Hi,

I have started to study perspective in New Masters Academy and got so excited about it that I would like to share with you what I have learned. This is also very nice practice for me in way of really memorizing the learning since I will be drawing these diagrams and illustrations all over again.

Absolutely feel free to ask if you don't understand something! I will try to explain these rules with text and pictures as well as possible. It would be more easy to explain with moving pictures or videos but I'm not up to that, yet. Also please make argues and test these things if you don't feel that I'm right. I'm more than willing to hear your theories and knowledge!

Please criticize and give your feedback! Thanks!

So here we go:

An Introduction to Perspective with Krita

The introduction part concentrates on 1 and 2 point perspectives. We will later learn more about distortions and Cone of Visions but now we will stay with more simple stuff for a smoother start.

Basic Explanation



Usually every picture you see has a Horizontal Line (HL). Even if you don't see it it is still there representing where ground and sky touches each other in infinity. The exception is when the picture is made with Bird's eye or Worm's eye view. In that case there is no HL.

Since we are now only on one and two perspectives we will have Eye Level on the same level as the HL. EL is the hight of the imaginative eyes that are looking at the picture frame, or you can imagine camera lens on that hight level.

VP stands for Vanish Point. That is the point where all the lines in that particular plane are vanishing.

Then there is Reference Points (RP) for our help build the picture.

Referencing Same-Sized Figures



We can reference similar objects easily by just using ruler and a RP points in the Horizontal Line. First we will establish randomly and by our own will figure A. We don't know the exact hight of the figure but lets say it is 180cm standing man. We can choose his ground spot freely in the place where we want it to be keeping in mind that it also needs to be good for the composition of our picture frame. Next we want to have a same sized person standing behind A. We only know the place where we want it to be 1 and we name it B. Next we draw a reference vertical line longer than we need it, just for our help. 2 Now we draw a line from A ground point through B ground point till HL and 3 make RP#1 and draw back till A crown. 4 We have now a height length of our figure B which is exactly the same-sized as our original A. The same way we are going to establish C. We choose randomly and freely his ground spot 5 and draw a vertical reference line longer than we need. We make a line from C ground point, through B ground point till HL 6 and back through B height spot till the C reference line 7. Wola, we have height for C.

Exactly the same goes for the tree D. We establish its place, height and form freely and with out any rules. Then we want to make same-sized tree further back in to the horizon: Place D ground spot, draw the tree, 8 decide E ground spot and go from 9 to RP#3 to 10. You have got yourself a height for E tree.

Please note that A, B & C are exactly the same-sized. They are just in the different depth level from the viewer. As well as the D & E are exactly the same-sized.

You can do this with different objects like trucks, garbage cans, mountains, you name it...

Applying Scale to Figures



Please not that the EL and HL have been set to 90 cm now. Meaning the level of eyes or the camera lens that are looking this picture frame are 90 cm above the ground and that level is constant. This way we know that those objects that starts below HL ending on HL or continuing pass it are 90 cm or more.

Lets say we want to draw a 180 cm tall man. Freely and composition friendly we choose the spot 1 where the man stand. For easier measurement and freehand point placement we divide the space between the man's ground point and the HL in to three smaller but same-sized spaces. This way we have three 30 cm spaces and we can start calculating. 2 One, two, three we have 90 cm and we are on the HL height. Four, five, six and we have reached 180 cm meaning we now have man standing and we know that he is 180 cm tall. This scale is only valid at this ground plane. We can move the man right, left, up and down (the man would have to stand on a hill or in a pit) but can't move him toward us or away from us.

Please note: 3
- The woman stands closer than the man to us but her crown is not above man's because she is shorter
- The dog is not above HL as it is relatively small dog and doesn't reach 90 cm of height
- The hero is the tallest of all and more closer than any other object. The heights orange mark is at 210 cm but the hero is 200 cm tall. You don't have to use exact height number of the reference marks. They are only for your help.

Same-Sized Tubes in 1 Pt Perspective



This diagram we will build similar way as we did with our same-sized three men. But we also have something new here and that is 1 VP and also Reference Object RA.

We know that in the picture frame there will be only same-sized lines. First we draw A. Freely decide its length and starting (A1) and ending (A2) point. Then we want to to have B starting from B1 but we don't know where does it end. We could reference it from A1 through B1 but it takes the reference line way out of our picture (please note purple line _____). We can make a ghost (RA) of A and move it next to B to have the RP#1 inside the picture frame. With this method we can move any object on its Reference Plane Grounds to have better position for our RPs. Just remember that the line needs to be always turned toward VP as all line are vanishing toward it.

Please also note that since this picture uses only one vanish point all the lines are actually parallel to each other if you would be looking the picture from bird's eye view. The lines are just in the different depth level from the viewer. Note how small D is compared to A. If the lines would be tubes and you would be a bird looking at the from above they would be placed like the illustration nr. 1.

With one perspective point we can establish composition also for top views like illustration nr. 2. The tree trunks are all same-sized. I made the leafs to be transparent for better understanding. The road is not effected by VP. If we would draw more trees more further from the VP we would start getting distortion. But that is a different subject which we will be learning later.


So, here we are. I hope you have learned something new. If yes, GREAT! If no, stay tuned there will be more advanced stuff coming soon.

That's funny, I recently started to get deeper into perspective. And your post is helpful indeed.

Moving the line "A" to "B" on your last example is something new to me.

I did this yesterday, it might be a little ahead of the current introduction because it is a 2 point perspective.
Referenced from a photo on the top left, on the right some blueprints to get proportions, done after "understanding" the basic shapes using the reference drawing, and at the bottom the projection


Waiting for the second part :]

P.S. Might be a good idea to have proposed exercises.

Here's something that I think is good learn about along with perspective. When I see drawings by beginners, generally the biggest flaw is a sense of foreshortening to do with contrast. If you add this knowledge in with perspective you will start to get much more pro results especially when you shade things. I have no examples of my own to post but to quickly give any beginners here pointers. First look at the drawing the guy does here. Notice how along with exaggerated perspective he makes the lines around the hand darker. This heavier contrast fools our eye into thinking that part is closer:

http://ssheltonimages.com/play/lvcGW_U3 ... ening.html

Then as you shade your image the various plays of shading and line contrasts as well as lines that suggest the perspective and 3D form can get quite complex. There is more on that here:

http://www.proko.com/illusion-of-depth- ... tive-form/

These tricks are some of the things that makes a drawing or painting have strong expression because it's an exageration of reality that fools the eye.

Also notice that 3 point perspective can fall apart in certain scenarios. Do a search for 4 point and 5 point perspective to see how that works. That's interesting because it shows that we don't really see the world the way we sometimes like to represent it in a drawing. That's why traditional Chinese drawing does't use classical western perspective. These are just different ways of representing reality.