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Lesson Plans:
Day Six: Drawing in Two-Point Perspective
Author: Kathryn Maxwell
Grade Level: Art Class Grade 8
Indiana Educational Standards: Visual Arts Standards 8 (Production)
8.8.1, 8.8.2
Rationale: Students are enthused about imitating technical skills.
Students are intrigued about the concept of three-dimensional space. Copying the
drawing of objects is less threatening to one’s confidence in middle school than
tackling a drawing unaided. Therefore, students can enjoy drawing architectural
structures in linear perspective when guided step-by-step by the instructor’s
example.
8.9.2
Preparation: The instructor will have available lightweight drawing
paper, a ruler, a pencil, and an eraser for each student. Extra pencils will be
available. The instructor will have a yardstick, chalk or erasable markers, and
a large chalkboard or erase board available on which to draw in front of the
class.
8.9.1
Objective: To enable the student’s perception and execution of the
techniques used in a two-point perspective drawing.
- Given step-by-step instruction, the student will be able
to use pencil, ruler, and paper to draw a building in two-point perspective.
- The student will draw a house with two dormers, a front
door, a shingled gable roof, one or two Federal style windows, at least two
side windows, a chimney, a front stoop with, two steps, and horizontal siding.
- As an enrichment goal, some students may also draw a
fenced-in patio, a balcony, a walkway advancing from the steps, and
landscaping shrubbery or a pool.
8.8.1 and 8.8.2
Introduction: The instructor will announce that it is time to begin
drawing buildings. To aide in this challenging effort, students will be able to
copy what the instructor draws step-by-step on the board. See the drawing
below. This activity will be completed together. If some students have
questions, the teacher or a fellow student will assist them so that all can
complete the drawing at the same time.
8.1.1
Lecture: A brief synopsis of the inventors of perspective.
We really must thank the Greeks and Romans for inventing the theory of
perspective and the use of vanishing points. But no one knows exactly who put
the drawing to paper twenty-five hundred years ago. We do know that the
late-thirteenth century artist, Giotto, tried to recreate perspective. His
attempts can be seen in many of his religious works that tell the life of Christ
through paintings and frescoes on basilica (church) walls. But Giotto could
never quite figure it out. In the late-fourteenth century, a young artist named
Fillippo Brunelleschi noted Giotto’s work as he studied art in Florence, Italy.
Brunelleschi was competing for the privilege of creating sculptured reliefs for
the famous Baptistery of Florence. He lost the bid. Thank goodness, because
after that, he focused his creativity on architecture and engineering. He began
studying Greek and Roman architecture and rediscovered the rules of perspective,
using a vanishing point to show relative size (changes in the size of objects
toward a disappearing point) and the illusion of depth. He could even explain it
in mathematical terms.
Brunelleschi went on to become the leader of the Florentine classical
revival in architecture. He engineered how to finish the dome in the famous
Duomo Basilica in Florence. There was a 104" hole at the top of the dome that no
one could figure out how to close. Brunelleschi did. His genius made him one of
the initiators of the Italian Renaissance, and his discoveries of the rules of
perspective had profound influence on others artists of his era. Everybody
wanted to put perspective in his or her paintings. It was the newest fad.
One young fifteenth century artist studying in Florence was intrigued by
Brunelleschi’s perspective. It is said that this artist, named Leonardo of the
town of Vinci, sat up on the hillsides near Florence studying red tile roofs on
the town's many buildings. And, eureka! Suddenly he visualized Brunelleschi’s
rules of perspective using vanishing points. Leonardo was so excited. He put
perspective in his paintings of Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Madonna of
the Rocks. DaVinci also admired Brunelleschi’s engineering feats and went on to
create a few of his own ingenious inventions.
Other artists joined the perspective movement. Pictures came to life.
People felt like they could virtually walk into the paintings. Art became
realistic with form and depth. Another cute young Florentine artist named
Raphael put perspective in his now famous painting called The School of Athens.
He also put all of his famous painting and sculpting buddies in the painting. It
would be fun to tell you more about that painting, but that is another art
history lesson for another day. Let’s use perspective.
8.8.2
Activity: Everyone should have a ruler, pencil, eraser, and paper. The
student will follow each of the teacher’s drawing steps as follows:
- Turn the paper horizontally and draw a horizontal line
across the middle of the paper with ruler and pencil. Label the line "horizon
line" at the right side of the paper.
- Next, draw two dots, one at each end of the horizon
line. Label the left dot VP1 for vanishing point one, and the right dot VP2
for vanishing point two.
- Draw a vertical line about three inches high in the
center of the paper. Half of this line will be above the horizon line. Write
the words "center vertical" at the top of the paper and draw an arrow from the
word vertical to the line just drawn.
- With your ruler, connect the top of the vertical line
with straight lines drawn to VP1 and VP2. Connect the bottom of the vertical
line with your ruler to the left and right vanishing point. Label one of the
lines you just drew "guidelines." Guidelines help us draw depth. Your drawing
should look like a kite.
Walls:
- About three inches to the left, draw a vertical line
that connects the top and bottom guideline. Label it wall. About five
inches to the right of the center vertical line, draw a vertical line that
connects from the top and bottom of the guidelines. Label it "wall"
also. These two vertical lines represent the left and right side of the house.
From now on, when I talk about the left side of the house, I will be referring
to everything left of the center vertical line that you drew. The right
side of the house will be everything to the right of the center
vertical line that you drew.
- On the left side, use your ruler to connect a very light
line from the bottom of the left wall to the top of the vertical line in the
middle of your paper. Use your ruler to connect the top of the left wall to
the bottom of the vertical line in the middle of your paper. Your two lines
should have crossed each other creating an "X."
- Draw a vertical line with your ruler about five inches
tall from the middle of the "X." We are going to make a simple pediment.
Roof:
- Beginning at the top of the vertical line you just drew,
use your ruler to connect a straight line to the top left corner of the left
wall. Beginning again at the top of the vertical line you drew, connect a
straight line to the top of the center vertical line on your paper. You
should have created a triangle. This triangle represents the pitch of a gable
roof that you are about to complete.
- Take your ruler and connect the top of the triangle to
the right VP2. Draw a light line. This line represents the top of your roof.
Label it "roofline." Now, lay your ruler so that it lines up with the right
side of the triangle you drew. You are going to make a parallel line. Slowly
slide your ruler across your paper, keeping the slant the same, until it
touches the top of your right wall. Draw a diagonal line along your ruler
connecting the top of your right wall to the roof guideline. If you were
successful, you should have a roof that has parallel lines on the left and
right side. The teacher will check your progress. Your drawing should look
like the outline of a house.
Door and windows:
- From the center vertical line on your house, draw dots
that are ½ inch apart, beginning at the top of the center vertical to the
bottom. You will have six to eight dots. These dots will help us line up
windows and siding on both sides of the house. Connect your ruler from the
second dot from the top to the right VP2. Draw a light guideline. Label this
line "doorline." This line will be the top of a door and window that we are
about to draw.
- To draw the door, move the ruler about an inch to the
right of the center vertical line. Draw a vertical from the "doorline" to the
bottom of the house. Move your ruler to the right about an inch and draw
another vertical line from the "doorline" to the bottom of the house. You now
have a door. Draw an oval doorknob on your door.
- To make the window, go to your line of dots. Count down
five dots. From the fifth dot take your ruler and draw a light line from the
dot to the right VP2. Label this line "windowline." This guideline
represents the bottom of the window. The top of the window will be drawn on
the "doorline." Place your ruler vertically on the page so that the left side
of the ruler lines up with the right side of the door. Slide your ruler about
an inch to the right. Draw a vertical line from the "windowline" guideline to
the "doorline." This is the left side of your window. Slide your ruler
to the right about one and a half inches and draw another vertical line from
the "windowline" to the "doorline." You should have a window opening. You may
divide your window into sections by adding one or two more vertical lines.
Windows on the left side of the house:
- Starting with dot five on your center vertical, with
your ruler connect a straight light line to the left VP1. This will be your
left "windowline." Starting at the second dot from the top of your center
vertical, with your ruler connect a straight light line from the dot to the
left VP1. This is your left "doorline." You will make two windows on the left
side of the house. The windows will be about ¾" wide. Leave about an inch of
space between them. Connect two sets of vertical lines drawn from the "doorline"
to the "windowline." If you were successful, you have two windows.
Check your progress with the teacher or a fellow student. You can draw a
window sash, which is the horizontal middle of the window.
- Half way down the window on the right, place a dot. With
your ruler, draw a light line from that dot to the left VP1. This is your
guideline for your window sash. Darken the sash line inside each window.
Chimney:
- From the right side of the roof, draw three vertical
lines about a ½" apart. Make the middle line a little taller. Take your ruler
and connect the top of the middle line to the left VP1. Draw a darken line
from top middle chimney line to the left chimney line. Now, take your ruler
and connect the top middle chimney line to the right VP2. Darken the line
from the top middle chimney line to the right vertical chimney line. You can
make bricks on your chimney. Put dots on the center vertical chimney line
about ¼" apart. Connect the dots with your ruler to the left and right VP. The
brick lines on the left of the chimney will angle to the left VP1, and the
bricks lines on the right will angle to the right VP2. Draw the vertical grout
lines about ¼" apart.
Siding:
- Siding is drawn using guidelines from the center
vertical dots. Siding on the left side of the house is drawn with a ruler
connecting the center dots to the left VP1. Siding on the right side of the
house is drawn with a ruler from the center dots to the right VP2.
Shingles:
- Remember the triangle we drew to make the pitch of the
roof? Along the right side of the triangle, make dots about ½" apart. With a
ruler, connect these dots with light lines to the right VP2. This will create
the rows of shingles. To divide the rows into individual shingles, turn your
ruler to a diagonal that is parallel to the roof angle. Draw angled lines
along the rows of shingles. You do not have to draw every single shingle. I
suggest about twenty angled lines.
Steps:
- Lay your ruler so that it connects the bottom left side
of the door with the left VP1. Draw a line along your ruler from the door to
the right about 1½". Lay your ruler so that it connects the bottom right side
of the door to the left VP1. Draw a line along your ruler starting from the
door to the right about 1½". Lay your ruler at the end of these two lines and
angle it to the right VP2. Connect with a line. This is the top of the step.
Draw three small vertical lines about ½" long down from the top three corners
of the step. From the center ½" line, use your ruler to draw the bottom of the
step on the left to the left VP1. From the same center ½" line, use your ruler
to draw a line to the right VP2. This should complete the step. Try to make
another step. Check work with your teacher or fellow student.
Dormers:
- The dormers are nothing more than windows with pediments
on top of them drawn in perspective. The bottom of the dormers will start from
a guideline drawn from the second to the last roof dot to the right VP2. Make
the vertical part of the dormer window about 2" tall and about 1" wide. Leave
about 1½" of space between the dormer windows. The top and bottom of the
dormer windows line up with the right VP2. From the top middle of each window,
draw a vertical line about 1". Starting from the window on the left, use your
ruler to connect the top of that 1" vertical with a light guideline to VP2.
The top of the second dormer must not be drawn above that line. This makes the
dormers in perspective to each other. To finish the "pediments" of these
windows, take your ruler and connect a line from the top of the 1" verticals
to the left and right corners of each window. This is the front of the dormer.
The side of the dormer starts with a guideline drawn with a ruler from the top
of the "pediment" toward VP1. This line will be about 2" long. Do this on each
window. Then, from the top left corner of the dormer window, with your ruler
draw a line that again angles to the left VP1. Do this to both windows. This
should look like you have a roof on the left side of your dormers. To put
shingles on the dormer roofs, angle the shingle rows toward VP1. To complete
the left side of the dormer, begin at the bottom left corner of the window.
Draw a 2" line that is parallel to the angle or "pitch" of the roof. Do this
on the left side of each dormer window. The "rooflines" of the dormers should
intersect with this diagonal "pitch" line. There is room here to put a little
siding on your dormer. The siding will angle to the left VP1. If you are great
at two-point perspective and finished early, you may add a porch, veranda,
driveway, sidewalk, shrubbery, or swimming pool to your dwelling.
There, you have drawn a house in two-point
perspective and are ready for the next lesson.
Materials:
- 12" to 18" smooth–edged rulers
- Erasers
- 8 ½" x 11" to 12" x 18" newsprint or lightweight paper
- 2H pencils
- Large chalkboard or erase board
- Chalk
- Yardstick
- Erasable markers
Resources:
Optional: "Art Textbooks for Individual Student Exploration" handout
can be used by students in their spare time. |
