TWELVE
I HATE PERSPECTIVE !…?
Who hates perspective? Put up your hand. For twenty years I would have been one of the first to put up my hand!
But then, something happened …
changed my point of view
For most of my artistic life I avoided perspective like the plague, only putting the minimal amount required. But about five years ago something changed. Several things actually. The first I really began to appreciate how perspective and point of view could add so much emotional storytelling to an illustration.
observe
The first thing that happened is I started looking at the world around me. Appreciating the places and stories that were right in my neighborhood.
technology
I never really understand perspective all that well. I had intuitive control and knowledge of how it worked. But a working knowledge is very different and requires a lot of time and practice, ie. hard work. But as mentioned I hated perspective, it was too hard. Procreate changed that, the perspective grids were so easy once I started using them that perspective became a no brainer to do. And by doing it so much, I also gained a strong working knowledge to make doing perspective free hand easy enough that it became enjoyable.
looked at things differently
As I looked at the world around me, I also looked at how perspective was used by other artists and how it could be used in my own. Most of my work has been drawn at eye level, years of drawing. But once I started experimenting with point of view and perspective in my drawings, not only did the environments change, but how I drew characters.
play
Another thing I did was give up. Give up on taking myself and my work so seriously. I started thinking of it as a game or fun time. That allowed me to loosen up and just experiment and try things. Use some perspective without worrying if I was doing it right. Funny thing, once I did that I began to draw perspective better.
perspective is everywhere
Once I started using perspective more, I realized it could help all my drawing, including organic settings such as forests. Trees are in perspective just as much as buildings.
telling a story
Perhaps the biggest inspiration for using perspective was seeing how well it could add to storytelling, drama, and emotions in a picture.
multiply
Sometimes even using perspective grids is a bit time consuming. Using a complex human made object like a bridge can take a lot of time. Building a model and just moving it in perspective and taking screen shots to use as reference is a real life saver.
complex shapes
And complex shapes in perspective are still difficult and take forever. The brain energy saved using a 3d model to define multiple perspective point is an environment or character makes a big difference.
It’s MAgic!
Drawing is magic, and like magic it’s fake!
Artists are illusionists trying to create a convincing reality, but it is not reality. We make up the rules. In the analogue world if you want to draw a perfectly straight line you use a ruler, or a compass to draw a circle – not everything is done free hand.
Likewise the digital world has many tools that can help. 3D modelling programs such as SketchUp, Blender, or Zbrush. Drawing assist programs in Clip Studio, and Procreate.
This is not to say technology is a replacement for good drawing, but trying to find a balance that works for you and is a healthy and sustainable/symbiotic relationship. Romancing the art of drawing or luddite philosophy towards new methodology could leave an artist behind.
convincing not perfect
I recently read an article that discussed how perfectionism can be a very negative trait which can lead to difficulties in work and life. When you’re doing these drawings try to avoid to fall into this trap. As you draw remember it is a process and it’s about learning to get better, try not to expect instant gratification. Some tips in drawing perspective:
Start at a basic level by working with simplified shapes. Just eyeball your perspective at first and keep your vanishing points farther away with one of them off the page. Get in the habit of thinking of every object being pinched smaller and tapering as it moves away. Imagine the drawings as futuristic cities or space ports – eventually they can actually be used for future drawings. Challenge yourself by gradually increasing the difficulty level, try different mediums, lighting, and points of view for example.
Use your illusion
I am always impressed when I see an experienced truck driver effortlessly turn a rig around a tight corner or parallel park, they seem to do it without a second thought. I personally can’t imagine myself doing it without some major parked car collateral damage.
I felt that way with drawing environments, it was an accident waiting to happen. But recently I’ve been doing them quite a lot and actually enjoying it – how the heck did that happen?
I didn’t do it alone. I had help. Like I mentioned before, when I want to draw a straight line on a piece a paper I’ll use a ruler. When I want to keep things straight in a digital drawing I use a 3D modelling or drawing assist programs.
gamification
Not unlike parking semi trucks, some people are good with spacial reasoning, geometry, reading comprehension, data retention, and other helpful skills for drawing in perspective. I’m not good with any of that! But I am pretty good at drawing, so it makes sense that I could learn perspective by drawing a lot of it … right? But man it hurts my brain.
Long ago I learned that if I enjoy something I can usually learn it, but if I don’t, forget about it. Gamification is a new word that talks about the idea of applying gaming principles in other contexts. So for instance perhaps I could learn perspective by making a game of it – making it fun.
Put it in perspective
Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan suggested that in the modern world technology drives change. And what drives creativity is adjusting to that change.
This drawing features objects in over a dozen different angles of perspective but it was a breeze to do thanks to the drawing guides in Procreate. For a digital artist drawing assist can be an amazing tool, and makes drawing perspective simple.
Clip Studio Paint also has a perspective guide system that is very customizable. Unfortunately Photoshop is behind the curve, but there are ways to make static perspective guides that can be helpful. It’s worth trying these methods, just check out some video tutorials online to compare, it really can make perspective fun …
… or less painful at the very least!
practice, practice,
practice … makes perfect. Whenever I try to practice perspective in an applied setting such as drawing from life or for a project I break out in the brain sweats. And I don’t get much practice, like most humans I avoid pain, perspective is a pain. But I enjoy mindless drawing. You might remember this from before coming to art school when you would draw just for the pure joy of it. In my sketchbook I find a lot of joy and relaxation when I draw random, abstracted, or non objective drawings. It’s very peaceful to just follow your pencil’s lead.
And I have found this to be a fun and effective way to work on my perspective drawings. In my sketchbook I draw basic geometric shapes in compositions, sometimes completely random, sometimes aligned along a vanishing point like in a video game.
shape game
As an exercise to get started try playing a game of “Tetris Sketch”. Inspired by the classic video game the idea is to draw geometric shapes in perspective. Initially start with at least 3 shapes that have multiple sides and extrusions. Draw them one by one and have them vanish to completely different vanishing points. Draw freehand for 30 - 45 minutes on a half sheet of paper using line with three values.
If you find this fun and can get yourself to do it on a regular basis you’re sure to get more comfortable with drawing perspective. And you can increase the difficulty as you draw by exploring new levels such as drawing all the shapes aligned to a single set of vanishing points, from different points of view, or more extreme perspective.