CNN of all places has a nice article on art and neuroscience today.
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Here's one quote i thought was interesting:
Patrik Vuilleumier at the University of Geneva and colleagues figured out that the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotions and the "flight or fight response," responds more to blurry photos of faces depicting fear than unaltered or sharply detailed images. At the same time, the part of our brain that recognizes faces is less engaged when the face is blurry.
Cavanagh explains that this may mean we are more emotionally engaged when the detail-oriented part of our visual system is distracted, such as in Impressionist works where faces are unrealistically colorful or patchy.
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I find that sort of subject incredibly interesting!
I used to use an airbrush quite a bit yrs ago, carefully re-constructing reflections in objects such as the glass in car windscreens and even headlights, it was so painstaking and ridiculous, but when finished and you stand back a bit, it all comes together. Closer inspection sometimes would seem plausible, sometimes not, cheating and putting any old thing in there was more risky than seeing it all through properly. This may lead one to believe that the human brain does indeed "see it all" in an instant, and that it is photographic in nature, and yet, in dreams I feel sure the brain is more concerned with basic concepts such as "where has mom gone" And where does stuff go when you'r not looking???
I never knew the Velazquez painting was wrong! It's so obvious now!
I saw a very interesting tv piece about Picasso's version of Velazquez's Las Meninas, I don't really recall the details, but its maybe another one to look out for.
I myself produced a blurry version using some presets of the "Dancing Girl" movie the other day, I thought I should over-draw some edge sketches to provide more clarity, but I did find the result less emotive, perhaps this proves the theory quite well
Working with actual light on stages I am often amazed at what constitutes natural for people. Despite decades of life on this planet most people tend to assume, without ever really looking, that sunlight is yellow (or some "warm" color). In art accurate sunlight often feels cold and cruel in a way that out in the world would feel warm and inviting. But then it is the artifice that makes it art.