Linear Perspective

For many, ‘perspective’ is a mysterious subject – one that produces some nervousness and caution.  When we use the word ‘Perspective’ it usually means linear perspective.  Linear perspective is based on a very simple idea:  objects that are farther from you appear to be smaller.

The objective  world exists in three-dimensions: height, width and depth.  Our drawings and painting exist only in two dimensions: height and width.

 Perspective, or linear perspective, is a system for representing the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface.

The principles of Perspective are easy to learn and you should. It is really an essential piece of knowledge for a representational artist.

The main reason that learning perspective is essential is that it is difficult to draw or paint what we actually see.  Our eyes do see the objects as they appear, with the apparent distortions of shape and size created by distance (depth).  However, our brains want to compensate for the apparent distortions.

Learning ‘Perspective’ will help with the mechanical aspects of drawing an accurate Perspective.  More imporatantly, learning to draw an accurate Perspective shows us how objects should look in three dimensional space.  This knowledge will help us overcome those compensatory impulses our mind wants to impose on us.

 Single Point or One-Point Perspective

There are three basic kinds of linear perspective: one-point, two-point, and three-point. The description tells us how many vanishing points are needed to render a three-dimensional subject in two dimensions.  There is another lesson that covers the basic principles and terms for Linear Perspective – you can find it here.

This lesson is about One-point Perspective.  One point perspective requires only a single vanishing point.  Its common to encounter this type of linear perspective on street-scapes or city-scapes. In that scene buildings are generally lined up along the street and sidewalks in a straight line. Buildings on opposite sides of the street are also generally parallel to each other.  You might encounter the same thing in an interior scene, especially when looking down a hallway.

This lesson shows you how to plot a one-point perspective layout. We’ll do three versions to help you undertand the effect of station point.

What you’ll need

• A sharpened pencil or two
• An eraser
• Ruler or straight edge
• Drawing paper – rather large. In the lesson I’m working with a sheet that is 11″ x 14″