PERSPECTIVE

PST - 201

Lecturor : Ngô Minh Thắng

 Chapter 6 : UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE
DRAWING THE CUBE
A cube is a 3 dimensional solid
object bounded by 6 square faces
with 3 meeting at each vertex.

It has 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 ver-

tices.
The six sides of a cube (or any rectangular
prism) are “edged” by three sets of parallel
lines.

When the cube rests on a horizontal

surface, such as a table top, one set of lines
is vertical (i.e., perpendicular to the ground),
the second set is horizontal (i.e., level with
the ground),and the final set is at right an-
gles to the second one.
One point perspective

Looking straight out at the cube, the Picture Plan is vertical

In this case, only the green lines are perpendicular to the picture plane and there-
fore converge.
The sets of blue lines and red lines are parallel with the picture plane so they don’t
have any vanishing point ( their vanishing point are enless).
The Music Lesson, Johannes Vermeer
The Music Lesson, Johannes Vermeer
Le Pont de l’Europe
Gustave Caillebotte
“Parallel Pointing”
Method of locating vanishing point
“Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point
Todrawabox,wefirstconstructatopview
or plan, showing the object, the picture
plane (seen as a line) and the observer’s
position.

PP

SP
“Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point
e l On this plan, “sight lines”pointing parallel
ra l l
pa to the object lines are drawn to locate the
vanishing points (VP) on the picture plane.

PP

SP
 “Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point
On this plan, “sight lines”pointing parallel
to the object lines are drawn to locate the
vanishing points (VP) on the picture plane.

PP
VP
vanishing
point left

SP
 “Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point
On this plan, “sight lines”pointing parallel
to the object lines are drawn to locate the
vanishing points (VP) on the picture plane.

par
alle
l
VP
vanishing
point left

SP
 “Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point
On this plan, “sight lines”pointing parallel
to the object lines are drawn to locate the
vanishing points (VP) on the picture plane.

Other sight lines pointing parallel the other

set of object lines onto the picture plane.
The picture plane line shows the relation-
VP VP ship of the object’s apparent size to the van-
vanishing ishing points.
point left vanishing
point right

SP
“Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point

SP
“Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point

SP
“Parallel Pointing” Method of locating vanishing point

SP
This “measurement line” is then transferred to the actual picture, where it is super-
imposed on the horizontal vanishing line (eye level).

Whether the subject is now drawn above, below, or straddling this line, the relation-
ships remain the same.
Two point perspective

Looking straight out at the cube

In this case, the sets of blue lines and green lines aren’t parallel with the picture
plane and therefore each will converge toward its own vanishing point.
The red lines are parallel with the picture plane so they don’t have vanishing
point ( their vanishing point are enless).
Two point perspective

Again both sets of horizontal lines converge and foreshorten. But since observer’s
right arm points further away, the right vanishing point is more distant.
Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street
Tetsuya Ishida
Tetsuya Ishida
Konstantin Makovsky, Kissing Ceremony
 Verticle two point
perspective

Look down at the cube

The sets of blue lines and red lines aren’t parallel with
the picture plane and therefore each will converge to-
ward its own vanishing point.

The green lines are parallel with the picture plane so

they don’t have vanishing point ( their vanishing point
are enless).
Neil Burley
Three point perspective
Look up at the cube

In this case, all sets of blue lines,

red lines and green lines aren’t
parallel with the picture plane.

Therefore 3 sets will converge

toward its own vanishing point.
Three point perspective

Look down at the cube

Inthiscase,allsetsofbluelines,red
lines and green lines aren’t parallel
with the picture plane.
Therefore 3 sets will converge
toward its own vanishing point.
Borghese Gallery
Borghese Gallery
Bird’s view Ant’s view
3D Joe & Max
Maurits Cornelis Escher
 On the Perspective Drawing, one object can
be one-point, two point or three point perspec-
tive. It depend on orientation of this object to
the Picture Plane.
Once A Basic Shape Such As A Cube Or A Rectangular Prism Is Drawn
Correctly It Can Become The Guide
Four point perspective
Four point perspective make a major jump because
it start to use curved-line perspective.

Four- point perspective is used when the up-down

edges of a cube extend across the horizon line from
a point above your head to a point below your feet.

Depending where the cube is located on the page,

this set of up-down edges now curves, or bulge out
because this set of line is going to two different
vanishing point, one above your head and other below
your feet.
Five point perspective
This is in five point perspective.
Here the front-back edges project
to a single point, and the other two
sets of parallel edges each project to
two different vanishing point, these
edges will be somewhat curved.
 Still Life with Spherical Mirror,
Maurits Cornelis Escher

Hand with Mirror, Maurits Cornelis Escher

Six point perspective
The sixth point is missing from five
point perspective drawings.

Within five point we get half, or a

hemisphere, of the visual world
around us. To get the rest of the pic-
ture, the the whole picture that is, you
must add that last vanishing point.
You would have to turn around and
look at the room BEHIND you to see
the rest of the room and to find that
last point.
Chapter 7 : PERSPECTIVE DISTORTION
 If we were now to add more cubes above and
below using the same vanishing points as before,
these new cubes would appear distorted.

Their front comers (as noted) would be less than

right angles. A cube would never appear this way.
Distortion - Cone of Vision
In real life, if the observer stepped back he would see
more cubes clearly (his cone of clear vision would
simply include more of them) and the distortion would
disappear.

The reason for this excessive convergence is simply

that these new cubes are outside of the observer’s
cone of clear vision.
Vanishining point - Cone of vision
Relationship
When the observer stands close to
the subject, the vanishing points
are relatively close together and
the cone of vision includes only a
few cubes.

Cubes outside the cone of vision

are excessively distorted and
therefore unrealistic (see picture
above).
Vanishining point - Cone of vision
Relationship

But when the observer steps back, the

cone of vision includes more of the
subject, the vanishing points spread
apart, and the distortion is reduced
(see picture below).
Vanishining point - Cone of vision
Relationship

However, if we place vanishing points too far apart is also wrong because it results in
minimal convergence and hence lost the sense of perspective.
Vanishining point - Cone of vision
Relationship
Convergence is minimal at the center of a
picture and increases as you approach the
circumference of the cone of vision.

Beyond this range unrealistic and unaccept-

able distortion begins to occur.
There is a lot of distortion to these four,
five, six point perspective paintings. If
we are trying to capture all visual space
around you from one point, we are deal-
ing with a spherical concept, there will
be distortion.

One - three point perspective systems

try to make drawing or painting on a flat
plane as real as possible. If we want to
see more and more on a flat surface, the
results become more and more distort-
ed.
Four - Six point perspective
orThefisheyelensperspec-
tive have nice distortion.

If we need to capture total

scene without moving our
eyes, head or body, we can
use four, five, six point per-
spective .
Pxhere
Pxhere
Pxhere
Pxhere
Chapter 8 : SLOPING PLANES AND SURFACES
INCLINED PLANES Bottom of this box is horizontal, its converging lines
always vanish to eye level.
 INCLINED PLANES

With the pivoting box top,

The vanishing points
for box and box top are
always on a verticle line.

This is true regardless of

the top’s inclinations
Planes that are parallel to the ground plane will have VP points that fall on HL.
If one axis of a receding plane is not parallel to the ground plane, its VP will not
fall on the HL.

Instead, it will fall on a line perpendicular to the HL that runs through the origi-
nal VP. This line is called the vertical vanishing line (VVL). Vanishing points that
fall on this line are called vertical vanishing points (VVP)
The steeper the angle of a
plane’s ascent or descent
from the ground plane, the
further up or down on the
vertical vanishing line the
points will fall.
vertical vanishing lines and the horizon line
(eye level) serve the same purpose and are
similar in concept. Both “contain” the vanish-
ing points for parallel sets of lines which lie
on parallel planes.

The HL serves all sets of lines on horizontal

planes while a vertical vanishing line serves
all sets of lines on parallel vertical planes.
Chapter 9 : CIRCLES,
CYLINDERS AND CONES
 These coins appears as a perfect circle only when seen “front
face.” When pivoted around a diameter line, it changes from a
round to a “skinny” ellipse, till finally it appears as a thin line.
Circle appears as a perfect circle only when they are
parallel to observer’s face (picture plane). When they
aren’t parallel to picture plane, they are ellipses.
 A true circle can always be surrounded
by a true square. The center of the square
(found by drawing two diagonals) is also
the center of the circle.
DIAMETER

PICTURE PLANE
 short
DIAMETER

DIAMETER long

The circle in perspective can also be sur-

rounded by a foreshortened square. Draw-
ing the diagonals will therefore give the
center of both square and circle.

PICTURE PLANE
 Yet we know that the major axis of an
equal ellipse must be midway between top
and bottom lines
equal

major axis
minor axis
 major axis
minor axis

DIAMETER

MAJOR AXIS
we see that the circle’s diameter falls slightly behind
the ellipse’s major axis.
The top view (left) explains this. The widest part of
diameter projection
the circle (seen or projected onto the picture plane)
PICTURE PLANE
is not a diameter but simply a chord (red).
major axis projection
It is this chord which becomes the major axis of the
ellipse, while the circle’s true diameter, lying beyond,
appears and “projects” smaller.
To draw half a circle (or cylinder) you cannot draw an ellipse and consider either side of
the major axis to be half of a foreshortened circle.
Figure at left is not half but less.
The two at right, however, are each proper halves, because the circle’s diameter is used
as the dividing line.

major axis major axis

When draw a cyclinder - Its center line must
always be drawn as an extension of the relat-
ed ellipse’s minor axis.

Therefore, this center line always appears at

right angles to the major axis of the ellipse
associated with it.

But this center line connects to the ellipse at

the center point of the circle and not to the
center of the ellipse.
The cone within the cylinder (right) naturally has its center line parallel to the table
top. Therefore the cone’s apex is in the air. To draw the cone resting on the table its
apex must drop (arrows) so that its center line falls approximately to the dotted
line.

THEREFORE, CONES LYING ON THEIR SIDES HAVE CENTER LINES INCLINED TO

THE PLANES ON WHICH THEY REST.
Lab 2: Part 1

1. Students take 03 photographs of 1 object with 3 views:

- One point perspective picture
- Two point perspective pictures
- Three point perpspective pictures

2. Sketch the chosen object

ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE
TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE
THREE POINT PERSPECTIVE THREE POINT PERSPECTIVE