Giselle Czajka - Dissertation Blog: Research

One of the essential tools in an artist's kit is a knowledge and understanding of perspective drawing. Linear perspective deals with the organisation of shapes in space, while aerial perspective deals with the atmospheric effects on tones and colours.

Linear and Aerial Perspective:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_index.html

The above images show the use of both aerial and linear perspective to create the illusion of three dimensions on a two dimensional plane. The coloured image shows how colours become more pale, and how the tones become weaker as they get seemingly increasingly further away. The black and white image shows how objects can be arranged to make a two dimensional image seem like it has depth and distance.

The Picture Plane:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_1.html

It is easy to draw a shape that is parallel to the picture plane (the flat two dimensional surface on which we draw or project an image in perspective). The task becomes more complicated when a shape is drawn at an angle to the picture plane. The picture below illustrates how different a shape can be when it is drawn at different angles in relation to the picture plane:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_1.html

The Horizon and Eye Level:

When constructing a perspective drawing, the horizon, or eye level, is used to create images that make good visual sense to the viewer. If you compare the two images below, the first image uses the horizon to suggest that the people are standing on the same plane, and are the same height. Conversely, the people in the second image are drawn the same size as before, but their eye levels no longer relate to the eye level of the picture, causing the scale of the people to become confused.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_2.html

Vanishing Points:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_3.html

The vanishing point is the part of the image in which parallel lines seem to converge and disappear. Vanishing points are used to demonstrate the simplest form of perspective drawing: One Point Perspective.

One Point Perspective:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_3.html

The orthogonal lines (red), are drawn parallel to the ground plane, and move progressively away from the picture plane. These lines always seem like they join together at a vanishing point on the eye level.

The transversal lines (green), are always drawn at 90 degrees to the orthogonal lines. These lines are parallel to both each other and to the picture plane. They are the lines that make up the furthest and nearest edges of a rectangle as it recedes from view.

Two Point Perspective:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_4.html

Two point perspective makes use of two sets of orthogonal lines, and two vanishing points to draw objects.There aren't any planes that are parallel to the picture plane in the image above, but the transversal lines are still parallel to each other, and are at 90 degrees to the ground plane.

This type of perspective drawing is more complicated, because the second vanishing point is normally not actually in the frame of the picture, as can be seen below. If both of the vanishing points are kept in the frame, then it tends to make the angles of the shape too foreshortened.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_4.html

Three Point Perspective:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_5.html

The most complex form of perspective drawing is the Three Point Perspective, which utilises three sets of orthogonal lines and vanishing points to draw objects. It is a useful method for drawing buildings that are being viewed from a low or high eye level. The image below uses a low eye level to give the illusion of a tall building.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_5.html

The Three Point Perspective can also be used to give the impression that the viewer is looking down from a high viewpoint, using a high eye level.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_5.html

Using a Central Eye Level:

The eye level of an image will have a big impact on the composition of the image.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_8.html

A central eye level creates a balance between the sky and the foreground, in a landscape. It gives an image the impression that the objects in line with the eye level are at the same height as the viewer.

Using a High Eye Level:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_9.html

If an image has a high eye level, it draws attention to the middle and distant areas of the image. Ordinarily, this isn't a suitable technique for the image above, but the rendered version has balanced the image by adding hills to the background. This breaks up the horizon, and links the background and foreground together.

Using a Low Eye Level:

Using a low eye level can create dramatic landscapes, by emphasising the height and power of objects in the foreground. This serves to make the viewer feel smaller, while adding to the power of the landscape.

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_10.html

This technique is useful for images in which the sky plays an important role in setting the mood of the scene, as it creates more space for the sky. Having a larger area of sky makes the sky have a bigger effect on the scale, tone, colour, and mood of an image. Examples can be seen below:

http://www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_10.html

Giselle Czajka - Dissertation Blog

Thursday 14 August 2014

Research - Perspective

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