Roman Art and it's Achievement of Illusionism

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Illusionism is when an artist creates an appearance of reality by using certain artistic techniques, such as perspective and shadowing. It can give a sense of depth or motion, and it brings the painting or artwork to life. In the Young Woman Writing, there is a young woman holding a book with a stylus gracefully placed at her lips. The shawl that is draped over her shoulders shows signs of shadowing, in the sense that it is slightly darker on the left side, indicating a light source coming from the upper right corner. This makes her appear three dimensional, therefore more realistic. Also, the fact that the stylus is positioned at her mouth has an important effect on the illusion in this painting. It makes her appear as though she has stopped writing to think about what she’s going to write next. There is also a hint of highlighting on the actual stylus, which makes it seem round. The book in her hand has some modeling to it. For example, the top of the book has highlights, due to the light source directly above it. The sides of the book, however, have shadows, because they are not in the direct light. This gives it a three dimensional appearance, and it makes the book appear to be popping out of the picture towards us. There is also some evidence of foreshortening, which is a way of showing perspective by making an object appear to recede or protrude towards or away from the viewer, in the way she is positioned. Her left shoulder is turned slightly towards us, making it appear as though she is leaning vaguely towards us. The hand that is holding the stylus is slightly larger than what it should be, which gives it perspective and makes it appear to be closer to us than the rest of her body

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