Tutorial 117 - Figure Ground (Patreon)

The figure / ground principle describes how we tend to separate elements (figures) from their environment (ground). It's impossible to have a figure element change its outline (silhouette) without also changing the shape of the ground. 

Figure and ground can be illustrated simply as a dot on a page, the dot is overlapping the ground, the figure is specified. But it's also possible to create a figure ground relationship that confuses the eye by switching or fluctuating the overlapping element from figure to ground and back again, as illustrated here. 

Some artists use this effect in art to explore paradox and the surreal, like Dali and Escher.