MathematicsandArtaretwoconceptsthathaveheldalonghistoricrelationshipwithone another.Ancientartistsbelievedthatmathematicsweretheoverencompassingaspectofthephysical worldandwereconvincedthatartcouldbeexplainedinthesameterms.Asaperson,whointendsto pursueacareerinillustrationandhaspracticeditfortenyears,Irealizethatmathematicsplaysakey roleinmypotentialprofession.Themostimportantaspectsinanartprofessioninvolvesymmetry, proportion,mathematics,andthegoldenratiotodrawthemostaccurate,realisticportraitsofamodels face.ThetheoryofthegoldenratioconsistsoftheculminationofDr.StephenMarquardtsfacialmask andLeonardoDaVincisruleofthirds.Marquardtsfacialmaskpresentsitselfasageometricbeauty masktocreatetheperfectfaceintermsofthegoldenratioandphi:1.618.Humanbeautyorthebeauty maskisdefinedbyphi.Thebasisofthebeautymaskiscreatedwithapentagonanddecagonaseach aspecthasameasurementof1.618.FortheperfectfaceDaVincisruleofthirdsisnotedasaguideline forthecreationofproportionatedesigns,paintings,andphotographsthroughtheuseoftwoequal verticalaswellashorizontallines.Examplesofthegoldenratio(left)andtheruleofthirdsforfacial proportions(right)arepresentedbelow:
Asaselftaughtandseeminglytalentedartist,Ineverusedthetraditionalmethodsorgolden ratiotechniqueoldartistsusedtocreateaccurateportraiture.ForthepastdecadeIhaveusedan adaptationsimilartotheruleofthirdsasmymethodofchoice.Assuch,Iwantedtoproposean experimenttotestifmymethodsorifthetextbookmethodssuchasthegoldenratioaremorebeneficial formeasafutureillustrator.Whichmethodisbetter?Whatflawsdoeachofthesemethodspossess? Totestthishypothesis,Iwantedtocreatetwocontrastingportraitsandsurveyarandomselectionof people,aspossiblecustomers,tochoosewhichtheyprefer.OneportraitpresentsthemethodsIuse andtheotherrepresentsthetechnicalmethodsfromthegoldenratio. Ichosetopresentthissurveytoatotalof35peopleonalocalandseeminglynationallevel.I presentedthesetwoexamplestopeopleinpersonandonline.Accordingtomyresults,thirteen participantsor37%ofthepeopleinthesurveypreferredmymethodandstyleoftheface.They believedthattheinequalitiesinmyportraithadadifferentstyle,andaddedanoveralluniquequalityto thepiece.However,43%orfifteenothervolunteersbelievedotherwise,andultimatelychosethegolden ratio.Theycametotheconclusionthatthegoldenratioportraithadmoreequaldimensionsand appearedmorerealistic.Thiscanbetracedbacktothenotionthatsocietyseeksperfectioninevery aspectofrealityespeciallythefacesweseeintheworld.Finally,therewereanumberofpeople,seven, whothoughtthatbotharegoodexamplesoftheperfectface.Itseemsthatonly20%outofthe35 participantsfoundahappymedianbetweenthetwoexamples.Anillustrationforthesurveyispresented below: Thebluesectionisrepresentativeofthebeautymask,thered sectionpresentstheruleofthirds,andthegreensection representsthepeoplewhochosebothmethods.