Drawing 1, Part 3 Expanse, Project 4, Exercise 1, 2 & 3
Perspective
Linear perspective
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/beginners-renaissance-florence/a/linear-perspective-interactive (accessed 19/08/2019)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/perspective (accessed 19/08/2019
Perspective is how we draw three dimensional objects on a two dimensional surface so that when we look at it, it gives the viewer the right impression of the height, width, depth and position in relation to each other. This is how we show what the human eye can see but on a flat surface.
In creating this successfully the artist needs to have a horizon line that may be in the final drawing or not. Lines that are parallel in reality will meet on the horizon line as a vanishing point. To the human eye they are parallel but they seem to meet at a great distance. It is possible to plan a drawing in this way so that it is possible to test different positions of the vanishing point. It is possible to two vanishing points called ‘two-point perspective’ this is used in drawing corners as each side has a vanishing point.
Drawing using Perspective
Objects that are in front of the artist will get smaller with distance but they will also keep the same ratio between the height and width so that there is no distortion in the object.
All objects if drawn with the right perspective are subject to foreshortening which is when the height of objects in the direction of the viewer will be shorter than their width. This is because objects that are in front of the viewer look smaller as they are further away.
One-Point Perspective or parallel perspective
This is when there is one vanishing point, such as when drawing a table facing one side, the nearest side is the longest and the side furthest away is the shortest and the other two sides join at the vanishing point.
Exercise 1 – Parallel Perspective – an interior view
Own image, own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
This is my hallway the mirror at the end is unchanged and stays a rectangle however the door changes its rectangular shape dramatically when drawn in perspective.
Exercise 2 – Angular perspective
This was a very difficult drawing as every window continues the angular perspective as does the window frames and doors etc. My eye level is at the top of the front door. This is a view from the neighbourhood in Pimlico that I live in.
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Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
By extending the horizon (eye level) and adding the receding lines to it I could see that I had made a mistake on the level of the windows at the bottom of the building on the right hand side and was able to correct this.
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/perspective (accessed 21/08/2019)
The above image is by John Wonnacott (b 1940) and shows the use of two vanishing points in this painting of a corner building. This inspired me to look for a building that would show this well too, and make the building look three dimensional.
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
Copy of Sir Muirhead Bone, Rome 1910
Checking the accuracy of a drawing to continue the perspective lines to the vanishing point.
Exercise 3 – Aerial or atmospheric perspective
The further something is away from you the details become less clear and the less difference there is between the lights and darks (tonal contrast). The horizon can look blurred, hazy and have a blue tone to it. As the landscape moves away for us features of the landscape may become so distant that the features can not be identified. J M W Turner (1775-1851) was a master of this and having looked at his paintings the depth that he manages to give the viewer, draws them into the painting and creates space in the painting.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-the-thames-below-westminster (accessed 21/08/2019)
In the painting above by Claude Monet (1840-1926) which is part of the National Gallery collection, atmospheric or aerial perspective is being used to create distance really well. The features of Westminster can be seen but they are blurred and indistinct to show distance in the painting.
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
In this drawing from a photograph I took in Cornwall, the trees in the far distance are less distinct and are faded, this is atmospheric perspective. This is a way of making things seem like they are far away by making the objects blurred and the tones lighter.
Own image own photograph (accessed 21/08/2019)
In this soft conte stick image on beige sugar paper from Newquay in Cornwall. I made the rocks at the front more detailed to contrast with the background which is less detailed and more blurred to make the atmospheric perspective more noticeable.
Hedda Sterne (1910-2011) Rectangles
https://www.wikiart.org/en/hedda-sterne/rectangles-1981 (accessed 21/08/2019)
Hedda Sterne is an artist who played with perspective and created abstract works which use perspective in different ways. She created atmosphere and understanding of what places are like in her paintings, you can almost feel what the places were like to be in.
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908-1992) The corridor
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/vieira-da-silva-the-corridor-n06189 (accessed 21/08/2019)
When I saw this image I loved the atmosphere created in it, it has a tension about it. The artist has used the vanishing point to take the viewer into the painting and the tonal lows and highs create atmosphere in it. The shapes get smaller but also squarer and paler, as the painting goes towards the vanishing point. This is very interesting and shows how perspective can be used to create tension and atmosphere in a painting. This is very inspirational to me and helps me to think differently about how perspective can be used in images.
OCA Drawing 1 