Perspective

Perspective

Perspective is a technique artists use to represent three-dimensional things on a two-dimensional surface. In real life, objects appear smaller the farther away they are, and parallel lines appear to come together as they extend into the distance. In digital art, understanding perspective can help artists create that illusion of depth and distance, especially when designing environments that need to be multi-dimensional rather than flat.

Below are essential terms to understand:

Horizon line: The viewer’s eye level. This is where the sky meets the ground level. The horizon line does not have to be at a specific height. The position of the horizon line can change depending on whether you are looking up, down, or straight ahead.

Vanishing point: A point on the horizon line where lines converge in order to create depth. There can be multiple vanishing points that determine the different types of perspectives.

Take this picture, for example, the road appears more narrow as it stretches into the distance, eventually meeting the horizon line at the vanishing point.

Here, we can see that the vanishing point does not necessarily have to be in the middle of the artwork.

Perspective can be represented in several different ways, with one of the most common being linear perspective.

Linear perspective is a technique that uses vanishing points and guidelines to simulate depth.

Like its name suggests, one-point perspective holds a single vanishing point on the horizon line. This perspective is typically used when looking straight ahead, such as through a city, down a hallway, or down a road. It’s important to note that the vertical lines don’t touch, as they are strictly parallel lines. If they were to lean vertically, the drawing would no longer stay in one point perspective, but rather shift towards a 3-point perspective. We’ll explore why further in section 1c.

How to approach this perspective:

When starting perspectives for the first time, it is easier to understand if we break it down into 3D shapes, or boxes. This simplifies complex objects, preventing you from getting lost in the details. Using a grid to guide your work is helpful, but feel free to draw your own as well!

A two-point perspective uses 2 vanishing points on the horizon line instead of one. This perspective is utilized when drawing corners, buildings, or interiors. It creates the effect of seeing two sides of one object/background at once.

The corner (the red line) divides the drawing. One set of lines converges to one vanishing point, while another set converges to another. Similarly to one point perspective, vertical lines don’t meet.

Guidelines + Artwork Example:

Below is a detailed drawing process of drawing two point perspectives.

First, equip your perspective grid or draw out your guidelines. Start by sketching out what you want your environment to be like. Each element of the artwork is drawn with simplified boxes or straight lines, as we want to have a readable and clear structure. 

You can easily break down complex scenery with simplified shapes, then progressively make them more detailed with depth.

After figuring out your perspective structure and inking your piece, you can move onto adding flats. Adding color can support your perspective, strengthening the illusion of depth by making your artwork look three-dimensional.

Keep in mind that not every element of your piece will be structured with rigid, straight lines. So after you've established the basic structure and perspective, feel free to adjust lines to be curved to better capture the form and character of the subject. For example, many objects in this drawing, like the plants and trees, were drawn with curves instead of a rigid box shape. Although still a work in progress, you can easily read the perspective of this drawing even without the final details. This is the type of clarity you want to achieve in your own artwork.

A three-point perspective is an extension to a two-point perspective with two differences– it uses three vanishing points instead of two and non-parallel lines. Like two-point perspective, it has two vanishing points on the horizon line, but adds one more point either above or below it. This third point changes how vertical lines acted before, because they all now converge to this third point instead of staying parallel. Because of this third point, the three-point perspective creates a dramatic feeling, and it can be used to emphasize depth and perspective.

3-point perspectives are usually drawn to represent looking up from above, or down at shorter ones. Looking up at skyscrapers is an example of this.

Here is how to draw in 3 point perspective:

Also known as aerial perspective, this technique creates depth through color and value rather than lines. The farther the object, the lighter, less saturated, and less detailed it appears. In other words, the farther away, the less clear it appears.

An easy way to explain this is to look at the foreground, midground, and background.

The foreground is the area that is closest to the viewer. Objects typically appear more detailed and defined.

The midground sits between the foreground and the background, acting as a transition between them. Colors usually become less saturated.

An easy composition to use for atmospheric perspective is to place the main subject in the midground. It should be the main focal point and the most readable part of the drawing, meaning it has stronger and well defined edges or shapes compared to the rest of the scene. It can still be affected by atmospheric perspective, but clear enough to hold details.

The foreground and background should behave as supporting elements and be less visible than the midground. Elements in the foreground may be larger, but they are darker and less detailed, or blurred. The background, on the other hand, is typically less saturated and muted.

The background is the furthest part of the artwork and is most affected by this perspective.

Objects in the background usually appear lighter in value and have lower contrast. Usually in landscapes, backgrounds will appear greyish-blue. Details don’t have to be intricate in backgrounds, as they are usually not the main focus.

Now that we’ve discussed both atmospheric and linear perspective, what do they look like together? While linear perspective builds the structure by its use of vanishing points and horizon lines, atmospheric perspective enhances the atmosphere by using color and detail.

Linear perspective allows the viewers to gain a sense of depth and even realism by ensuring that objects are correctly proportioned. This functions well on its own, but atmospheric perspective further enhances the sense of distance and naturally guides the viewer’s focus towards the main subject. When combined together, this creates structure and strengthens the illusion of depth, allowing the viewer to be immersed in the scene.

If done right, you can achieve a beautiful piece like shown above.This painting combines point atmospheric and two point perspective to capture both sides of a street on a rainy, foggy day.

Although perspective is a tough skill to conquer, once you learn it, it can become one of the most reliable skills you have. Now that you’ve learned about the different types of perspectives, it’s your turn to take this knowledge and apply it to your work!

Here are 3 exercises you can try on your own:

Understanding perspective is essential for creating artworks or environments with depth and structure. Although learning these skills will be useful for your art journey, understand that truly mastering and understanding a topic like this will take time, and most importantly, practice! After you’ve practiced these skills, I recommend moving on from shapes into more detailed works in all types of perspectives.