something as simple as a variety of colors took hundreds of years of technological advancement
If anyone is looking for a rabbit hole to go down, the history of pigments is a great one.
Comment on Why did it take so damn long for humanity to "learn" how to draw/paint realistic images?
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
THE PROPER TOOLS.
YOU try scrawling on a cave wall with nothing but the charcoaled end of a stick you pulled out of a fire and see how good you can draw with that kind of media and tools.
As technology progressed, so did the tools used.
Michaelangelo was using a fresco technique painting onto still wet plaster and used egg whites or glue made from animals to help the paint stick. He used a variety of brushes, not just a charcoal stick.
Further, just something as simple as a variety of colors took hundreds of years of technological advancement to achieve.
Don’t underestimate the need for quality tools!
kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Exactly. Taking in the expansive view before you is nice, but the giants we stand upon, stable societies and technological advancements, are worth a glance or two.
scarabic@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It’s true. Though not a complete answer, because realism lagged behind the tools needed for it. And it’s interesting how once one person can do it, suddenly everyone can do it. That says something shit is as a species. We can only do what we’re able to imagine? And as soon as we see someone do it, that barrier is gone?
Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Also the time needed to perfect that skill wouldn’t have been available that far back. If you’re needing to spend the bulk of your time hunting/gathering food and other forms of basic survival I don’t think you’d have the hours every evening to work on your shading techniques.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
Excellent point, as others have astutely pointed out, a love of the arts is often cultural, and most artists need essentially a set of people who love their art and buy it or they will be a “starving artist.” So you also need a society that appreciates art enough to let certain people have all that time.