5 great Exercises to learn Perspective Drawing the easy Way

Let's do some simple practice exercises to improve our drawing and painting skills and learn some perspective! Home DrawingExercises Landscapes PortraitsandFigure Architecture StillLife SketchingProject Anartblogaboutallthingsdrawingandandpainting:materials,techniques,artists,andofcourselotsofexercises. Jan24 Jan245greatExercisestolearnPerspectiveDrawingtheeasyWay Mary sketchingproject,drawing,exercises,architecture,perspective Let'sdosomesimplepracticeexercisestoimproveourdrawingandpaintingskillsandlearnsomeperspective!I’vecreatedthesewithbeginnersinmind,sodon’tworryifperspectiveisatopicyouarealittleintimidatedby,we’veallbeenthere.BeforeyoudiveintotheseexercisesmakesuretohavealookatmyarticleOne-pointperspective:HowitworksandhowtouseitforyourArt.It’lltellyouabouthowperspectivecameabout,whatitisexactlyandyou’lllearnsomeimportanttermsandprinciples.1ErraticbouldersLet’sstartoutsupereasyanddrawsomebouldersonasheetofpaper.Justtheoutlinewilldo,noshadingortextureneeded.Importantly,drawthemindifferentsizesandpositionsonthesheet. Viewfullsize Sketchofanarrayofboulderswithnoindicationofperspective. You’llnoticethatthereislittleperspectiveandit’shardtotellwhichofthebouldersarefarawayfromtotheviewer,orindeed,howfar.Thereasonforthatissimple.Thingsfurtherawayfromusappearsmaller.Ourbrainknowsthatandusesittodeterminethedistanceofobjects.Butboulderscomeindifferentsizesandwedon’tknowwhatsizethebouldersthatwe’vedrawnarerelativetoeachother.Forexample,oneofthetinybouldersinyourdrawingmightbeveryfaraway,soinrealityitwouldbemuchlargerandtoweroveralltheothersiftheywerenexttoeachother.So,howarewegoingtoindicatewhichofthesebouldersarehowfarawayinthedistance?We’regoingtousesomefunperspectivetricks.First,eraseafewofthebouldersanddrawthemagain,overlappingsomeoftheothers.That’stheeasiestwaytomakeclearthatoneobjectisclosertousthananother.Ofcoursewedon’twanttheboulderstolooklikethey’reflyingintheaireither,sowhynotaddthehorizonline,towardsthebottomoftheboulderhighestonthepage.Seehowthisalreadypushessomeofthembackandotherstowardstheviewer? Viewfullsize Someoverlappingalreadyaddsabitofperspectiveandmakesclearwhat’sclosertotheviewer. Let’stakethisonestepfurtherwithsomeatmosphericperspective.That’sthekindofperspectivewhereobjectsfurtherinthedistanceseemlighter,moreblue-ishandblurred,becauseoftheparticlesintheairbetweentheviewerandtheobject.Haveanotherlookatyourbouldersanddecidewhichonesareclosesttoyou,thenpaintthembrown.Anythingfurtherinthedistancewillhavemoreandmoreblueinitandbecomelighter.Ifyoudon’thaveanycoloursathandyoucanalsojustshadethemwithapencil,butstrongerinthefrontandlighterintheback. Viewfullsize Abitofcolourcanadalotofperspective. Whenyou’redoneyoucouldalsouseapenordarkershadeofbrowntostrengthentheoutlinesofthecloserboulderstomakethempopevenmore.2FlyingcubesThisone-pointperspectiveexerciseisspecificallydesignedtohelpbeginnerspracticetheconcept.Remembertoreaduponsomebasicprinciplesinmyrelatedarticlefirst.Drawahorizonlineonanemptysheetofpaper,ashighoraslowasyoulike.Thenpickavanishingpoint(VP)onthatline.Remember,one-pointperspectivemeansoneVP.Next,usearulerorotherstraightobjecttodrawinalotofconvergencelinesfromtheedgesofthepapertothevanishingpoint.Keepthelineslightbutvisibleenoughforyoutoworkwiththroughoutthisexercise.Thelinesdon’tneedtohavethesamedistancefromoneanother,sodon’tworryaboutthat.Drawquiteafew,butofcoursenotsomanythatyoucannotkeepthemapartanymore. Viewfullsize Simpleone-pointperspectivelayoutwithhorizon,VPandconvergencelines. Nowstartdrawingsomeone-pointperspectivecubesintothescene.Thatmeansdrawthemasifyouwerelookingatoneoftheflatsurfaces(almost)entirelystraighton,ratherthanatoneofthecorners.Anythingabovethehorizonlinewillshowalittleoftheundersideoftheobject,becauseyoureyelevelisbelowit,soyou’relookingupatit.Anythingbelowthehorizonwillshowsomepartofthetop,becauseyou’relookingdown.Asyougoalong,thinkofwhatthesecubesandcuboidscouldbeinreallife,ratherthanjustboringboxes,andturnthemintootherobjects.Thiscouldbeatissuebox,adice,anold-timeyTV,anaquarium,abook,whathaveyou. Viewfullsize Turningsimplecubesandcuboidsintoobjectsinthisone-pointperspectivesketch. Don’tgotoocomplicated,anddon’tworryifyourfreehanddrawingisn’tuptoscratch,justhavesomefunwithit.Youcanalsocolourtheminifyoulike.Thelongeryouspendwiththeobjectsthemoretimedoesyourbrainhavetoengagewiththeconceptandfullyunderstandit.3WithatraceHere’sanothergreatone-pointperspectiveexerciseforyou.You’llneedarelativelythinpieceofpaper,likebakingpaper,andanimagethat’sinone-pointperspective.YoucouldsearchontheInternetforthingssuchas“interiordesign”or“street”thatoftenshowpicturesinone-pointperspective,youcanuseapicturefromabook,oryoucanjusttakeyourownphotograph.Herearesomeexampleimagesthatyoucanuseaswell: Viewfullsize Viewfullsize Viewfullsize Viewfullsize You’renowgoingtotracetheexampleonyourthinsheetofpaper,soyou’llwanttoeitherprintitoutoropenituponyouriPadorcomputerscreentolaythepaperontopofit.Themostimportantpointisthatyouonlytracesomepartsofitandleaveothersout.Youcouldtracethemainlinesofthewallbutnotthecarpetorchestofdrawers,ortheroadandhousesbutnotthewindowsanddoors.Ialsorecommendfindinganddrawingthevanishingpoint(followtheconvergencelines)andhorizonatthispointasyou’llneeditforthenextstep.Turnovertheoriginalimagesoyoucannotseeitandaddinthethingsyouleftoutinyourdrawingjustbyusingperspectiverules.Anythingthatisinperspectiveandhasarelativelystraightforwardshapeworkswell.Don’tbotherwiththetinydetails,shadingortextureatthispoint. Viewfullsize Viewfullsize Whenyou’redone,comparewhatyoudidtotheoriginalandseeifyourperspectiveiscorrect.Ifnot,goovertheperspectiverulesagainsoyouunderstandwhyitwasoffandcorrectit.Ifyouwantsomeinspiration,myarticleArchitecture-themedArtPrintsthatwillImpressandInspireyoufeaturesalistofartiststhathavemostcertainlypractisedtheseexercisesquitealot,toreachthemasterytheyshowintheirwork.4Two-point?Check.Rememberthatone-pointperspectivegridwemadeinthesecondexercise?Nowwe’llraisethebarjustalittleandcreateonefortwo-pointperspective.Drawyourhorizonabithigherthanthemiddleofyourpaper,sothere’smorespacebelowthanabove.Then,becausethisistwo-pointperspective,addtwovanishingpointsonit,oneontherightandoneontheleft.AddyourconvergencelinesinthedirectionofbothoftheseVPs.Whenyou’redonethelayoutshouldlookabitlikeachessboard(it’sfineifsomeofthe“squares”areactuallyrectangular). Viewfullsize Two-pointperspectivegrid,lookingalittlelikeachessboard. Nowyoucanstartaddingsomeboxestothegridbelowthehorizonline,asifyou’relookingdownonthem.Usethinlines,astheboxesarejustaperspectivehelp.Drawthemrelativelyhigh,abitlikemilkcartons,buttryandkeeptheirgroundareasquare.Iftheydon’tfitexactlyinthegridjustdrawmoreconvergencelinesasyouneedthem. Viewfullsize Milkcarton-shapedboxeswithinatwo-pointperspectivegrid. Intwopointperspectiveyouareofcourselookingmoreatoneoftheedgesoftheseboxes,ratherthanstraightatoneoftheplainslikeinone-pointperspective,sosomeofthelineswillrecedetotherightVP,otherstotheleft.Inmostcasesweknowthisintuitively,butifyou’dliketoreaduponitabitmorehere’sasplendidarticlebyfellowbloggerHelenSouth.Whenyou’vedrawnacoupleofboxesandyou’reconfidenttheperspectiveisrightimaginechesspieceswithintheseboxesanddrawthose.Irecommendstickingtoaverysimpledesignofthepieces,andperhapsleaveouttheknight(horse). Viewfullsize Simplechesspiecedesignthat’llworkwellwiththistwo-pointperspectiveexercise. Inordertodothisrightyou’llneedtodrawellipses(circlesinperspective)intothebottomoftheboxes,becauseoftenchessfiguresareround,notsquare.Ifthisisanentirelynewconcepttoyou,youcanhavealookatthisarticle,butthegridyoudrewwillalreadyhelpyoualot.Ofcoursenotallthefigureshavethesameheight.Somemightbeabittallerthantheboxyoudrawtheminto,othersshorter.And,asexplainedabove,what’sfurtherawayfromusappearssmaller,sothatpawnclosetoyoumightbeastallasthekingabitfurtherback.Whereveryoucanimagineellipsesanddrawthoseinperspective,thentheactualchessfiguresaroundthem. Viewfullsize Chessboardsketchdesignedwithasimpletwo-pointperspectivegrid. Whydidwedrawtheboxesfirst,ifourchesspiecesareround?Becauseit’smucheasierforustounderstandandworkwithperspectiveinformofboxesandit’saverycommonandimportantconcepttodrawcomplexshapesintoboxesinordertogettheperspectiveright.Don’tworryifthisdoesn’tturnoutperfect,we’rejustpractising,afterall.Theseexercisesaredesignedtohelpyouunderstandtheconceptsofperspective,notteachyouimpeccabledrawingfromimaginationskills.5NotrubbishatallThislittleexerciserequiresabitofpreparationbutit'scheap,easytodoandsuperusefultohelpyouunderstandvariouskindsofperspectives.Grabanemptymilkcarton,tissueboxoranyotherobjectofcuboidshape.You'llalsoneedarulerandadarkmarker(orpaintandbrush).InmyexampleI'vealsousedsomeleftoverwallpainttogivethecartonaquickcoatingbutthat'snotamust. Viewfullsize Drawingshapesonanemptymilkcartonmakesforexcellentperspectivepractice.  Imagineyourobjectwasatoweranddrawsomearchwaysonthesides.Theeasiestarchwayshapeconsistsofacirclethatishalfwayinsertedintoasquare(seeimageabove).Allofthemshouldberoughlythesamesize,soifyouhavethetimeithelpstomakeaquicktemplateonpaperandcutitouttotracearound.Whenyou'redoneputyourtoweronthetableinfrontofyouandsketchit,inaverysimpleform,fromdifferentangles. Viewfullsize Sketchingthecartonfromdifferentangleswillteachyoualotaboutdifferentkindsofperspective. Thearchwaysmightbealittledifficultforyoutogetrightatfirst,butyou'llsoongetthehangofitifyoukeepremindingyourselfyou'redrawingacircle(oranellipse,tobeexact)andasquare.Drawingcentrelinesanddiagonalscanhelpinthebeginning.Usinganeasilyavailableobject(likethemilkcarton)asamodeltodrawamorecomplexone(likeatower)isatechniqueusedforcenturiesbymasterartists. Viewfullsize YoungwomanwithunicornbyRaphael(1506),oiloncanvas  Unicorns,forexample,wereverypopularsymbolicanimalsduringtheRenaissance,buttheywerehardtocomeby.So,theartistshelpedthemselveswithdogsorgoatsasmodelstogetthebasicfeaturesrightandjustadaptedthemalittletocreateaunicorn.Ifyouwanttospicethingsupabityoucanalsodrawothershapesonyourmilkcarton.Youcouldtrytriangles,rhombi,starsorevenletters.Onceyoufeellikeyou’vepractisedenough,whynotpopbymyarticle8simpleStepstoDrawinterestingStreetsandBuildings,soyoucangetstartedwithyournextmasterpiece.Orbrowsethroughmygeneralexercisesectionformorefunthingstopractice. TheultimateGuidetoUrbanSketching(andhowYoucanStartToday) Findoutwhyit’ssopopularandhowyoucanjointhemovement. The15-Minutes-a-DayDrawingExerciseRoutine(soeasybutsoeffective!) Here'showyoucanimproveyourtechniqueevenonbusydays. 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WhyDrawingLandscapesissoPopular(andsoGoodforyourArt) Let'shavealookwhysomanyartistsfavourlandscapesaboveallelse. 5WaystoShareyourArtwiththeWorld Therearemanywaysandreasonstoshareyourartworkwithmorethanjustfriendsandfamily. Didyouenjoythisarticleorfeellikeyouhaveanythingelsetoadd?Feelfreetoleavemeacommentbelow!Ifyoulikethispost,pleaseshareit,soothersmaylikeittoo! Show14comments Mary Heythere!I'mMary,thebloggerandartistbehindthissite.Iwriteaboutallthingsdrawingandpainting:exercises,techniques,materialsandmore.I'vestudiedArt&DesigninLondonbutbydayIworkinDigital.IliveinGlasgow,ScotlandandIlovehiking,Japanesefoodandsuperexaggeratedsurvivalbooks. 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