PERSPECTIVE

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR

ARTISTS IN EVERY MEDIUM

I.'-'TC
THE ART OF PERSPECTIVE
s=5s:r""

?nSuS^ (S=rdina’S"bv Jennifer V^gre

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHAT IS PERSPECTIVE? 9
PART 2
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE:
A Few Simple Rules
Open Lots Doors 76

It a!! starts with a box. 78

6 I Two-Point Perspective

7 I Three-Point Perspective and Beyond

Vanishing points all over the place. 128

Where cirdes become eiiipses. 146

WHAT IS PERSPECTIVE’
I"
 PART^

NATURAL
PERSPECTIVE Draw and Paint
What You See
 CHAPTER ONE

ATMOSPHERIC
PERSPECTIVE
DISTANT HILLS
DISTANT BUILDINGS
STAGING: RECEDING WOODS
USING COMPLEMENTARY COLORS
ADVANCING AND RECEDING COLORS
ABOUT THOSE RULES

WARMANbCMOL
 CHAPTER TWO

DETAIL
AND EDGES
WHERE’S YOUR EOCUS?
CHOOSE THE MEDIUM TO SUIT YOUR GOAL
CAPTURING DETAIL WITH PENCIL
 r/ _ \' i a.

1
EVEN STILL LILES NEED DEPTH
TRY THIS
 CHAPTER THREE

SIZE, SPACING
AND OVERLAP
HOW WE SEE SIZE AND SPACING
MAKE SIZE AND SPACING WORK EORYOU
HOWTO MEASURE
OTHER MEASURING TECHNIQUES
SIZING THINGS UP
EXAMPLES OE DIMINISHING SIZE AND SPACING
HOW OVERLAP WORKS
TRY THIS
THE IMPORTANCE OE SCALE
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN
OVERLAPPING OBJECTS
 CHAPTER FOUR

VALUES AND
SHADOWS
KINDS OF SHADOWS
SHADING
CAST SHADOWS
AIMING YOUR SHADOWS
MODELS HELP MAKE CONVINCING SHADOWS
TRY THIS
VALUE CHANGES ADD DEPTH
REFLECTED LIGHT AND COLOR
WHAT AFFECTS A CAST SHADOW?
 LINEAR
PERSPECTIVE A Few Simple Rules
Open Lots of Doors
 CHAPTER FIVE

ONE-POINT
PERSPECTIVE
WHAT IS ONE-POINT LINEAR PERSPECTIVE?
EYE LEVEL
WHY EYE LEVEL IS IMPORTANT
USING BOXES TO DRAW OBJECTS
IN PERSPECTIVE
VANISHING POINTS
BOXES FROM ALL ANGLES
AN EXAMPLE OE ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE
RENAISSANCE EXAMPLES OE
ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE
NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE
 CHAPTER SIX

TWO-POINT
PERSPECTIVE
LOCATING VANISHING POINTS

Vanishing Points Can Be Off the Page

EYE EEVEL AND VANISHING POINTS
HOW TO GET THE ANGLES RIGHT
MORE ABOUT VANISHING POINTS
HINTFOUSTE^
The tap edges of doors and windows in many buildings
PERSPECTIVE CENTER
LET’S BUILD A HOUSE
BUILD A HOUSE
SEEING THE HIDDEN EDGES
DRAWING THROUGH
TIME OUT!
THE RIGHT SLANT
TRY THIS
In class I sometimes use a visual aid suggested to me by an artist riend, Kay Poole.
Draw a networK or recedina lines on a larae s/ieer or cardboara ana cover it wrtn
acetate. Using a grease pencil, draw a basic building in two-point perspective and
add windows and doors, using the lines under the acetate as guides. You can erase
the grease pencil and try as many combinations of windows, doors and other
objects as you like. You can easily make this grid for your own practice—or you
can draw right here in the book It's a good way to learn how the objects you draw
should diminish in size and spacing as Uiey recede and to notice the shapes of
objects in perspective.
DISTORTION
FINDING BOXES WITHIN OBJECTS

C- c
USING DIAGONALS TO DIVIDE SPACE
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE OVER SHORT DISTANCES
 i
I

Z SCALING: Di^wing objects h

THREE-POINT
PERSPECTIVE
AND BEYOND
A WARPED WORLD
SKYSCRAPERS
VANISHING POINTS AND EYE LEVEL
THREE VANISHING POINTS: HOW THEY WORK

gested in the predous chapter (^ge 116), you might l

POINT OF VIEW
INCLINES
PAINTING SLANTED ROOFS
ROOFS: A CLOSER LOOK
STAIRS
ROADS AND PATHS
 CHAPTER ElIGHT

CURVES IN
PERSPECTIVE
THE SIMPLEST CURVE; A CIRCLE
ANATOMY OF AN ELLIPSE

TIKFORbRAWING
RELATING ELLIPSES TO EYE LEVEL
ELLIPSES: PAT OR THIN’
CYLINDERS
FINDING CYLINDERS AROUND US
FORESHORTENING
DRAWING CURVED OBJECTS
PUTTING CURVES IN BOXES
WHAT ARE REFLECTIONS?
DIFFERENT POSITIONS, DIFFERENT
REFLECTIONS
 HOW REFLECTIONS BEHAVE

TRY THIS
TRY THIS

MORFLFANINC,
HARD AND SOFT REFLECTIONS
WHY REFLECTIONS GET LONG
REFLECTIONS IN CURVED SURFACES
REFRACTION
Hni'.Tiiim'
 LINEAR
PERSPECTIVE
Special Problems
DORMERS

TAKEITEASY
TILE FLOORS
TILE FLOORS AT AN ANGLE

Eye Level and Vanishing Points

SPOKED WHEELS
COLUMNS AND TOWERS
NUTS!
STAIRS
TRY THIS

Ti.
V-N Ki
o EXTREME VIEWS
CONCLUSION
INDIRECT CAST SHADOW: A
OBLIQUE PERSPECTIVE: SeeTwo-

ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE:
time, light reflected from the bright

OVERLAP: The placing of one object

PARALLEL LINES: Lines that lie in

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
TO PUT YOUR DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE!