Perspective Drawing
Understanding Linear Perspective
Objective
• Learn and understand how to create
shapes using linear perspective.
• Supplies: Paper, ruler, pencil.
Early History
• Perspective perhaps first entered
mainstream artistic use around the 5th
century B.C. in ancient Greece in the
subject of skenographia: using a flat panel
on a stage to give the illusion of depth
• Euclid's Optics introduced a mathematical
theory of perspective
Giotto Bondone
1267 – 1337
• The artist Giotto di Bondone attempted
drawings in perspective using an algebraic
method to determine the placement of
distant lines.
• The problem with his method was that the
ratio of distance between the lines was
different from our perception of receding
spaces.
(different from sine)
Filippo Brunelleschi
Mathematical basis
• One hundred years later, in about 1415,
Filippo Brunelleschi demonstrated the
geometrical method of perspective, used
today by artists, by painting the outlines of
various Florentine buildings onto a mirror.
When the building's outline was continued,
he noticed that all of the lines
converged on the horizon line.
Using Perspective
• Perspective helps to create a sense of depth -of receding space. Fundamental techniques
used to achieve perspective are: controlling
variation between sizes of depicted subjects,
overlapping some of them, and placing those
that are on the depicted ground as lower when
nearer and higher when deeper. In addition,
there are three major types of perspective: aerial
perspective, herringbone perspective, and linear
perspective.
How it works
• we see parallel lines as converging in the
distance, although in reality they do not. Stated
another way, the lines of buildings and other
objects in a picture are slanted inward making
them appear to extend back into space. If
lengthened these lines will meet at a point along
an imaginary horizontal line representing the eye
level. Each such imaginary line is called an
orthogonal. The point at which such lines meet is
called a vanishing point.
Da Vinci
History
• The invention of linear perspective dates
to the early 1400s, with Filippo
Brunelleschi's experiments in perspective
painting and Leon Battista Alberti's treatise
on perspective theory.
• Irregular applications of linear perspective
have resulted in various optical illusions
and anamorphosis.
One Point
Two Point
Three Point
Perspective Tips
• Use a Ruler
• Do a quick sketch to plan your idea
• Make your vanishing point outside of your image
area (when making 2 &3 point perspective
drawings)
• Always establish your horizon line before you
draw your vanishing points.
Featured Artist
M.C. Escher
Artwork Using Multiple
Perspectives
Maurits Cornelis Escher
• MC Escher (Maurits Cornelis), Dutch, 18981972, is a master of graphic arts and the optical
illusion. His work also displays a kind of hyperrealism, where all parts of the picture are in tight
focus, from close up to far away.
• Escher developed a unique series of
drawings after visiting Alhambra, the 14thcentury fortress and palace in Granada,
Spain.
• This architectural gem is a huge insight into
the famous drawings and prints that depict
architectural believable but impossible
spaces.
• There are archways that seem to lead up, yet
lead back to where they started. There are
beautiful reflecting pools that create the natural
illusion of a mirror.
• It was the inspiration of Alhambra that started a series of
artworks that Escher called the Regular Division of the
Plane. In these masterful works, Escher creates
memorable and stunning works of optical illusion. In this
work entitled, Waterfall, try to follow the path of the
water in the architecture of the building. The water falls
down and then follows a man-made channel up, only to
fall again, in a never-ending cycle of visual impossibility.
Why it’s Important
• While certain schools of art history may
not teach Escher as a great artist, his
popularity gives him enormous educational
leverage to teach topics such as photorealism, hyper realism, lithography,
illustration, and surrealism.
Terms
• Follow along on your worksheets or in
your work book.
Perspective
• The technique artists use to project an
illusion of the three-dimensional world onto
a two-dimensional surface.
Linear perspective
• A system of drawing or painting in which
the artist attempts to create the illusion of
spatial depth on a two-dimensional
surface. It works by following consistent
geometric rules for rendering objects as
they appear to the human eye.
Vanishing point
• In linear perspective, the place on the
horizon where parallel lines seem to meet.
Horizon line
• A level line where water or land seems to
end and the sky begins. Vanishing points
are usually located on this line. The image
behind this text features a horizon line
separating sky from sea -- which, as you
look lower, morphs into sky again, etc.
(Notice too, the way rows of waves are
depicted as receeding toward vanishing
points.)
Parallel
• Two or more straight lines or edges on the
same plane that do not intersect. Parallel
lines have the same direction.
Craftsmanship
• A person who practices a craft with great
skill; The technique, style, and quality of
working. Having a high degree of
excellence. The quality of a thing tends to
be increased the more care its maker puts
into its making.