PERSPECTIVE

    MATERIALS NEEDED
  • drawing pencil
  • thin black marking pen
  • Eraser
  • Paper
  • ruler

    A lesson in creating visual depth.
    OBJECTIVES ·
    Use lines which converge to a vanishing point to create one point perspective and a sense of depth in your drawings. ·

    BACKGROUND INFORMATION
      What we see depends on the interaction between our eyes and our brain. How we interpret what we see tells us how close and how far away from us objects are located. Objects that are farther away appear to be smaller. Try testing this theory when you are in a room with a group of people. Put your hard between you and the face of someone within a foot or so from you. Can you cover up their entire face? Now put your thumb up between you and someone on the opposite site of the room. Can you cover up the face with just your thumb? You know that their faces are approximately the same size, but the person farther away appears to be much smaller.

      The technique of perspective began with Renaissance artists. Creating realistic images became the vogue. Artists such as da Vinci experimented with devices to enable painters to do this accurately. Today, cartoonists use perspective techniques to create an illusion of a 3rd dimension on flat paper. It is very easy to do once you understand the basic principles behind it. You will begin by creating a few rectangular boxes which will seem to float in space above and below a horizon line.


    DIRECTIONS

    STEP 1
    Find the center of your paper by folding it in half both ways. Place a small dot at this point.

    STEP 2
    Draw a straight line across the horizontal center line. This will be the "horizon" line.

    STEP 3
    Draw two rectangles or squares of any size below the horizon line. Then draw one or two rectangles or squares of any size above the horizon line.

    • STEP 4
    Use your ruler. From the three corners of these rectangles which are nearest the center point draw straight lines to the center point.

    STEP 5
    You have now drawn triangular shapes from the rectangle to the center point. Now, draw lines parallel to the edges of the rectangle in this triangular shape - See Illustration #2 - Erase the lines that connect to the dot and do not form part of the 3-D box. Repeat this with all shapes drawn.

    STEP 6
    If you add color to the surfaces of these shapes it will emphasize the 3-D illusion that you have created.

    RESOURCES

    Look for examples by artist such as Edvard Munch to see how other artists use perspective to create an illusion of depth in drawing and painting.

  • Look for the image entitled The Scream. Notice how the artist has used perspective. All the lines on the bridge are converging to the horizon line.


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