https://www.rovingfestival.com/images/wordoftheday/art/25.jpg 

# Term: Picture plane

### Definition: A term applied to the
 visual elements of a painting that are in the viewer???s most direct line of sight, usually the foreground.  The word ???plane??? is used because the subject is often compared to a window separating viewers from the images.  Shapes in a painting intended to appear in three-dimensional space are said to be behind the picture plane, and those in the foreground are in front of the picture plane.   Working in relation to the picture plane, the artist achieves perspective by arranging objects behind the picture plane in smaller sizes to create a sense of distance and larger to suggest foreground.   In much modernist or abstract art, traditional rules of working with the picture plane are violated, and often there are visual distortions such as looming, out-of-scale objects in the foreground.  The concept, which relates to an imaginary surface of a painting, originated during the Renaissance and led to much exploration of techniques to achieve perspective.  Sources: Ralph Mayer, ???A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques???;  Robert Atkins, ???Art Speak???.<br><br> The flat surface on which an image is painted, and that part of the image which is closest to the viewer. (In modern and contemporary art, the picture plane is synonymous with pictorial surface, meaning that the entire image is located on the picture plane, as contrasted with art from the Renaissance until the mid-19th century, where the picture surface was considered as a window into which the viewer looked into the illusion of distance.)<br><br>In perspective, the plane (a flat level) occupied by the surface of the picture ? its frontal boundary. When there is any illusion of depth in the picture, the picture plane is similar to a plate of glass behind which pictorial elements are arranged in depth. Artists indicate the supposed distance of subjects beyond the picture plane through the use of changes in the sizes of things, the ways they overlap each other, and (when subjects are placed on the depicted ground, as opposed to flying above it) by positioning them on the area taken up by the depicted floor, ground, or a body of water. Abstract Expressionists worked directly on the plane itself, unconcerned with recession in depth.
                

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# Art Word of the Day
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Every day I make an attempt to add a little bit more art knowledge to the Internet, one word at a time. Realizing there aren’t many *comprehensive* and *complete* online art dictionaries, I set out on a mission to compile [my own](https://artterms.artopium.com).

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# Help Support Artopium & ArtoLabs

I'm asking all my friends and supporters to consider downloading the new Brave Browser as way of helping me to raise capital for Artopium & ArtoLabs. This costs you absolutely nothing, but I get a referral reward if you use Brave. I wrote this very comprehensive article about this here:

### https://steemit.com/brave/@artopium/support-artopium-using-brave-browser
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<h1>Contact Me</h1>
<h3>I'm &quot;Mike-A&quot; on the <a href="https://discord.gg/97GKVFC">Artopium Discord server</a>.</h3>
<h3>Or visit my website <a href="https://mike.artopium.com">mike.artopium.com</a></h3><br><br><br><br><br>

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### Some helpful articles I've written here on Steemit

### [How To Sell Your Artistic and Musical Works For Cryptocurrencies! ~ A Step by Step Guide](https://steemit.com/howto/@artopium/how-to-sell-your-artistic-and-musical-works-for-cryptocurrencies-a-step-by-step-guide)

### [How To Steemit 101 ~ An Artist’s Guide ~ (OR How To Sell Your Art & Music For Crypto Part II)](https://steemit.com/steemit/@artopium/how-to-steemit-101-an-artist-s-guide-or-how-to-sell-your-art-and-music-for-crypto-part-ii)

### [I Admit: I Use The Upvote Bots (And Here’s Why)](https://steemit.com/steem/@artopium/i-admit-i-use-the-upvote-bots-and-here-s-why)

### [How To Protect Your Work And Make More Money Selling Art, Music, Fashion, Video & Books!!](https://steemit.com/howto/@artopium/how-to-protect-your-work-and-make-more-money-selling-art-music-fashion-video-and-books)

### [An Artists Guide To Making The Most Of Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemit/@artopium/an-artists-guide-to-making-the-most-of-steemit)

### [Learn How To Lawfully Sell Your Art & Music On The Sidewalk (Without A Permit)](https://steemit.com/how-to/@artopium/learn-how-to-lawfully-sell-your-art-and-music-on-the-sidewalk-without-a-permit)

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