson et al, 2021). Thus, the use of a photograph for the drawing task may not necessarily interfere with assessing the relationship between visuospatial reasoning and drawing skills.…”