Photos and figurative work as mere marks on paper

mere marks on paper.. A figurative painter or photographer (and viewers of their work) may mistakenly think when work is viewed that they perceive 'a real tree, a real person, a real flower, a real house, etc'. But what the viewer is presented with and what the artist produces are 'marks on paper'.\ An artist in the 'contemporary period' (that is, Post- WWII, Pre-WWII are usually referred to as the 'modern' period) however, is aware of the fact s/he produces 'mere marks on paper' (or whatever support s/he employs). What is perceived (and interpreted) 'as if' it is a 'real', more or less, three dimensional rose, face, figure, mountain, house, etc are really nothing more than 'marks on paper' 'resembling' and giving the illusion (in the mind of the viewer) of a 'concrete, three dimensional object'. Compare these two works as examples of mere marks on paper - the one is mine, the other, dating roughly 1889 of Whistler, British 'landscape' painter.