The #1 drawing is illusionary because I think the Artist wanted to challenge our sense of aesthetics. You may think that the knot hole is meant to be the focal point but the right hand branch is what really gets us going. In nature the first branch is usually the heaviest therefore why does it suddenly take an upward sweep with the foliage? The other branches conform to what we expect so why would something like this happen to contradict what our brain would accept as being normal.
The sheer weight of that first branch is counterbalanced by the mass of the trunk on the left which sits well with me. The pot would need to be wider and if we are sticking to the 'rules' the first and second branches are about the same length in this drawing which is usually not what we expect. Really it is all in the eye of the beholder. Great topic Ron.
Regards Ash
