Thursday, September 06, 2007

It's All A Matter of Perspective

The following is the basics of a perspective worksheet I put together for my grade 6s after we had talked about the basics of perspective drawing. I drew simple examples of each on the board but DON'T PANIC! you can always look at some examples to help you here .
I will work on getting some images on here for people to use as printable examples.

Feel free to copy and paste it into a Word document, don't forget to add spaces between each activity!

Vocabulary and definitions that are helpful are:
horizon (line)- A line where land (or water) meets the sky. Vanishing point(s) are generally on this line.

vanishing point
-The spot(s) where lines in a drawing appear to meet giving the illusion of depth to a drawing. The most common would be in 1 point perspective where railroad tracks or road lines converge at the horizon.

worm's eye view
- The upward view, the viewer can see the bottoms of things. When drawing a floating box you can see (depending on the points used) the front, side(s) and bottom of the box. Imagine what a worm would see looking up. The horizon is usually low in the page.

bird's eye view- The downward view, the viewer can see the tops of things. When drawing a floating box you can see (depending on the points used) the front, side(s) and top of the box. Imagine what a flying bird would see. The horizon is usually higher on the page.

normal view- The view at eye level. The viewer can only see the front and side(s) of the box. The horizon is generally in the center of the page. The horizontal center of the box would be the same as the horizon BUT depending on the points used the box can be drawn so that the front and one side or two sides are showing.

one point perspective- A perspective that uses only one vanishing point.

two point perspective- A perspective that uses two vanishing points. ( This is more complex to do and students who haven't mastered one point will find it VERY frustrating.)

Click on the link to connect you to the worksheet with the major assignment for students.
It's All a Matter of Perspective

1 comment:

megan sinclair said...

Wow! What a wealth of information, I am really looking forward to exploring all of the links, lesson plans, and contextual info that you have provided. It is inspiring to hear from someone who is so immersed in an artistic sensibility. i am avidly interested in learning more about artists, historical context, etc. and I Love Picasso and Klimt so I hope that I get a chance to apply your lesson plans sometime! If possible can you extend your enticing little tidbit re the principle (forgot what it is called already)connected to ancient architecture etc. that you associate with Matthew's fiddlehead picture? Looking forward to hearing more...