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The gradient is a fancy word for derivative, or the rate of change of a function. Itâs a vector (a direction to move) that. 1  Points in the direction of greatest increase of a function (intuition on why)  Is zero at a local maximum or local minimum (because there is no single direction of increase)
This is another monocular depth cue used by painters to suggest that some objects are farther away than others, and it's called the texture gradient. You can see this really clearly in images like a field of grass, where the blades nearest to the viewer are distinct but fade to a wash of green in the distance.