Modern Pictorial Perspective

By T. Heaton Cooper

This slim and focused guide to understanding and analyzing perspective in drawing was written by T. Heaton Cooper, a longtime instructor at the Cleveland School of Art. It consists of 50 examples: every left-hand page features a graphic representation of the written descriptions on the opposite page, providing an improved understanding of the concepts via visual examples. Discussions and directions on foreshortening and shadows in relation to perspective complement the illustrations.
Students, art teachers, and artists wishing to improve their skills will find this book an ideal resource for study and reference. Its compact size will make it an easy addition to the paint box or sketch kit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9780486846811

Book preview

Knowledge Consists in Knowing That You Know.

Imagine you are looking directly across the room shown in the illustration 1, plate 1. You may assume that you are standing on the floor or sitting on a table or anything else so long as the level of your eyes is five feet above the floor. Looking out through the doorway and window you see that the level plane, or surface, of the water appears to end in the extreme distance in the horizon, that is, at the level of your eyes above the floor and also at the level of the eyes of the figure in the doorway. As you are looking parallel to the side walls of the room, which is square-cornered, you will see that the horizontal lines which point into the picture converge to the point marked C.V.P., the Central Vanishing Point. In illustration 1 it is half way between the left and right borders. In the lower illustration it is a little nearer the right border. Whenever a C.V.P. is used it should be placed within the middle third of the distance between the left and right borders.

To construct a drawing similar to that in illustration 1, we first draw the horizon and upon it locate the C.V.P. Next draw the shape of the wall across the room. If we allow the space between the horizon and the base of the wall to be considered a height of five feet, the height and width of the entire wall can readily be made of any proportion to that measure. The floor and ceiling and side walls are made by drawing lines from C.V.P. through the corners of the farthest wall.

The large square shape on the floor is made by first drawing a diagonal line across the floor at any angle which would allow its vanishing point to be in the horizon about as far outside of the picture as half the width of the picture itself. If such vanishing point is placed farther away we obtain an effect of being farther from the objects being drawn. From any two points on the diagonal line we can construct a square by drawing lines through the points toward C.V.P. as shown. The small square which marks the space the chair stands on is about three fourths of the size of the square enclosing it. The table covers a space of one and a half by four squares. This measuring by means of diagonals is quite helpful where accuracy is required. It is well to practice freehand ways of measuring proportions for general work, and particularly in the sketching of real objects.

To measure the height of the skeleton table in illustration 1, we make the height equal to one half the distance between the floor and the horizon, because a common table is two and a half feet high and our horizon in this case is five feet. The same method applies to the height of a common chair, which is about eighteen inches from the feet to the seat. The steps on the right are seven and a half inches each in height, because there are eight spaces of such measure between the floor and the horizon.

Illustration 2 shows that we have moved to the right, opposite the edge of the doorway, and have also lowered our eye level to about four feet above the floor, as if we were seated on a common chair. Otherwise the drawing is made by the same method as used in the making of illustration 1.

Knowledge is a Marketable State of Mind.

The perspective principles used in this plate 2 are the same as those in plate 1. In the upper illustration the objects used are known as type forms because each one represents its particular class in the most direct and simplified manner. Form 1 is a cube with a circle on the top of it. At 2, 2½ and 3 we have a square prism made up of three cubes. A prism may be of any length greater than its diameter. A portion of a prism which is shorter than its diameter is called a plinth. At 4 is a square plinth.. At 5 is a square plinth. Plinths, prisms and pyramids are classed according to the shapes of their bases; as square, triangular, hexagonal, etc. Triangular prisms are shown at 6 and 7; a square pyramid at 8, and cylinders at 9, 10, 11.

Observe, in both illustrations, that all horizontal lines which point directly into the picture converge in C.V.P. Observe also that all the vertical planes which are parallel to our so-called picture-plane (See footnote 1) are drawn true shape. Horizontal planes differ in proportion according to their distance from the horizon. For example, the cube at 1, in illustration 1, has a top which appears to be one half the width of the base from front to back because the top is one half as far from the horizon as is the base. The tops of cubes 2 and 3 are of equal proportion because they are equidistant from the horizon. The diagonals of the top of cube 3, if extended, make possible the construction of a square of any size centered on the cube. The under part of the plinth 4, being centered on cube 3, has the nearest projecting portion slightly greater than the farthest; while the other projecting portions, not foreshortened, are equal horizontally and greater than the nearest portion.

The foreshortened measure, that is, the distance from front to back, of the base of cube 1, if we make that before any other, determines the perspective of all horizontal squares in the picture. The diagonals of the square base of 1, if extended, have their vanishing points in the horizon. As all diagonals of horizontal squares which have edges parallel to our picture plane are drawn to these vanishing points it is possible to make such horizontal squares of any size anywhere in the picture, either below or above the horizon. Observe that the horizontal face of figure 7 is two squares long, and compare the proportion of the vertical squares of figure 5 with those of cube 1.

The lower illustration is made on the same principles as the upper one. The box covers revolve in circular curves and may be measured as shown. The cylinder at A shows circles which are foreshortened in proportion to distance from the center line.

Note 1. The picture plane is an imaginary transparent plane, located between the artist and the thing he is drawing. It is usually vertical.

Knowledge can Lead You Anywhere. So Beware!

Again, in this plate 3, the perspective principles are the same as in plates 1 and 2, as only one system of lines lead into the picture. Vertical lines are made vertical, regardless of height, and their measures are made true to scale, whether far above or below the horizon. Horizontal lines and lines at any other angle, if they are actually parallel to our picture plane, are also made true to scale.

To construct a street scene like that on plate 3, illustration 1, we first consider the location of our horizon. Shall we place it above or below half way down the space we allow for the drawing? To make ordinary views, such as we see when standing on a street, we place the horizon below half way when we expect to draw tall buildings or other tall objects in the foreground. In illustration 1 our horizon is in the level of the eyes of several of the figures, and that makes it appear about five feet above the ground. Illustration 2 also shows the horizon about five feet above the ground.

Let us assume we are making a drawing similar to that in the illustration 2. First we draw the horizon line and upon it locate the C.V.P. Next make two lines to represent the opposite sides of the street and on which the fronts of the buildings are to stand. From one side of the street draw a horizontal line across to the other side, as line A. The distance across the street is in proportion to the distance of line A from the horizon. Line A is about eight times the length of the vertical measure of five feet, making the width of the street about forty feet. Line B would prove to be the same, as to its proportion with the distance from the horizon.

To make the measuring of the heights of buildings somewhat easy for beginners, we find it best to make the height of each story ten feet. On the left part of illustration 2 the one story building is ten feet high to the roof line. The building next to it is several stories high and each story is ten feet. If, however, you wish to make

Reviews for Modern Pictorial Perspective

[Maria Eugenia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

El libro es muy bueno, las ilustraciones son claras y con buenos métodos.