Chapter 3. Symmetry and Gestalt
Old Man in the Lehnstuhl and Portrait of Saskia (Saskia as a young woman), Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt, 17th century, close-up views, oil on wood. These two paintings illustrate symmetry in the human face. Seen from straight on, our faces are symmetrical compositions – eyes evenly balanced, nose and mouth evenly centered in the middle. Seen in profile, the human face is asymmetrical – the sharp contour of nose, mouth, and chin contrast the smooth, hairy back of the head.
Symmetrical shapes are identical when flipped across a line of reflection. For example, the human face has intuitive symmetry across a meridian that ...
Get Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
