Perspective and Space

Perspective and

Space

Space:

The element of art referring to the

emptiness or area between, around,

FOREGROUND - Part of the picture plane that appears closest

to the viewer

MIDDLE GROUND - Area in a picture between the foreground

and background.

BACKGROUND - Part of the picture plane that seems farthest

from the viewer.

Photographs, drawings,

and paintings are often

more interesting when

there is a sense of spatial

depth. Sometimes this is

very obvious. Sometimes,

in non-representational

art for example, it can be

very subtle. The mind

tries to make sense of the

space and how it is

Perspective – A method used to create the illusion

of depth on a two-dimensional surface.

There are two kinds of perspective:

• Atmospheric

Atmospheric Perspective

– The effect of air and light on

how an object is perceived by the viewer. The more air

between the viewer and the object, the more the object

seems to fade. A bright object seems closer to the viewer

than a dull object.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau The Bohemian, 1890

Linear Perspective

–

A technique of using lines in

drawing and painting to

create the illusion of depth on

a flat surface.

1 point perspective

Q: How do you start a one point perspective drawing?

A: With a square.

Q: In a one point perspective drawing, is the vanishing point always

in the center of the drawing?

A: No. Consider where it is in this photograph. We don’t even see the

square fronts of the buildings except the small structure in the

background.

The Louvre

I.M. Pei, 1989

Paris, France

A line that leads to the vanishing point

is an

Orthogonal

.

2 point perspective

Q: How do you start a two point perspective drawing?

A: With a vertical line. In this example the vertical lines

Glass House Phillip Johnson 1949

Dancing House

Frank Ghery and

Vlado Milunic’

1996

Falling Water

Frank Lloyd Wright

1935

6 Methods of Showing Spatial Depth

Size

Placement

Color

Overlapping

Converging Lines

Detail

bird’s eye view (looking down) worm’s eye view

(looking up)

Is this one point or two point perspective?

Is this one point or two point perspective?

Is this one point or two point perspective?

One and Two Point

Perspective Exercises

Download the worksheets from the class web site

for all 11 of the perspective exercises. We will start

These together in class. You will finish them on your

own and turn them in.

One Point Perspective: Boxes Two Point Perspective: Boxes One Point Perspective: Room Two Point Perspective: Dice One Point Perspective: Letters Two Point Perspective: Letter E One Point Perspective: Shapes Two Point Perspective: Letter M

Two Point Perspective: Room Two Point Perspective: House Two Point Perspective: Buildings

One Point

Perspective:

Boxes

On your first

worksheet, draw a

horizon line

across

the center of your

drawing space.

Add a vanishing

point in the center.

One Point Perspective: Boxes

Use your ruler to add three boxes on the left side of your drawing space: • One on top of the horizon line • One in the top left corner

• One in the lower left corner

Use your ruler to draw orthogonal lines from the corners of the boxes to the vanishing point.

One Point Perspective: Boxes

Line your ruler up with the right edge of the three boxes, keeping it parallel with the edge of the boxes.

Move the ruler to the right,

keeping it straight up and down, and mark an edge on the side of your top box.

One Point Perspective: Boxes

Line your ruler up with the bottom edge of the top box, keeping it parallel with the bottom edge of the box.

Move the ruler down, keeping it straight from side to side, and mark an edge on the bottom side of your top box.

One Point Perspective: Boxes

Erase the orthogonal lines from your top box and you will see that you have created a three dimensional form

floating above the horizon line.

Repeat these steps for each of the

boxes to create three different sized forms.

Note that if a form is above the horizon line, you see the bottom of the form. If it is below the

horizon line, you see the top of the form. If it is directly on the horizon, you will only see the front and side.

One Point

Perspective:

Room

On your second worksheet, draw

diagonal lines, corner to corner across your drawing space to find the vanishing point in the center.

One Point Perspective: Room

Use your ruler to create a box in the middle of the drawing space, keeping the sides parallel with the top, bottom and sides of the box that marks your drawing space. Draw in the orthogonal lines to the corners of the inside box and erase the lines which go all the way to the vanishing point.

One Point Perspective: Room

• Use your ruler to draw a vertical line on the left wall of your room that will define the closer side of a doorway.

• Draw an orthogonal line from the vanishing point to the top of your vertical line.

• Decide how wide you want your door to be, mark the top of the door and connect the far side of the door to the floor with another vertical line.

One Point Perspective: Room

• Repeat the same process to create a window on the right wall of your room. • Draw parallel lines around the door and window to give them a frame.

One Point Perspective: Room

• Add a set of evenly space dots to the lower edge of your back wall, along the floor line.

• Use a ruler to draw lines from the vanishing point in the center of of the picture through each of these dots, extending down to the lower edge of the picture.

One Point Perspective: Room

Keeping your ruler straight and parallel with the front

horizontal line on your drawing, draw

horizontal lines across the room from side to side at each of the intersecting points. You’ll notice that the spacing changes as you move farther

away from the front of the room. Erase the diagonal line when finished.

Use your ruler to draw a line from the back corner of your room to the opposite front corner of your room and mark the intersection where it

One Point and Two Point Perspective

Work Sheets

There are a total of eleven work sheets in the warm up assignment. If you finish them early, add design or texture to the drawings to make them more interesting. You will hand these in as a set.

Take a couple of class periods to complete the set. This exercise will help prepare you for our next assignment.