Basic Perspective Drawing class
-
I have so looked forward to this class and was able to exhale after the cone of vision discussion when @davidhohn said unless we want to do architectural drawings, we won’t be doing mathematical calculations in this class. But I am faltering right out of the gate.
I am doing assignment 1 daily because it’s an area of weakness (straight lines, connect dots, ellipses), but I moved on to one point perspective and am looking at photos to see if I can identify orthogonals, vanishing points and horizon lines. I find I am stumped by the reddish-brown building on the right (I outlined it in yellow) because we can see more than one side.
The bottom of the building is hidden by the buildings whose orthogonals lead to the central vanishing point.
What would the bottom of that building look like in perspective?
Do we assume that the bottom of the building is on the horizon line or is there any information to suggest the vanishing point is the top of a hill and the base of the building falls below the horizon line?
Is this a case of “multiple objects with different vanishing points”? (Is my green line that leads to a left vanishing point accurate?)
It feels alien to have these questions and confusion about a simple one-point perspective photo, but I am never going to get it if I don’t ask these embarrassingly primitive questions.
-
Great that you are taking photos and looking to identify HL and VP's!
My apologies that I chose a photo that included a building that didn't conform to a basic rectangle. The building in question is not a rectangle. So one plane will go off to its own vanishing point, which you have nicely identified!When working with photos you will likely never find a perfect one where all lines converge neatly. Humans just don't build cities that way. With photos like this I tend to go with the "majority" of orthogonal that converge to find the major VP's and kind of ignore the rest.
As for the bottom of the building. It could land nicely on the HL, but my guess ( and it is only a guess) is that the bottom of the building is oh-so-slightly below the HL. And honestly probably not enough to matter in a drawing.
-
@davidhohn thank you!--your placement of the bottom of the building feels better than placing it on the horizon.
Your drawing of the top of the building piqued my curiosity, so I searched for iconic canadian buildings and found this and other amazing structures in Toronto--how did you know the top looks like this?!
-
@BichonBistro In real life nothing is exactly always straight and square so it can get confusing
Streets turn, go up or down, buildings have weird shapes, or are crooked, objects are laid about at 20 degree angles, etc. When observing a photo for perspective, try to find commonalities in the perspective. 2-3 lines might be all you need to identify your vanishing points and horizon line. But some lines will inevitably not fit. The good news is when you draw your own perspective, you'll be the one to choose what happens in there!You're at the beginning of it, seeing the basic rules. When you start drawing an actual background of your own you'll start wondering "ok but if this building isn't a rectangle, how do I draw it? How do I draw a door opened at 30 degrees? A chair sitting askew from the table? A staircase? How do I place windows equally spaced on a round tower?" That's where a course really goes into more details and gives you the tools you need beyond the basic rules. I'm sure the course will go into things slowly one at a time to not overwhelm students, so it will be a little while longer before you look at a photo and can understand/draw the perspective of everything in it. Even after years of perspective classes, when I first tried to draw one of those Chinese temple roofs I was completely stumped. I looked at hundreds of photos and was only getting more and more confused about how it was built hahaha... The Scotia Bank building in this photo would be an example of a hard to draw one!
vanessastoilova.com
instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
-
@BichonBistro That's kind of amazing that you were able to find a photo of a different angle of that building! Are you just familiar enough with Toronto? (only after REALLY looking at the original photo did I finally notice the Canadian flag)
I was able to guess at the stair stepped structure because of the silhouette of the building against the sky on the upper left side. I also knew it must be at an angle because of the clear rectangular grid structure of the streets. The only way you can get that green line to a new VP ( that you drew) is if the building itself had a face that didn't line up with the street the camera is pointed down.
Glad that this helped! Way to really dig into that particular video!
-
@NessIllustration said in Basic Perspective Drawing class:
@BichonBistro In real life nothing is exactly always straight and square so it can get confusing
Streets turn, go up or down, buildings have weird shapes, or are crooked, objects are laid about at 20 degree angles, etc. When observing a photo for perspective, try to find commonalities in the perspective. 2-3 lines might be all you need to identify your vanishing points and horizon line. But some lines will inevitably not fit. The good news is when you draw your own perspective, you'll be the one to choose what happens in there!At my rate, not sure I will ever get to the point of drawing my own perspective
I am still working on trying to identify vanishing points and horizon lines in what I suspect are examples of 1 point perspective. I feel confident about #2 and #3, but I am not sure about the Walley illustration #4 (which is the horizon line?) and #1 your wonderful illustration. Is my difficulty with yours a function of it actually NOT being an example of 1 point perspective?
You're at the beginning of it, seeing the basic rules. When you start drawing an actual background of your own you'll start wondering "ok but if this building isn't a rectangle, how do I draw it? How do I draw a door opened at 30 degrees? A chair sitting askew from the table? A staircase? How do I place windows equally spaced on a round tower?"
YES! This is why I avoid perspective: SO many questions!
I am really hoping I can get past this “point” with the help of this course 
-
I don't have issues with perspective, but this post reminds me that I definitely need to draw more architecture. I've never been very fond of drawing objects that are background related etc. I have been pushing to put more in my recent works where it feels it adds to the piece
️ -
@BichonBistro Oh my, you probably shouldn't use my illustrations for this exercise ^^''''' I frequently cheat with perspective. Even when I don't, since my vanishing points are usually way outside my canvas I usually approximate where they should be and draw a self-made grid by eyeing it, not by actually following the line all the way to the vanishing point - then I draw my perspective to follow the grid I just drew. I can get away with this because I'm very familiar with perspective and my style is cartoony enough to allow for a reasonable margin of error.
But as a matter of fact this illustration was based on a loose 2 points perspective grid, not 1 point.
This is the gird I used. The yellow lines will converge into one point on the outside of the canvas (sort of, again I was eyeing it) and the red lines will converge to the other point.
I think you did a good job identifying the perspective in the last photo. The folder and paper pad that have a different VP are crooked and angled differently so they don't count. As for the Paddington image, it's loosely based on a 1 point perspective but it's hand-drawn and doesn't follow it closely. You could call it mistakes, or style, depending on your point of view on the matter. You shouldn't use illustrations for this exercise because there's always the chance that they have tweaked the perspective or aren't following it much at all.
The first photo is not a 1 point perspective, it is 2 points. You have correctly identified one of them, but there is another on the left side of the canvas. In a one point perspective, you will always see one side of the objects/buildings fully from the front. If you see a corner and both sides of the object are angled, what you have is a 2 points perspective, not 1 point.
I would advise to refrain from looking for exercises images by yourself... You have picked illustrations that both largely cheat on perspective, which is understandably confusing you further. Photos are better for exercise, but you have picked one that is a 2 points perspective, again confusing you even more. If you must look for exercise photos, look with specific search terms like "1 point perspective example" to make sure you get a correct one. Good luck hun!
vanessastoilova.com
instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
-
@BichonBistro I'm struggling with perspective too!!!!! I'm working through the course as well. I tried doing the final assignment and just setting up a grid was hard for me. I got something that looked like the bedroom in a two point perspective but it wasn't from the vantage point I tried to get it from lol. I wanted the camera to be on the dresser but somehow it looked like I was standing inside the closet
so I have to figure this out. I'm doing better than I was last week and I'm sure you are too. I think if we're confused, at least we have something to be confused about LoL. Keep pushing until we're a little bit better! Some good advice in previous posts in this thread too! -
@davidhohn said in Basic Perspective Drawing class:
@BichonBistro That's kind of amazing that you were able to find a photo of a different angle of that building! Are you just familiar enough with Toronto? (only after REALLY looking at the original photo did I finally notice the Canadian flag)
I was able to guess at the stair stepped structure because of the silhouette of the building against the sky on the upper left side. I also knew it must be at an angle because of the clear rectangular grid structure of the streets. The only way you can get that green line to a new VP ( that you drew) is if the building itself had a face that didn't line up with the street the camera is pointed down.
Glad that this helped! Way to really dig into that particular video!
I noticed the flag right away, but was oblivious to the silhouette of the building against the sky on the upper left
I want to be sure I understand which planes create my green vanishing point—hope I am making my confusion clear—is it these planes (from the top view) that create that VP?
Thanks so much for this class—I am still digging at the 1-point stage, though I watched the course through to the “multiple objects with different vanishing points”
before going back to the beginning and doing the exercises. -
@NessIllustration said in Basic Perspective Drawing class:
But as a matter of fact this illustration was based on a loose 2 points perspective grid, not 1 point.
This is the gird I used. The yellow lines will converge into one point on the outside of the canvas (sort of, again I was eyeing it) and the red lines will converge to the other point.
This is very helpful info, as usual!
The first photo is not a 1 point perspective, it is 2 points. You have correctly identified one of them, but there is another on the left side of the canvas. In a one point perspective, you will always see one side of the objects/buildings fully from the front. If you see a corner and both sides of the object are angled, what you have is a 2 points perspective, not 1 point.
Oh wow, this I didn’t catch that in this photo—need to look for flat front-facing planes as the cue that it’s 1-point
I would advise to refrain from looking for exercises images by yourself... You have picked illustrations that both largely cheat on perspective, which is understandably confusing you further. Photos are better for exercise, but you have picked one that is a 2 points perspective, again confusing you even more. If you must look for exercise photos, look with specific search terms like "1 point perspective example" to make sure you get a correct one. Good luck hun!
Excellent advice—I need to find photos that are clearly identified by those who know perspective since my goal is to clearly identify vanishing points and horizon lines for each of the systems. Thanks so much!
-
@Coley said in Basic Perspective Drawing class:
@BichonBistro I'm struggling with perspective too!!!!! I'm working through the course as well. I tried doing the final assignment and just setting up a grid was hard for me. I got something that looked like the bedroom in a two point perspective but it wasn't from the vantage point I tried to get it from lol. I wanted the camera to be on the dresser but somehow it looked like I was standing inside the closet
so I have to figure this out. I'm doing better than I was last week and I'm sure you are too. I think if we're confused, at least we have something to be confused about LoL. Keep pushing until we're a little bit better! Some good advice in previous posts in this thread too!Oh my, I am sure I couldn’t set up a grid at this stage! I find the concept of changing camera angles SO difficult—David’s drawing of his studio from the different viewpoints is mind-boggling to me (as is Will’s ability to turn things to different angles in “Visualizing Drawing in Perspective”). I am glad to know I am not alone in the camera angle/point of view confusion! Do you have a thread of your work going through this class? I am taking baby steps to learn this skill—I look at it as the “receptive language” stage equivalent
. If I can learn to recognize vanishing points and horizon lines (why does this seem intuitive to most artists but not to me
), I will feel like I have made a huge leap forward. -
@BichonBistro I started a thread but I don't think it got any replies lol. No worries, I'm doing ok on my own! Sometimes I have to figure stuff out for myself anyhow. Slowly getting there. Perspective isn't natural to me at all. All my previous paintings were done from photos so I sort of used to get away with not knowing this stuff because I relied so heavily on reference. All new, and baby steps!
-
@BichonBistro Yes. All the green lines would converge on the same green VP.
-
@Coley I get lost on the forums, so I usually only reply to things that are recent in the feed when I log on--do you remember your thread title? I would like to follow it since it sounds like we can offer each other moral support if nothing else! I have a couple of Andrew Loomis books (Creative Illustration and Fun with a Pencil) and he makes it sound so easy (but ESSENTIAL) and I find it SO challenging, I sometimes despair and often avoid, but I am going to get through this class no matter how long it takes!
-
@davidhohn Thank you! It's good to know that even though I failed to see the clues you did in the original photo that this is NOT a rectangle shaped building, I'm getting your perspective by looking at the top view. Progress!
-
@Coley Looking back at that thread you started that I think you are referring to, I think maybe it could have just got buried and went unnoticed- that happens every once in a while and it just takes posting on it again to get some feedback. It could have also been because it looked like you did the assignment correctly and was just reporting your thoughts on it rather than asking for feedback or asking questions- and in that case people might have felt they had nothing to add to help you. I hope it doesn't keep you from making threads in the future.
@BichonBistro Keep up the good work! Perspective can be a beast to get comfortable with. You'll get there.
Website: www.tessawrathall.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tessawrathall_art/
-
-
@BichonBistro @TessaW @NessIllustration that's sweet of you guys to say! No worries, I don't always even read or comment on everyone's posts anyhow, only so much time in the day! I might update my thread at some point but much of my work is a bit rough anyhow
still working on making square planes and cubes, the course has been great for breaking things down and really working on the basics. -
@BichonBistro sounds awesome. Moi aussi
if I add to my post I'll tag you in it. I'm working on the final project however it's bringing up the holes in my skills again so I'm going to go back to some of the earlier assignments.
I was working on figuring out how to make my own grid. The trick (other than figuring out where my horizon line is in relation to my image and how that impacts if I'm seeing more ground versus sky) is getting the whole square plane thing. And exact square cubes for measuring. I can see how I could be more loose with perspective in the future but at this point all this practice is helping me. I also watched the building backgrounds class with Brian ahjar ( didn't do the coursework yet). But there are pre-made room grids in there to use so I might play around with that.
