1. Vanishing Point Drawings 4 th Grade February Art Project West Mercer Elementary Art Enrichment Program

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3. Lesson Overview Lesson: Vanishing Point Time:60 minutes Volunteers: 3 Medium: pencil and paper Curriculum connection: geometry, perspective Project Overview/Skills Students will look at several prints and discuss horizon lines, vanishing points and the locations of objects in the foreground and background. They will create one or more line drawings that show one point perspective. Any perspective representation of a scene that includes parallel lines has one or more vanishing points in a perspective drawing. A one-point perspective drawing means that the drawing has a single vanishing point, usually (though not necessarily) directly opposite the viewer's eye and usually (though not necessarily) on the horizon line. All lines parallel with the viewer's line of sight recede to the horizon towards this vanishing point. This is the standard "receding railroad tracks" phenomenon. Any number of vanishing points are possible in a drawing, one for each set of parallel lines that are at an angle relative to the plane of the drawing. vanishing points

4. Large Prints (found in Library conference room) Print Suggestions- in order of how they build the lesson 34.4Currier and IvesThe Happy Family (foreground, background) 43Evergood, PhilipSunny Street (vanishing point) 34.1Currier and IvesAmerican Express Train (curved path) 20Brueghel, PieterWinter Scene (winding path) * 20.4CanalletoSquare of Saint Mark (2 point perspective) ** This print is an excellent example of all the elements of one point perspective and vanishing point, and even though it was painted hundreds of years ago, it has a very contemporary feel, and the students seem to easily relate to it. Note how the figures in the background are tiny, and the diminishing size of the trees mark the distance to the horizon, and the details everywhere along the curving stream. ** A more sophisticated example of perspective drawing, this print uses two vanishing points, and makes excellent use of shadows to suggest a third point, the sun. Ask the students if they can identify where the artist was probably sitting when he painted it.

5. Materials Needed 2-3 sheets of scratch paper per student, and more as needed white construction paper- half sheet for each student Sharpened pencils, and rulers Colors (pencils, markers, oil pastels, crayons -- students choose) Black sharpies

6. Display Once the project is finished, student work should be mounted on colored paper and displayed either in the classroom or in the designated area in the hallway. If there are some who have not finished, please check with the teacher on how they would like to proceed. Do not assume that it ok to continue the project after the allotted time.

7. Project Notes Ask the students if they have ever seen a picture or painting that made them feel like they could walk right into it. Paintings like these use perspective - a way to make a 2 dimensional canvas look 3 dimensional. In 3rd Grade, we taught a lesson called Rousseau’s Jungle, where the students learned about foreground and background. These pictures gave us a 2-dimensional sense of depth. With perspective, we learn how to create a 3-dimensional image.

8. What is perspective?

9. Canalleto, “Piazza San Marco-Square of Saint Mark”

10. Useful Vocabulary Horizon Line: the horizontal line where the sky meets the earth. Vanishing Point: the point on the horizon where images disappear. Foreground: images that appear to be nearest to the viewer. Background: images that appear to be further away from the viewer. Mid-ground: the point in the picture that separates foreground from background.

11. Currier and Ives – Happy Family Artists use perspective to “trick your eyes” into seeing depth. There are loose sheets in the lesson box with receding railroad tracks, yellow brick roads, etc. that you can use. Have the students spot the horizon lines and the vanishing points in the picture. Have them identify objects that seem close (in the foreground) and those that seem far away (in the background). Once they can identify these terms in these easier pictures, move on to show several prints. Show print 34.4 (Currier & Ives, The Happy Family, Ruffled Grouse and Young), and let the students study it for a few minutes. Have the students identify foreground and background, and discuss how the artists have show perspective. Can they locate the horizon line? Where is located in the print - near the top? Bottom? Artists often follow a 1/3 - 2/3 format (1/3 sky and 2/3 ground or visa versa). Is there a path in the picture that leads the viewer’s eye into the picture? Does it end at a vanishing point?

12. Currier and Ives, “The Happy Family”

13. Brueghel- Winter Scene Show print 43 and/or print 20 (Sunny Street by Evergood, Winter Scene by Brueghel). Have them look at the objects in the picture and decide which ones are closest and which ones are farther away. How has the artist placed them so that they look close or far away? Objects close to the viewer will be farther from the horizon line. Objects become progressively smaller and seem farther away as you get closer to the Horizon Line (in Winter Scene, note how the trees become progressively smaller as you approach the horizon line). Objects in front are larger and may overlap images behind them. After they are comfortable with the way an artist can show depth, hand out the practice sheets and walk them through a couple of examples.

14. Pieter Brueghel, “Winter Scene”

15. Today’s Project Practice drawing a horizon line and single point perspective

16. Step 1 - Practice! We will make several practice drawings and one final drawing 2-3 pieces of scratch paper a sharp pencil to each student. Perspective Formula either: 1/3 sky and 2/3 ground or 2/3 sky and 1/3 ground

17. Step 2 - Drawing Exercises Draw straight vertical lines across the page, some starting at the top, others starting from the bottom. Draw horizontal lines, going from left to right, and them right to left. Draw wavy lines. Draw parallel wavy lines, both horizontal and vertical, and at angles. Practice drawing basic shapes: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles.

18. Teaching Notes Give each student a piece of scratch paper with 4 rectangles drawn on it (see end of lesson). They will be doing a couple of practice sketches to get the idea of drawing perspective. The students will draw sketches that include a horizon line and a path that starts at the bottom of the page (close to the viewer) and ends at a Vanishing Point. NOTE: This part works best if you put the sample sheet under a document camera. Have the class copy you, step-by-step. You make ONE line, they copy it. You make the NEXT line, they copy it. If you go slow like this, the class will better understand the lesson. You can put the 4-rectangle sheet under the document camera OR you could use one large sheet of paper for each example (whatever you think shows up best for them to copy you). IMPORTANT POINT: Make sure the students understand that the parallel lines CONVERGE (come together) at the vanishing point. Some kids miss this part.

19. Step 3 – Straight Path Practice Put paper in landscape position Draw lines to divide the next practice sheet into quadrants. Each one will be a different sketch In the first box, draw a horizon line with a ruler just over halfway up the box. Place a small dot for the vanishing point on the horizon line and two dots at the bottom of the box for the starting points of their path. Using a ruler, draw lines that connect these dots to the vanishing points. To increase the illusion of depth, add something to the horizon-- mountains, cityscape, sunset etc.

20. Step 4 – Offset Practice In the next square, draw the horizon line. Make a dot for a vanishing point on the far right side of the horizon line. Make two dots for the starting point of their path. Make one dot on the far left side of the bottom of the box; the other dot can be more in the middle. Using a ruler, draw lines that connect the two dots at the bottom of the box to the offset vanishing point. add something on the horizon (different from their first box). You also could suggest adding freeway lines, which will start big and get progressively smaller as they approach the horizon line.

21. Step 5 – Winding Path Practice In the next square, draw the horizon line. Put a dot on the horizon line for a vanishing point. Put two dots for the starting point of their path (bottom of the box). lightly draw a horizontal line halfway between the bottom of the square and the horizon line. Using a straight edge, draw from the dots at the bottom of the page toward the vanishing point on the horizon line, but stop at the lightly drawn middle line (imagine you are connecting the lines to this vanishing point). This is where you will put a bend in their path. Draw a second vanishing point on the horizon line for the new direction of the path, and finish connecting the path lines from the middle, lightly drawn to this new point.

22. Step 6 – Final Drawing 1 sheet of white construction paper draw any one-point perspective drawing style of your choosing Things to remember: – details near the horizon line are tiny – details in the foreground/bottom are large