ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Tools
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE DRAWING TOOLS
Below is a brief review of perspective drawing tools. The Measure Stick
These tools can be used when one wishes to depict Although its practical use is to measure or compare
landscapes, portraits, figures or still lifes. They have proportion, in fact it represents one facet of the pic-
been employed by artists for a variety of reasons; but ture plane: it establishes scale. Ideally, it is to be held
are used in this class because they have a distinct at arm’s length and parallel to the artist.
affinity for introducing the principles of linear per-
Plumb Line
spective.
This represents the vertical center line in linear per-
The Cone Of Vision spective and as such serves as a reminder of certain
This cardboard tube’s length permits a viewing of about principles of vision: vanishing lines and vanishing
60 degrees. It is the limit of human visual acuity and it is points are oriented by being on the right or left of cen-
the limit for the rules of classic perspective. Representa- ter. It is of use to establish a structural center whether
tionist artists typically use a cone of vision that is 45-60 the model is a human, a building or a vase of roses.
degrees. The view permitted by the tool correlates di-
rectly to the scene, real or imagined, depicted. It is to be
held next to your eye (remove your glasses if necessary)
and parallel to a level ground plane.
CONTINUED >
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 1
Sympoz Inc. d/b/a Craftsy is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by or in any way officially connected with any of the products featured in this video. All product and company names, logos,
brands, or other trademarks or images featured or referred to in this video are the property of their respective trademark holders. The use in this video of the products and any protected intellectual
property is used for illustrative purposes, and no commercial claim to their use, or suggestion of sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement, is made by Sympoz Inc. d/b/a Craftsy.
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Tools
The Albertian Veil could be used to analyze one’s mistakes in depiction
This sheet of Plexiglass with rectangles and diagonals and then correct them. For example, if one notices
etched on it represents the picture plane. It helps an- that on a figure drawing the legs are too long, it is
alyze space and aids in pictorial composition. It is of more than likely that the artist has done that before
great use to trace the veil’s rectangles and diagonals and will continue to do it if he or she does not set
on a sheet of paper and then use that grid to depict about to correct such habits.
the landscape, cityscape, still life, or interior with
figures. Also, with this veil, one can analyze sculpture, Note: Many of you have been drawing for a while and
architecture, and paintings. This is your drawing sur- may find these tools a hindrance rather than a help.
face (tableau) with the grid marked on it. If this is so, do not concern yourself with the studio
practice of the tools. Whether one uses them or not,
Composing L's
it is important to realize that representationist or illu-
An invaluable tool for drawing. It helps to frame the
sionistic imagery – or more correctly– the principles
subject matter or it can be used to frame the tableau
guiding one’s means of depiction, originated from a
so that you can look at the subject matter.
long and noble tradition in which these tools played a
In this class, these tools are meant to be used in con- critical part.
cert with one another, but can be used singly or in
other combinations.
It is interesting to note that Leonardo recommended
that the artist should use these tools primarily as a
means for diagnosis. Since artists tend to make the
same errors in judgment over and over, these tools
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 2
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Glossary
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE TERMS
• There are three types of perspective (according to views: plan, front and side (the last two are
da Vinci): also called the elevations); the plan is the
• Linear perspective: The depiction of apparent most important in that it gives the angular
diminution of a figure as it recedes from the relationship of the figure to the picture plane.
eye. This course is primarily concerned with With this information it can be determined if
linear perspective. the figure is to be depicted in one– or two–
• Perspective of color: The apparent change point perspective. The terms one–, two–, and
in hue (things appear to become bluer) and three–point perspective refer to the number
temperature (more cool) in a figure as it of vanishing points employed to draw a box
recedes from the eye (usually a cube).
• Atmospheric perspective: The apparent loss
• Vanishing point (VP): This gives the direction of
of contrast and detail in a figure as it recedes
apparent dimension or disappearance. Lines and
from the eye
planes that are parallel to one another “vanish” or
• The science of linear perspective is the study of converge to a common vanishing point.
the relationships among these three elements: • Measure point (MP): This gives the apparent
• Eye (station point or viewer): The place (actual depth or the apparent rate of speed of
or imagined) from which the figure will appear diminishment. Every VP has its own MP. The MP
to be viewed. is equal to the distance between the eye and
• Eye level line: An important element in the VP. The most common and useful VP is the
spatial depiction because it determines point of sight (principal VP or central VP) it is at
the orientation of pictorial structure. It the intersection of the vertical center line and the
is often confused with the horizon line eye level (horizontal center) line. It is the VP for all
which occurs in nature. The eye level line things in one-point perspective, that is all things
is actually an imaginary moment on an that are, in plan view, parallel to the picture plane.
imaginary plane: the picture plane. Its uniqueness is furthered by the observation that
• Picture plane: In classic perspective it is it is the only VP to have two MP's.
thought to be parallel to the viewer and • Cone of vision (CV): The boundary or limit in
perpendicular to a level ground plane — which the rules of perspective hold; that is, the
the most conceptual invention in all of depiction of the figure must be within the CV. It
Western Art. It enables the artist to think is a function of the eye and, in classic illusionistic
about and subsequently execute, if desired, depiction, limited from 45 to 60 degrees.
the depiction of light. (When you depict
light you simultaneously depict space.) It is
an imaginary plane upon which imaginary
moments such as vanishing points, measure
points, and vanishing traces exist.
• Figure: That which you wish to draw, sculpt
or paint. To begin a perspective drawing
one must determine the figure’s relationship
to the picture plane. This is best done by
viewing that relationship in the plan or aerial
view. In this regard, among the three possible
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 3
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Resources & Credits
HELPFUL WEBSITES & BOOKS CREDITS
• Handprint.com - Perspective in the World The School of Athens. Ca. 1510-1512 Fresco. Raphael
• Basic Perspective Drawing, A Visual Approach by (Raffaello Sanzio) Scala/ Art Resource, NY
John Montague (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985;
6th edition, 2013) Crystal Fruit stand with Peaches, Quinces, Jasmine
• Perspective for Artists by Rex Vicat Cole (Dover Flowers Fede Galizia. Mondadori Portfolio / Electa /
Press, 1976) Art Resource, NY
• The Notebooks of Leonardo, Two Volumes,
edited by Jean Paul Richter (Dover Press, 1972) The Pair-Oared Shell Thomas Eakins
• The Birth and Rebirth of Pictorial Space by John Oil on canvas, 1872 24 x 36 inches (61 x 91.4 cm)
White (Belknap Press of Harvard, 1987) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Mrs. Thomas Eak-
• The Renaissance Rediscovery of Linear ins and Miss Mary Adeline Williams, 1929
Perspective by Samuel Y. Edgerton, Jr. (Yale
University Press, New Haven and London, 1979) Perspective Drawing for "The Pair-Oared Shell"
• The Heritage of Giotto’s Geometry: Art and Thomas Eakins
Science on the Eve of the Scientific Revolution by Graphite, ink, and watercolor on paper, 1872 Sheet:
Samuel Y. Edgerton, Jr. (Cornell University Press, 3113/16 x 479/16 inches (80.8 x 120.8 cm)
1994) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Purchased with the
• The Mirror, The Window, and the Telescope: How Thomas Skelton Harrison Fund, 1944
Renaissance Linear Perspective Changed Our
Vision of the Universe by Samuel Y. Edgerton, Jr. Portrait of Thomas Eakins Susan Macdowell Eakins
(Cornell University Press, 2009) Oil on canvas, c. 1920-1925 50 x 40 inches (127 x
• The Psychology of Perspective and Renaissance 101.6 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Charles
Art by Michael Kubovy (Cambridge University Bregler, 1939
Press, 1986). Now available, updated and
A Little Girl Cecilia Beaux
reformatted, online at webexhibits.org
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
• Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David
Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of Fanny Travis Cochran
Chelsea (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1997)
• On Painting by Leon Battista Alberti, trans. J.
Perspective Study for the Staircase and Horses (for
Spencer (Yale University Press, 1956)
"Gift of the Magi") Leonardo Da Vinci. Alinari/ Art
Resource, NY
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 4
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
Drawing/Illustration
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Images
Crystal Fruit stand with Peaches, Quinces, Jasmine Flowers, Fede Galizia.
Mondadori Portfolio / Electa / Art Resource, NY
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 5
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
Drawing/Illustration
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Images
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 6
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
Drawing/Illustration
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Assignment
Find the eye level line for each painting. Solutions are on the following page.
A Little Girl, Cecilia Beaux Portrait of Thomas Eakins, JH Newman, Patrick Connors
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Susan Macdowell Eakins
Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of Fanny Travis Cochran Oil on canvas, c. 1920-1925 50 x 40 inches (127
x 101.6 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of
Charles Bregler, 1939
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 7
ESSENTIAL LINEAR PERSPECTIVE with
Drawing/Illustration
TECHNIQUES Patrick Connors
Assignment
A Little Girl, Cecilia Beaux Portrait of Thomas Eakins, JH Newman, Patrick Connors
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Susan Macdowell Eakins
Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of Fanny Travis Cochran Oil on canvas, c. 1920-1925 50 x 40 inches (127
x 101.6 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of
Charles Bregler, 1939
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc. Craftsy.com 8
