Perspective Drawing Part 1- Intro

Lesson Overview
● What is perspective drawing?
○ a technique used to represent three-dimensional images on a
two-dimensional picture plane
○ representation of objects in three-dimensional space
● Vocabulary
 ○ Horizon Line
○ Vanishing Point
○ 1-Point Perspective
○ 2- Point Perspective
○ 3- Point Perspective

Lesson Objective (Goals)

By the completion of this exercise, you should be able to:

1. Use appropriate line weights (light lines for

construction lines; dark lines for outlines)
2. Position a vanishing point and horizon line correctly
3. Understand that:
 a. Objects above the horizon line are drawn as if you are looking up at
them (you see the bottom of the object)
b. Objects below the horizon line are drawn as if you are looking down
at them (you see the top of the object)
c. Objects that are neither above nor below the horizon line are drawn
as if you are looking directly at them (you see neither the top or
the bottom of the object)

Horizon
Line
Horizon Line
● Helps us create linear perspective
a. Linear perspective makes a 2D surface appear 3D.
 i. Does this by creating an illusion of depth.
1. Example: Things that are close up appear to be larger and
things that are far away appear to be smaller.
● To make a painting or drawing realistic:
a. replicate 3D perspective by making subjects that are further away
smaller, and items that are closer to us bigger.
b. We do this by creating a horizon line with a vanishing point as a
point of reference.

Vanishing
Point
Vanishing Point
● Also called the point of convergence
● Without it, everything would look flat, and the scene
 would have no depth
○ Also: viewer would not be able to relate the scale and distance of
objects.
● Can be more than one vanishing point
○ 1 with one-point
○ 2 with two-point
○ 3 with three-point

1-Point
Perspectiv
e
1-Point Perspective
Usually appropriate when:

● the subject is viewed ‘front-on’ (such as when looking

directly at the face of a cube or the wall of building) ●
when looking directly down something long, like a road or
railway track.

1-Point Perspective
● Surfaces that face the viewer appear as their true shape
○ without any distortion
○ drawn using primarily horizontal and vertical lines
● EXAMPLE:
In this one point perspective photo, surfaces facing the viewer are
undistorted and show their true shape. For example, we see the side
of the bath, window and facing surfaces as ordinary squares and
rectangles. Their sides are parallel with the edges of the
photograph.
 All receding edges of the buildings in this one point perspective
photo angle towards the single vanishing point. The position of the
vanishing point tells us that the photographer was crouching down,
with his eye level lowered.
Key Points:
Surfaces that face the viewer are drawn using their true shape
Surfaces that travel away from the viewer converge towards a single
vanishing point
 Activity 1
(Drawing
Squares/Rectangles)

One-Point Perspective- Activity

● Materials:
○ Pencil
○ Blank paper This activity:
● Explains how to draw a cube in one point perspective
■ above, below and in line with the horizon line.
○ Introduces the importance of line weights
○ Highlights the effect of positioning objects in relation to the
horizon line.
.
 Activity 1: 1-Point Cubes
● Materials:
○ Mechanical or ‘clutch’ pencil (with an HB or 2H lead)
○ Blank paper and/or the printed worksheets
 ○ Blank Template (Google Classroom)
● Activity 1: Explains how to draw a cube in one point perspective. It
also introduces the importance of line weights and highlights the effect
of positioning objects in relation to the horizon line.
○
■ Draw 3 Cubes: 1 above, 1 below and 1 in line with the horizon
line.

Questions: What did you learn from the work? What I learned
about the work is how to draw in one-point perspective.
2. What did you like most about this assignment? What I liked
about this assignment is it was fun to learn how to draw better
in one point-perspective.
3. How can you apply this to a real-life situation? How I can
apply this to a real-life situation is many movies you see are
in a perspective. Such as one-point perspective