Perspective and Space

Space:

The element of art referring to the emptiness or area between, around,

above, below, or within objects.

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 activated in a work of art.

Perspective – A method used to create the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface.

There are two kinds of perspective:• Atmospheric• Linear

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 BouguereauThe 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 thesquare fronts of the buildings except the small structure in thebackground.

The LouvreI.M. Pei, 1989Paris, France

A line that leads to the vanishing pointis 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

represent the front edges of the buildings.

Glass HousePhillip Johnson1949New Canaan, Connecticut

Dancing HouseFrank Ghery and Vlado Milunic’1996Prague, Czech Republic

Falling WaterFrank Lloyd Wright1935Bear Run, Pennsylvania

6 Methods of Showing Spatial Depth

SizePlacementColorOverlappingConverging LinesDetail

size

placement

color

overlapping

converging lines

detail

bird’s eye view(looking down)

worm’s eye view(looking up)

1 point perspective

Is this one point or two point perspective?

Raphael, School of Athens, 1509-10

Is this one point or two point perspective?Michel Doucet, Pleasure Boats at Argenteuil, 2006

Is this one point or two point perspective?

Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow, 1565

Is this one point or two point perspective?

One and Two PointPerspective Exercises

Download the worksheets from the class web sitefor all 11 of the perspective exercises. We will startThese together in class. You will finish them on yourown and turn them in.

One Point Perspective: Boxes Two Point Perspective: BoxesOne Point Perspective: Room Two Point Perspective: DiceOne Point Perspective: Letters Two Point Perspective: Letter EOne Point Perspective: Shapes Two Point Perspective: Letter M

Two Point Perspective: RoomTwo Point Perspective: HouseTwo 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

One Point Perspective: Boxes

Use your ruler to add three boxes onthe 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 roomthat will define the closer side of a doorway.

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

• Decide how wide you want your door to be, mark the top of thedoor and connect the far side of the door to the floor with anothervertical 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. • Add a door knob or other details as you like.

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 ofof the picture through each of these dots, extending down to thelower edge of the picture.

• Erase the parts of the lines that extend onto the back wall.

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 crosses each line on the floor.

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.