on.above,and below the horizon line

7/29/2019 On.above,And Below the Horizon Line

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In many everyday scenes,

you see objects aboveyour eye level (such as a

tall building), straight

ahead of you (such as astore window), and belowyour eye level (such as a

sidewalk), all at the same

time.

In this lesson, you use onepoint perspective to

render nine boxes from

three differentperspectives, into a single

drawing.

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TTTHHHEEE HHHOOORRRIII ZZZOOONNN LLLIII NNNEEE

Brenda

Hoddinott

K-01 INTERMEDIATE: PERSPECTIVE TWO

One point perspective occurs when the frontal face of an object (such as a cube) is closest to you,

and its edges recede into distant space and converge at a single vanishing point. This lessonincludes the following five sections:

INTRODUCTION: Basic perspective terms and three common perspectives, on, above, and

below the horizon line, are explained and illustrated.

LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD AT BOXES: One point perspective is used to draw

frontal views of three boxes on the horizon line. You begin by drawing a horizon line andvanishing point, and then use perspective lines to transform a square and two rectangular

shapes into three-dimensional boxes.

BOXES ABOVE THE HORIZON LINE: You draw three more boxes above the horizonline, and their perspective lines converge at the same vanishing point as those in the last

section.

CREATING BOXES BELOW THE HORIZON LINE: you draw three boxes below the

horizon line with their perspective lines converging at the same vanishing point.

Suggested drawing supplies include drawing paper, pencils, erasers, and a ruler.

15 PAGES 2 9 I LLUSTRATI ONS

This article is recommended for artists of all ages and abilities, as well as home schooling,academic and recreational fine art educators.

Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada 2005 (Revised 2006)


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Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott andmay not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.

E-mail [email protected] Web sites: http://www.drawspace.com http://www.finearteducation.com

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I NTRODUCTI ON

Geometric perspective (sometimes called linear perspective) is a method of representing subjects

in a drawing, in such a way that they seem to recede into distant space, and appear smaller the

farther they are away from you. Many of Mother Natures creations, such as trees and flowers,are very forgiving of an artists minor mistakes in perspective. However, drawing subjects such

as people, animals, and most human-made objects need to be drawn with proper perspective in

order to appear believable and proportionately correct.

Check out E-04: One Point Perspecti ve to discover how basic one pointgeometric perspective can transform a rectangle into a three-dimensional form.

One point perspective occurs when the frontal face of an object (such as a cube) is closest to you,

and its edges recede into space and converge at a single vanishing point. Three key terms (referto Illustration 01-01) are used throughout this lesson to describe the process of using one point

perspective to draw various boxes on, above, and below the horizon line:

Horizon line: is a horizontal line (invisible in real life) sometimes referred to as eye level,

which divides your line of vision when you look straight ahead. Your eye level and thehorizon line are one and the same. Look straight ahead (rather than up or down), and the

horizon line is directly in front of you. Wherever you go, from the top of the highest

mountain, to the lowest valley, your eye level always stays with you.

Perspective lines: are lines (invisible in real life) that extend from the edges of objects and

recede into distant space until they finally seem to vanish at a point on the horizon line

known as the vanishing point.

Vanishing point (VP): is a point (invisible in real life) on the horizon line where the straight

lines of an object(s) converge and the object(s) seems to disappear. Lines of objects, that are

parallel or perpendicular (at a right angle) to the horizon line, dont appear to go back inspace and therefore rarely meet the vanishing point.

ILLUSTRATION 01-01
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The following illustrations show you different perspectives on three-dimensional boxes - on thehorizon line, above the horizon line, and below the horizon line.

The three boxes in Illustration 01-02 are on the horizon line with sections above and below.

ILLUSTRATION 01-02

The frontal face ofeach box is

touching thehorizon line, and

their tops and

bottoms are out of

view. The vieweris looking straight

ahead.

The boxes in Illustration 01-03 are above the horizon line, and seem to be floating in the air.

ILLUSTRATION 01-03

The horizon line

is below thesethree boxes,

creating the

illusion that youare looking

upward. Observe

that the bottom of

each box isvisible.

The boxes in Illustration 01-04 are drawn below the horizon line.

ILLUSTRATION 01-04

When boxes aredrawn below the

horizon line their

tops are visible.

Hence, viewersfeel as though

they are lookingdownward.


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The perspective lines of objects at your eye level (on the horizon line), angle both downward andupward and meet at the vanishing point. Objects above you have perspective lines that angle

downward to the vanishing point. The perspective lines of objects below you, angle upward

toward the vanishing point.

ILLUSTRATION 01-05

In thisdrawing, the

cartoon

figures eyesare aligned

with the

horizon line to

help youunderstand the

concept of eye

level andhorizon line

being one and

the same.

In this lesson, simple boxes take you through the basic process of incorporating all three

perspectives into one drawing. And, by the way, these principles also apply to drawing people,animals, and scenes, and are especially helpful for drawing cityscapes.

LOOKI NG STRAI GHT AHEAD AT BOXES

In this section, you use one point perspective to draw frontal views of three boxes on the horizon

line. You begin by drawing a horizon line and vanishing point, and then use perspective lines totransform rectangular shapes into three-dimensional boxes.

1) Use your ruler to draw a horizon line that is parallel to the top and bottom of a squareor rectangular drawing space (press very lightly with your HB pencil).

Leave lots of room on your drawing paper above and below the horizon line. In addition to

the three boxes on the horizon line, a second set of three boxes has to fit above them, and athird set below.

2) Add a small dot on the horizon line (the vanishing point) and mark it VP.ILLUSTRATION 01-06


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When using geometric perspective to draw a straight-on view of a squareor rectangular shape, the horizontal lines need to be parallel to the horizon line and thevertical sides need to be perpendicular (at a right angle).

3) Use an HB pencil and a ruler to draw a square on the horizon line.ILLUSTRATION 01-07

This square shape represents the flat frontal face of a boxand is closer to the viewer than any of its other sides.

4) Draw a vertical (portrait format) rectangle to the left of the vanishing point, and ahorizontal (landscape format) rectangle to the right of the vanishing point.

ILLUSTRATION 01-08

5) Connect the upper and lower right corners of the square to the vanishing point withstraight lines (perspective lines).

ILLUSTRATION 01-09


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6) Connect an upper and lower corner, of the vertical and horizontal rectangles, to thevanishing point (as in Illustrations 01-10 and 01-11).

ILLUSTRATION 01-10

ILLUSTRATION 01-11

7) Using the perspective lines as guidelines, draw vertical lines to complete each box.The distant edge of each box can be drawn as a vertical line at any point in between the two

perspective lines.

ILLUSTRATION 01-12

The distant edges of the boxes are parallel

to the sides of the rectangle, and

perpendicular to the horizon line.


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8) Use a vinyl eraser to erase the perspective lines that are not sides of the boxes.You now have three properly drawn, three dimensional boxes.

9) Outline the boxes with a freshly sharpened HB pencil and a ruler.ILLUSTRATION 01-13

One point perspective can help you drawnumerous objects, including buildings.

BOXES ABOVE THE HORI ZON LI NE

In this section you draw three boxes above the horizon line, and their perspective lines convergeat the same vanishing point as those in the last section.

ILLUSTRATION 01-14

10) Draw a vertical rectangle that is above the horizon line, andtoward the far left of your drawing space.


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11) Add a small square and a horizontal rectangle to the right of the vertical rectangle.ILLUSTRATION 01-15

12) Draw three perspective lines from three corners of the vertical rectangle down to thevanishing point (keep these lines very light).

ILLUSTRATION 01-16


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13) Connect the small square to the vanishing point with three perspective lines.ILLUSTRATION 01-17

14) Connect three corners of the horizontal rectangle to the vanishing point.ILLUSTRATION 01-18


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15) Draw a vertical and horizontal line to complete the outline of each of the three boxes.Take note that small sections of two of the boxes above the horizon line, appear to bebehind boxes that are on the horizon line.

ILLUSTRATION 01-19

16) Use a vinyl eraser to erase the perspective lines and then outline the boxes with afreshly sharpened HB pencil and a ruler.

ILLUSTRATION 01-20


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CREATI NG BOXES BELOW THE HORI ZON LI NE

In this section you draw three boxes below the horizon line. Their perspective lines converge at

the same vanishing point as those above and on the horizon line, in the previous sections.

17) Draw a horizontal rectangle, a vertical rectangle, and a square below the horizon line.ILLUSTRATION 01-21

Eat your vegetables! Theyre good for you! Or, in this case, learnperspective! You need it!

Very few artists actually enjoy drawing perspective exercises. However, if your goal isto draw well, you absolutely need to know everything you possibly can about all aspectsof perspective.


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18) Connect three corners of each box to the vanishing point with lightly drawn straightlines.

ILLUSTRATION 01-22

19) Draw a vertical and horizontal line to complete the outline of each of the three boxes.ILLUSTRATION 01-23


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20) Erase the perspective lines, and outline the boxes with an HB pencil as in Illustration01-24.

21) Check over your drawing carefully, especially the outlines of the boxes, and confirmthat everything is drawn correctly.

ILLUSTRATION 01-24

Even though the technical aspect of this drawing is complete, consider having some funby adding some shading, or additional details to transform the boxes into cartooncharacters or buildings.

Illustrations 01-25 to 01-29 may offer some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Then sign your name, write todays date on the back of your drawing, and put a smileon your face!


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ILLUSTRATION 01-25 ILLUSTRATION 01-26

ILLUSTRATION 01-27

ILLUSTRATION 01-28

ILLUSTRATION 01-29


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Check out Lesson E-01: Basic Perspective for Beginners for a wellillustrated overview of the secrets of various aspects of perspective and how they helpcreate the illusion of three-dimensional spaces in drawings.

BRENDA HODDI NOTT - BI OGRAPHY

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda

Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk

pastel, charcoal, cont crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the

enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and

academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter,

the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.

>Brenda Hoddinott

on.above,and below the horizon line

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