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Multi-Point Perspective
Art 120 Drawing 1
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Basic Vocabulary
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Baseline: the imaginary line on which an object or group of objects sit
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Converge/Laws of Convergence: come together, meet/orthogonal
lines will appear to converge at a vanishing point
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Diagonal Lines: straight lines that are at an angle
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Ellipses: curvilinear forms in perspective
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Forms VS Shapes in Perspective: square/cube; rectangle/box;
circle/sphere; triangle/pyramid; oval/ellipse; cylinder
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Foreshortening: a technique for producing the illusion of an object’s
extension into space by contracting its form
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Horizontal Lines: straight lines that extend to the left & right
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Horizon Line/Eye Level: The apparent intersection of the sky and
earth/The imaginary horizontal line parallel to the viewer’s eyes
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Basic Vocabulary
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Orthogonal Lines: Parallel lines that appear to converge at
the horizon
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Parallel Lines: lines that run together but never intersect
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Perpendicular: are lines that intersect at right angles (90o) to
each other
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Perspective Center: The center of a box in perspective
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Proportion: comparative relationship between parts of a
whole and between the parts and the whole
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Scale: size and weight relationships between forms
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Vanishing Point: the spot on the horizon line (or y-axis for
3pt) that orthogonal lines converge upon
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Vertical Lines: straight lines that extend upward or
downward
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Linear Perspective Concepts
Geometric/Linear Perspective is a system for depicting threedimensional space on a two-dimensional surface
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1-point perspective: All orthogonal lines converge at one point
on the horizon line
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2-point perspective: All orthogonal lines converge at two points
on the horizon line
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3-point perspective: In addition to receding to two points on the
horizon, lines parallel and vertical to the ground appear to
converge to a third vertical vanishing point.
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Laws of Convergence:
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Every object observed appears to become smaller as it moves away
from one’s view.
All parallel lines moving away from the viewer will appear to
converge, and will eventually meet at an infinite point, a vanishing
point.
As objects move back in space the objects themselves and the space
between them will appear to get smaller and compress.
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Overview
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Perspective in art is used to provide the illusion of depth in a
two dimensional (2D) work of art.
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There are several ways in which the illusion of depth are created
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Overlapping – Objects that are placed in front of each other provide
the viewer information about which is closer.
Relative size – The closer an object is to the viewer, the closer it
appears
Atmospheric Perspective - As an object gets farther from the viewer,
it:
 Becomes less in focus
 Has less intense color
 Has less of its original colors, and looks more blue (or in a polluted
city a brownish orange)
Linear Perspective – A system of rules that uses lines to provide the
artist with information about how an object should appear in space
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Defining Perspective
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First studies of linear perspective attributed to Leon Battista
Aberti and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi in the 15th century.
They demonstrated that space could be articulated
mathematically to express depth
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Perspective mimics the way the eye sees space and objects
in space.
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Linear vs intuitive perspective; drawing perspective “by eye”
without using geometric rules.
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Atmospheric perspective: the effect produced by diffusion of light
in the atmosphere whereby more distant objects have less clarity
of outline and are lighter in tone.
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Linear vs. Intuitive
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What is Linear Perspective?
A form of perspective in drawing and painting in which parallel lines
are represented as converging so as to give the illusion of depth and
distance
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One Point Perspective: a single vanishing point
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Two Point Perspective: two vanishing points
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Three Point Perspective: three vanishing points
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Multiple Point Perspective: multiple vanishing points
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2-Point Perspective
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2-Point Perspective
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2-Point Perspective
Anselm Kiefer
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2-Point Perspective
Edward Hopper
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Perspective Center
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Perspective center is the center of objects at their center
within perspective
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It’s important to locate the perspective center in order to
locate and draw other objects within that box.
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Drawing Ellipses
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What is an Ellipse?
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An ellipse is simply a circle seen in perspective. This is an
important concept to keep in mind.
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An ellipse, therefore, must conform to the same rules as a
circle - it consists of arcs, it contains no straight lines and, if
divided into quarters, each segment is identical to the other
three.
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Properties of an Ellipse
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Cylinders In Perspective
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Ellipses within Ellipses
When drawing a round,
hollow object with walls
having a substantial
thickness, such as a terracotta
flowerpot. In this particular
case you need to draw just the
top half of the outer ellipse
and to shift the inner ellipse
slightly higher to account for
perspective (the rear wall is
further away than the front so
a is narrower than b). The
lower half of the outer ellipse
needs to be "seen" only in
your mind as it is solely
defined by the lighting and
shadow of the front face.
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Putting it together
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3-Point Perspective
Worm’s View
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3-Point Perspective
Bird’s Eye View
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3-Point Perspective
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3-Point
Perspective
M.C. Escher.
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Multiple Perspectives
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Aerial Perspective
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Student Work
+ 1-Point Perspective
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2-Point Perspective
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3-Point Perspective