One-Point Perspective NOTES

Vocabulary One-point Perspective- Where all objects look like they disappear into the distance while one side faces forward to the picture plane. Horizon Line- Where the sky and the land meet, often far off in the distance. Vanishing Point- Lines that are parallel and level with the ground in your picture plane appear to meet at the same point on the horizon line.  This point on the horizon is called the vanishing point.  Think of standing on a railroad track and looking down the row of wooden ties.  They appear to get smaller and closer together in the distance. Picture Plane- This is the area of the picture we are drawing.  It is controlled by the size of our paper, canvas, or fabric.  The picture plane is the “window” we are seeing our subject matter through.

Vocab 2 Horizontal- Left & Right, parallel with the bottom of your picture plane Vertical- Up & Down, parallel with the side of your picture plane Orthogonal Lines- diagonal lines coming from the vanishing point.

Vocab 3 Receding- To go towards the back or move away Foreshortening- The term foreshortening refers to the artistic effect of shortening lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth.

Check This Out… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv1LFjApbKk&NR=1

Early History The earliest art paintings and drawings typically sized objects and characters hieratically according to their spiritual or thematic importance, not their distance from the viewer, and did not use foreshortening. The most important figures are often shown as the highest in a composition, also from hieratic motives, leading to the "vertical perspective", common in the art of Ancient Egypt, where a group of "nearer" figures are shown below the larger figure or figures. The only method to indicate the relative position of elements in the composition was by overlapping, of which much use is made in works like the Parthenon Marbles.

Renaissance : Mathematical Basis The use of perspective: The first major treatment of the painting as a window into space appeared in the work of Giotto di Bondone, at the beginning of the 14th century. True linear perspective was formalized later, by Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti. In addition to giving a more realistic presentation of art, it moved Renaissance painters into composing more paintings.

Christ Handing the Keys to St Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter by Pietro Perugino (1481-82) Fresco, 335 x 550 cm Cappella Sistina, Vatican

Using one perspective, parallel lines converge to one point somewhere in the distance. This point is called the vanishing point (VP). This gives objects an impression of depth. When drawing using one point perspective all objects vanish to one common point somewhere on the horizon.

One point perspective is of limited use, the main problem being that the perspective is too pronounced for small products making them looking bigger than they actually are. So when would you use one point perspective? One area where one point perspective can be quite useful is for sketching room layouts.

What it looks like… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfBkj8QfcTM&NR=1