Linear Perspective Lesson Summary - Learn to Dra · Lesson&Summary&...

Lesson Summary

Lesson 11 – Linear Perspective © Sarah Parks – http://drawingsecretsrevealed.com

LESSON 11 -‐ LINEAR PERSPECTIVE Many amateur artists feel they don't need to learn about linear perspective thinking they just want to draw faces, cars, flowers, horses, etc. But in fact, everything we see in life is informed by linear perspective. We understand distances and spaces in our world because of an innate depth perception. So if an artist is to draw or paint realistically, an understanding of the basic tenets of perspective is absolutely crucial.

And it’s possible that as your skills and experience in art grow you may find yourself more intrigued by subjects such as architecture and buildings, cityscapes and landscapes that rely heavily on linear perspective. So I thought I would show you a few examples of an artist who favors such subjects in his art. Dimitri Danish does beautiful paintings of Venice.

Lesson Summary


Lesson Summary


The study of linear perspective explores the phenomenon of how the human eye sees the three-‐dimensional world from a single viewpoint. For artists who are intent on drawing in a realistic manner, it is essential that they study this system of spatial alignment in order to render the illusion of depth onto a two-‐dimensional flat surface like a piece of paper. Take a look around, you will notice the following:

1) Objects which are closer appear larger, while more distant objects appear smaller. In Fig. 11-‐1, the statuary in the foreground appears taller than the house, but you know of course that it is not; it only looks taller because it is closer to you, the viewer.

2) The back legs of the table below appear much shorter and the feet are on a higher plane than the front legs. Many students, when drawing furniture such as this, will draw all the legs the same length because in their minds they know they are the same length. This is another example of artists needing to train themselves to draw what they see, not what they know.

3) The size of an object's dimensions along the line of sight appear relatively shorter than dimensions across the line of sight. To understand the “line of sight,” think of an invisible string straight ahead from your eye to the horizon (the direction you are looking). Everything that is laid along that line, like a finger that is pointing to you or looking down the barrel of a gun, will appear to have shorter dimensions, called foreshortening (see Fig. 11-‐3).

Fig. 11 -‐ 1

Fig. 11 -‐ 2

Fig. 11 -‐ 3

Lesson Summary


4) Objects that are laid across the line of sight (perpendicular to the line of sight) will appear to have longer dimensions than those laid along the line of sight (see the index fingers of Fig 11-‐4).

In Figure 11-‐5, if you measure with a ruler from the top of the figure’s head to his heels, he will measure as a very short man. But he doesn't appear short in this picture because you understand that he is laying down. Your eye automatically grasps the concept of foreshortening.

Understanding perspective aids the artist when attempting to recreate a natural depth and solidity. We live in a three-‐dimensional world and perspective is woven all through our visual field – everywhere we look. Artists must understand how to relay a convincing depth of field in their art so the viewer can understand the picture.

Vanishing Point and Horizon Line

A vanishing point happens when parallel lines appear to converge, always on the horizon line (the horizontal line at a viewer's eye level) (Fig. 11-‐6). Parallel lines converging is often observed in roads, railway tracks, hallways, or some city streets (Fig. 11-‐7).

Figure 10-3

Fig. 11 -‐ 4

Fig. 11 -‐ 5

Fig. 11 -‐ 6 Fig. 11 -‐ 7

Lesson Summary


You can have a low vantage point (the spot from which you observe a scene) where you are standing below a very tall subject looking up (Fig. 11-‐8). This will give you a low horizon line. Remember these two facts: (1) The horizon line of any vantage point will always intersect the vanishing point. (2) The horizon line is always at your eye level.

Or you can have a high vantage point (Fig. 11-‐9) where you are looking down on something. You will then have a high horizon line (because your eye level is high).

I’ll explain more about these low-‐ and high-‐vanishing points later on when we talk about three-‐point perspective in detail.

Types of perspective The three main kinds of perspective are one-‐point, two-‐point, and three-‐point.

One-‐point perspective

Fig. 11-‐10 is a photograph of my hallway at home. This is an example of one-‐point perspective. All the non-‐vertical straight lines in the hallway converge at the same point (the vanishing point, located at the circle) in the middle of the front door right below the transom window. This was my eye level when I took the picture.

The non-‐vertical straight lines are:

§ the crown molding at the top of the pillars on the left and along the ceiling,

Fig. 11 -‐ 8

Fig. 11 -‐ 9

Lesson Summary


§ the shoe molding along the floor, § the top and bottom of the frame of the painting on the right, and § the top of the wainscoting moldings.

Fig. 11 -‐ 10

Fig. 11-‐11 Is an example of how one-‐point perspective is used in art. Architecture students will really benefit from this as well because without proper perspective, their buildings will be all lopsided!

Lesson Summary


Fig. 11 -‐ 11

Two-‐point perspective

Two-‐point perspective has an additional vanishing point as seen in Fig. 11-‐12 and sometimes presents a more interesting drawing or painting than just a view from a one-‐point perspective. VP stands for Vanishing Point. Note: Sometimes the left and right vanishing points are a long way off from the subject you are drawing, depending on the angle.

Fig. 11 -‐ 12 A Fig. 11 -‐ 12 B

Lesson Summary


Fig. 11 -‐ 13

Study both of these diagrams (Figs. 11-‐12A and 11-‐13) and practice drawing them. You will need a ruler and eraser. This will help the concept of perspective become more instinctual when you draw. Fig. 11-‐12A shows two-‐point perspective while Fig. 11-‐13 shows different vantage points from a one-‐point perspective and how they relate to the horizon line (remember, the eye level IS the horizon line).

Fig. 11-‐14 shows a nice drawing by Theodore Kautsky that nicely illustrates two-‐point perspective. If you take a ruler and run it along both the top and bottom of the pier (the red lines), you will see that it converges at a vanishing point just over the second boat to the left. When you do this successfully, you will be able to get your roof line in proper perspective (the blue line).

Fig. 11 -‐ 14

Lesson Summary


When I was painting “Chateau Gates” (Fig. 11-‐15), I had to run a yardstick along both the top and bottom of the walls to get the vanishing point (actually, it took me off the canvas). Then using that vanishing point as an anchor I was able to get the lines of the window panes to the correct perspective, as well as the lines in the stone pillars, the gate, and the rooflines.

Fig. 11 -‐ 15

Fig. 11-‐16 is an example of two-‐point perspective in a slightly different way. The straight lines cross each other instead of moving in opposite directions as in Fig. 11-‐12A. This painting illustrates two-‐point perspective instead of one-‐point perspective because the bridge and the wall are perpendicular instead of parallel; if they were parallel, they would both appear to converge in the distance in an example of one-‐point perspective.

Fig. 11 -‐ 16

Lesson Summary


A composition with two-‐point perspective can have several vanishing points. Boxes thrown on top of one another will each be laying at a different angle, so every box will have its own set of two vanishing points (each circle is one vanishing point). See Fig. 11-‐17. But when you are drawing you don't necessarily have to plot every vanishing point, just draw what you see. However, it is helpful to know this information in case you find your perspective is off so you'll know how to get it on track.

Fig. 11 -‐ 17

Three-‐point perspective

When the view is tilted in an upward position at a low-‐vantage point, like when looking up the side of a tall building at street level (a worm’s view) the parallel lines of the buildings don't seem to be parallel at all but look like they converge far up in the sky. These subjects still have two vanishing points on the horizon (far, far off from the canvas, as in Fig. 11-‐12B), and the third vanishing point is called the Zenith (Fig. 11-‐18).

Fig. 11 -‐ 18

Lesson Summary


If you were to look down from an airplane (a birds-‐eye view), it will seem that the lines of the buildings are again not parallel but converge at another three-‐point perspective vanishing point way down in the ground. This third vanishing point is called the Nadir (Fig. 11-‐19).

This etching, c. 1520 (Fig. 11-‐20), shows Albrecht Durer attempting to understand perspective by drawing on a piece of glass, a two-‐dimensional picture surface we now call a picture plane. Pictorial space is where space appears to recede backward into depth from the picture plane.

Fig. 11 -‐ 19

Fig. 11 -‐ 20

Lesson Summary


Zero-‐point and atmospheric perspective

There is also zero-‐point perspective, where the absence of parallel lines means that the picture has no vanishing points. Examples of this is would be a landscape scene such as Edgar Payne's mountain range (Fig. 11-‐21) or Norway painter Odd Dubland's sea view (Fig. 11-‐22), neither of which have parallel lines.

Fig. 11 -‐ 21 Fig. 11 -‐ 22

However, zero-‐point perspective can still have a sense of depth. Artists can convey that depth through the use of atmospheric perspective – where dust and water vapor hanging in the atmosphere partly blur and soften our view of distant objects. The farther out to sea, boats will be smaller in scale. Sometimes those objects are drawn lighter with edges slightly blurred. Objects close to the viewer are drawn darker with more defined edges. See Fig. 11-‐23 and 11-‐24 for examples.

Fig. 11 -‐ 23 Fig. 11 -‐ 24

Lesson Summary


Look around your home at things like tables, chairs, etc., and observe where their vanishing points would be. If you are looking at your kitchen table and the surface is almost at your eye level and looks flat from your perspective (not forming a sharp angle), as in Fig. 11-‐25, its vanishing points will be farther away so you may need a yard stick to estimate them. If you are standing looking down at an angle, as in Fig. 11-‐26, the vanishing points will be closer in.

Fig. 11 -‐ 25 Fig. 11 -‐ 26

The topic of linear perspective covers quite a bit of information. But before this course ends, I'd like to show you another piece of the linear perspective puzzle. Below are a few examples of artwork by Dimitri Danish and Joseph Zbukvic that accurately place people, animals, and other objects in the proper perspective as they begin to recede into the background. There is an actual technique for this that I will show you.

Joseph Zbukvic

Lesson Summary


Joseph Zbukvic Dimitri Danish

How to draw figures as they recede in the distance

Here is a step-‐by-‐step process I used to accurately render proportion in relation to the horizon. In this case, I used a figure (see Fig. 11-‐27), but you can use this process to plot trees, animals, buildings, or other subjects, as long as they are similarly sized.

Fig. 11 -‐ 27

Lesson Summary


1) I selected the placement for the horizon line which is at eye level. (Fig. 11-‐28)

Fig. 11 -‐ 18

2) I established the height of the first figure (it can be any height). I labeled this line AB. (Fig. 11-‐29)

Fig. 11 -‐ 29

3) I set a point for the feet of the second figure (I could have placed it anywhere). This point is C. (Fig. 11-‐30)

Fig. 11 -‐ 30

4) I drew a line from B through C to the horizon. This orthogonal (perspective line) establishes my vanishing point. (Fig. 11-‐31)

Fig. 11 -‐ 31

Lesson Summary


5) Then I drew another orthogonal (or perspective line) from the vanishing point back up to A at the top of the first figure. (Fig. 11-‐32)

Fig. 11 -‐ 32

6) I drew a vertical line up from C and stopped at the top orthogonal. I named that upper point D. The CD line, which is also perpendicular to the horizon line, will be the second figure. (Fig. 11-‐33)

Fig. 11 -‐ 33

7) I divided this triangular space into sections. Dividing it into fourths is a good idea to separate the figure at the chest, the groin, and the knee. (From this vantage point, the horizon line will serve for the knee.) (Fig. 11-‐34)

Fig. 11 -‐ 34

8) I built the figures. (Fig. 11-‐35)

Fig. 11 -‐ 35

Lesson Summary


9) I decided to draw more figures in this composition, so I made another point (E) and drew a line from E through C to the horizon. (Fig. 11-‐36)

Fig. 11 -‐ 36

10) I divided this new triangular space as I did before. (Fig. 11-‐37)

Fig. 11 – 37

11) I completed the third figure (Fig. 11-‐38). A general rule is that the horizon line intersects ALL similarly sized figures (for instance, all adult humans, not dogs or trees or children, etc.) on a level plane at the same point. This picture shows the horizon line intersecting all the figures at the knees. If your vantage point is higher, the horizon line would intersect higher, say at the shoulders of all the figures.

Fig. 11 -‐ 38

Lesson Summary


Orthogonal lines

Now I want to explain in more detail how you can relate objects that are the SAME size and objects that are DIFFERENT sizes on the same plane. In Fig. 11-‐39, you’ll notice all the bottles are 8” high in reality but visually they get smaller the farther back they are placed. Because all the bottles are the same height, they all share the same upper and lower orthogonals.

Fig. 11 -‐ 39

Lesson Summary


In Fig. 11-‐40, the horizon line is unchanged, but the gray bottles are all 6” high, so even though they are placed on the same lower orthogonal as the 8” bottles, the upper orthogonal is quite different.

Fig. 11 -‐ 40 In Fig. 11-‐41, I’ve combined the 8” and 6” bottles to show you that in order to combine objects of different actual sizes so that the visual sizes make sense, you have to establish the upper orthogonal for each different actual size.

Fig. 11 -‐ 41

Lesson Summary


Notice in Fig. 11-‐42 that the child lines up with the line of the feet, not the horizon line. The third figure farthest back is an adult, not a child because it shares the adult’s head line.

Fig. 11 -‐ 42

When drawing the human figure to the horizon line (and thus, the vanishing point), keep in mind that the outside shoulder is higher than the inside shoulder and the outside elbow is higher than the inside elbow because those body parts are ABOVE the horizon line. The outside knee, however, is lower than the inside knee and the outside foot is lower than the inside foot because those body parts are BELOW the horizon line. The horizon line determines which direction these perspective lines go. (See Fig. 11-‐43.)

Fig. 11 -‐ 43

Lesson Summary


Practice Before Next Lesson

• You can test one-‐point perspective for yourself in your hallway at home (or you can simply print out one or more of the hallways in the document, “Hallways for Perspective”). Use a ruler as I demonstrated earlier to you’re your various orthogonals to identify your vanishing point. Remember, all these hallways are one-‐point perspective with a single vantage point, which means you’ll only have one vanishing point. The horizon line will be lower if the photographer was squatting; the horizon line will be higher if he or she was standing. Either way the vanishing point will be on your horizon line (or your eye level).

• Try tracing or sketching both Fig. 11-‐44 and Fig. 11-‐45 in the document, “One-‐ and Two-‐Point Perspective Diagrams,” to get familiar with one-‐point perspective with different vantage points as well as two-‐point perspective.

Fig. 11 -‐ 44 Fig. 11 -‐ 45

• Print out “Kautsky's Pier Photo” (Fig. 11-‐46) from below this lesson’s video. Use your ruler and draw the orthogonals of the top and bottom of the pier so you will get a vanishing point close to the one I showed you earlier. You will then want to anchor this point to get the roofline of the shack correct as well as the reflection of the pier in the water. Fig. 11 -‐ 46

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