Using Perspective Correctly When Drawing and Painting

Learning to draw and paint in perspective is not always simple. Painting houses, towns, villages and cottages can be overwhelmingly daunting at first, but just by following a few basic rules, you can successfully create paintings with proper perspective.

Perspective is important if you want your painting to look lifelike. So? What exactly is perspective, and how is it achieved? Perspective is depicting volumes and spacial relationships on a flat surface, or the technique of representing three dimensional objects and depth relationships on a one or two dimensional surface, or more simply put, the representation of parallel lines converging so as to give the appearance of depth and distance. If the rules of perspective are not followed in a painting, it can appear awkward and incorrect, even off balance. The eye will perceive it as wrong. You do not have to get hung up about the rules, but simply follow simple fundamentals of perspective.

I will use landscape as an example of proper perspective. In a landscape you view the sky and the earth. This could take the form of mountain ranges, forests, the ocean, land, beaches, grassy plains, etc. The point at which the sky and the earth meet is called the horizon. You remember that from grade school, right? When viewing an actual landscape in true life, the horizon is always at eye level. If you have buildings, animals, cars, flowers, objects, people, etc. in your landscape, they are likely to be positioned in front of the horizon in some way. To position them behind the horizon, or even at horizon level would look ridiculous to most.

On a horizon, there are points that vanish, or vanishing points. For example, if you have a three quarter view of a house, the horizontal lines (the window tops and bottoms) on one side will all eventually meet at the vanishing point to the left. The same lines on the other wall of the house will join at another vanishing point to the right. This is termed two-point perspective. The name is of little importance. Remembering this visually is of utmost importance.

In a painting of a house drawn correctly, following the rules of perspective, you will see the horizon at eye level. This is how you would view the house if you were standing directly in front of it. The horizontal lines on the house would meet at the vanishing points if drawn or painted in proper perspective.

The rules of perspective should be applied almost in every painting or drawing. But when should they not? Well, the great thing about being an artist, painter, designer, etc. is that you have artistic license to do whatever you please. Some of the greatest artists of all time, some of the most famous, have thrown perspective to the wind. This lack of perspective is most often seen in folk art forms as most folk art is created by untrained artists, those with no formal artistic training or education and little knowledge of how perspective is achieved. Such was the case of itinerate artists that traveled about painting portraits a hundred years ago. Few followed the rules of perspective. They painted and drew what was visually pleasing to them, the results being quite charming. You can to! Create what you enjoy, after all, isn't that what art is all about, self expression? Paintings lacking perspective might not be the norm, but these types of paintings can be most pleasing, whimsical and fun and highly collectible! While painting in perspective seems logical, no one says you have to, you set the rules.

Finally, the best way to learn and achieve perspective is by observing the actual environment around you, the nature surrounding you. View the horizon and objects in relation to it. Then get out your pad and pencil, or paints and canvas and practice, practice, practice. Soon perspective will come naturally to you, even second nature and you will achieve natural fantastic results!!