Chapter Nine - Day Ten: Investigating Fresh Perspectives

I must tell you that perspective was never my strong point, I think I likened it to maths and as soon as you mention maths my brian switches off! So to find this chapter no less daunting than all the rest was a relief to say the least, to be honest shading and textures was far more complex.

There are a few terms you need to know, like geometric perspective (sometimes called linear perspective) this is the effect that shows the subject(s) appearing smaller the further away they are from you. Horizon Line, this is the imaginary line that divides your vision when you look straight ahead, where the earth and sky meet. Perspective Lines, are straight lines drawn at an angle from the edge of the objects, back into perceived distant space until the finally converge at a point on the horizon line (this was taken straight out the book as I have no other way of trying to explain it to you),  these lines act as guides to help draw objects in proper perspective. Lastly is the vanishing point, again taken directly from the book, the point on the horizon line where the angular perspective lines of an object visually continue past it’s edges and eventually converge. Shoo... Hanging in there? Don't worry it will all make sense in a moment when you see the pictures.

 Next we begin to understand that as the drawer you control the eye level view of the viewer. By changing the horizon line you change the perspective of your drawing, change weather the objects are seen from above, below, or at eye level. Below are pictures that Brenda has drawn to demonstrates this.

Objects seen from below and above

Objects seen at eye level view

Finding and using correct vanishing points is really important, as it’s this that makes your image appear more 3 dimensional and visually correct. By using these lines the perspective of your object, as it decrease into the distance, will be perspectively correct. Below is the books example on how to go about finding the vanishing point in a picture.

Take you picture and draw the lines you see

Then extend those lines until they all converge and this will be your vanishing point

There are tips and tricks to remember, that will help when trying to get the perspective in your drawing right, for example: Size differences - objects appear smaller the further away they are.  Overlapping - this helps create depth and Arrangement - depending on where you draw your horizon line you will know where to place your objects i.e a higher horizon line means the objects in your foreground will be ‘’below’’ you, as shown in the pictures above.

Other factors to take into consideration are atmospheric perspective (aka - aerial perspective) this effect makes the object in your pictures appear lighter and faded as they disappear into the distance and lastly we have foreshortening, this is described as follows: ‘’As the angle of viewing becomes more extreme, visual distortion becomes more pronounced.''  Below is an image that demonstrates this, but you must assume that all the bars are of equal length:

Objects seen straight on will visual distort

On to Project 9: Drawing One and Two point perspectives: One point perspective demonstrates perspective seen from one side i.e the side of a building whereas two point perspecxtive demonstrates how to draw perspective when an object’s corner is closer to you than it’s sides.  Below is Brenda's image that portrays two point perspective and my image that portrays both one and two point perspectives.

I hope you didn't find this section to confusing, I think perspective is something that you will need to practise and read about a few times before it finally sinks in and makes sense, at least that's how I feel.  Hopefully the above made a little sense and has helped in bridging a few gaps.  Next we start Part 3 of the book - Time to start drawing! Can’t wait.

(Please note: that photo examples are taken from "Drawing for Dummies by Brenda Hoddinott'' and the  above views are not representative of her and are purely based on a 3rd party view being Me! All snippets taken directly from the book are stated as been so)