Perspective Drawing Handbook

by Joseph D'Amelio

Overview

This handy guide provides numerous insights and shortcuts to drawing and sketching effectively. Describing mandatory skills for beginning and advanced students, the text covers such subjects as diminution, foreshortening, convergence, shade and shadow, and other visual principles of perspective drawing.
Accompanying a concise and thoughtfully written text are more than 150 simply drawn illustrations that depict a sense of space and depth, demonstrate vanishing points and eye level, and explain such concepts as appearance versus reality; perspective distortion; determining heights, depths, and widths; and the use of circles, cylinders, and cones.
Artists, architects, designers, and engineers will find this book invaluable in creating works with convincing perspective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486432083
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	05/17/2004
Series:	Dover Art Instruction
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.30(d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction	8
Chapter 1	Fundamentals	9
	Diminution	9
	Foreshortening	10
	Convergence	11
	Overlapping ... Shades and Shadows	12
	Color and Value Perspective ... Detail and Pattern Perspective ... Focus Effect	13
	Professional Applications of Fundamentals	14
Chapter 2	Reality and Appearance	15
	In Perspective Drawing You Draw What You See, Not Your Idea or Mental Image of the Subject	15
	Reality and Appearance--Example: United Nations Buildings from Different Viewpoints	16
	Reality and Appearance--Example: Park Bench from Different Viewpoints	17
Chapter 3	How We See for Perspective Drawing	18
	Cone of Vision ... Central Visual Ray ... Picture Plane	18
	Basis of Perspective--Lines of Sight Through a Picture Plane	19
Chapter 4	Why Appearance Differs from Reality--Theory	20
	"Lines of Sight Through Picture Plane" Applied to Diminution	20
	"Lines of Sight Through Picture Plane" Applied to Diminution and Convergence	21
	"Lines of Sight Through Picture Plane" Applied to Foreshortening and Overlapping	22
Chapter 5	Principal Aids: Vanishing Points and Eye Level (Horizon Line)	23
Aid No. 1	Vanishing Points--All Lines which in Reality are Parallel will Converge toward a Single Vanishing Point	23
	Vanishing Points (cont.)--When There are Many Sets of Parallel Lines going in Different Directions, Each will Converge toward its own Vanishing Point	24
	Professional Examples	25
Aid No. 2	Eye Level (Horizon Line)--All Horizontal Lines Converge to a Single Horizontal Vanishing Line	26
	What Locates the Vanishing Line for All Horizontal Lines?	27
	Why the Observer's Eye Level Dictates the Horizontal Vanishing Line--Theory	28
	What Locates the Vanishing Point of a Particular Set of Parallel Lines?	29
	Why the "Parallel Pointing" Method of Locating Vanishing Points is Important	30
	Nature's Horizon Always Appears at Observer's Eye Level. Therefore, it Can be Used as the Vanishing Line for Horizontal Lines	31
	Why Nature's Horizon Appears at Observer's Eye Level--Theory	32
	What Happens to Eye Level (Horizon Line) When You Look Straight Out, Down or Up?	33
	Professional Examples	34
	What Happens to Eye Level (Horizon Line) When You Look Straight Out, Down or Up (cont.)?	35
	Reasons for Choosing a Particular Eye Level (Horizon Line)	36
Chapter 6	Drawing the Cube--Prerequisite to Understanding Perspective	37
	Introduction	37
	Looking Straight Out at the Cube	38
	Professional Examples	39
	Looking Down at the Cube	40
	Professional Examples	41
	Looking Up at the Cube	42
	Professional Examples	43
	Cube Studies Applied to Drawings of United Nations Buildings	44
	Cube Studies Applied to Drawings of United Nations Buildings (cont.)	45
	Many Cubes Oriented in the Same Direction Results in Only Two Sets of Converging Lines	46
	Cubes Oriented in Many Directions Results in Many Sets of Converging Lines	47
	Why a Thorough Knowledge of Simple Shapes is Important	48
	Applications of the Basic Cube and Brick Shapes	49
Chapter 7	"One-Point" and "Two-Point" Perspective--When and Why?	50
	Introduction	50
	Professional Examples	51
	Distorted and Correct One-Point Perspective	52
Chapter 8	More on Looking Up, Down, and Straight Ahead	53
	Introduction	53
	Things Seen by Looking Straight Out and Things Seen by Looking Up	54
	Things Seen by Looking Down	55
	Review: Looking Up, Straight Out, Down	56
	Looking Straight Out	57
Chapter 9	Perspective Distortion	58
	Related to Vanishing Points and to Cone of Vision	58
	Observer-Cone of Vision-Vanishing Points Relationship (Horizontal Distortion)	59
	Vanishing Points Too Far Apart	60
Chapter 10	Determining Heights and Widths	61
	Height Lines	61
	Heights Related to Eye Level
1	Heights When Observer is Standing	62
2	Heights When Observer is in Elevated Position	63
3	Heights When Observer is Sitting ...
4	Heights When Observer is Lying Down	64
	Heights Outdoors ... and Indoors	65
	Professional Examples	66
	Determining Widths in Perspective--Width Lines	67
Chapter 11	Determining Depths	68
	Finding Center Points by Diagonals	68
	Equal Spacing by Diagonals	69
	Subdividing a Surface by Diagonals ... Dividing a Surface into Equal Spaces by Using a Measuring Line and a Special Vanishing Point	70
	Dividing a Surface into Unequal Spaces with a Measuring Line and Special Vanishing Point	71
	Determining Depths and Widths of Room Interiors by the Measuring Line Method	72
	Another Way of Getting Depths: The Sliding Ruler and Diagonals Method	73
	Drawing Equal-Sized but Unequally-Spaced Elements--Vanishing Point of Diagonals Method	74
	Diagonals as an Aid in Drawing Concentric and Symmetrical Patterns on Rectangles and Squares	75
	Any Design or Pattern can be Reproduced in Perspective by Means of a Grid that Locates its Important Points	76
Chapter 12	Inclined Planes	77
	Introduction	77
	Vertical Vanishing Line and Horizon Line are Based on Same Theory and Serve Similar Purposes	78
	Uphill and Downhill (Inclined Planes)	79
	Some Applications of Inclined Plane Perspective	80
Chapter 13	Circles, Cylinders and Cones	81
	Circles and Ellipses	81
	Drawing the Ellipse	82
	The Center of a Circle Drawn in Perspective Does Not Lie on the Corresponding Ellipse's Major Axis	83
	Cylinders	84
	Cones	85
	Professional Applications	86
Chapter 14	Shade and Shadow	87
	Introduction	87
	Parallel Light Rays (Sunlight) Parallel to Observer's Face	88
	Application Sketches	89
	Parallel Light Rays (Sunlight) Oblique to Observer's Face	90
	Parallel Light Rays Oblique to Observer's Face (cont.)	91
	Application Sketches	92
	Professional Examples	93
	Shade and Shadow Created by Local Point Sources of Light	94
	Application Sketches	95
	Professional Example	96