Perspective Without Pain (North Light 20th Anniversary Classic Editions)

226 Pages·1992·6.01 MB·English

by  Phil Metzger

Perspective
Without Pain
Phil Metzger
NORTH LIGHT BOOKS
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.artistsnetwork.com
Perspective Without Pain. Copyright © 1992 by Phil Metzger. Manufactured in
China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and
retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a
reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light
Books, an imprint of F + W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road,
Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. [phone]. First edition.
Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply
store or direct from the publisher.
10 19
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Metzger, Philip W.
Perspective without pain/Phil Metzger.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-89134-446-9
ISBN-10: 0-89134-446-2
1. Perspective. 2. Drawing—Technique. I. Title NC750.M48 1992
742—dc20
91-43309
CIP
Designer: Clare Finney
To Shirley Porter
Acknowledgments
When North Light asked me to consider writing a book on perspective, my
greedy eyes lit up and I said, “SURE!” I figured perspective was a snap and I
could knock it off in a few weeks. Months later and somewhat chastened, I
realized that there was more to the subject than met the eye. There are thick
books about perspective that dig deep into the mathematics and mystery of the
subject. My job was to come up with a book that dispelled the mystery and
concentrated on those aspects of perspective that someone in the “fine arts”
would need to know. If you're an architect or an engineer, this book is not for
you. But if you draw and paint as a hobby or for a living, I think you'll find it
just about right.
I want to thank two people who participated in producing this book: Linda
Sanders, my excellent editor at North Light, who kept steering me in the
direction a book of this kind must take and really worked with me rather than sit
back and accept whatever I threw her way; and Shirley Porter, who supplied a
couple of the sketches in the book, but who mainly read my prose before I
submitted it to Linda and savagely deleted most of the dumber things I had
written. I honestly thank you both.
Perspective: the science of painting and drawing so that objects represented have
apparent depth and distance.…
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Contents
Part One:
The Basics
Overlap
Size and Space Variation
Modeling
Detail and Edges
Color and Value Change
Converging Lines
Vanishing Point and Eye Level
Estimating Angles
Part Two:
Boxes and Beyond
A Simple Box in Perspective
Drawing Through
Finding Hidden Edges
Playing with Vanishing Points
Getting the Angles Right
The Perspective Center
Using the Perspective Center
Troubleshooting
Placing Doors and Windows
Boxes Within Boxes
Building a Glass House
Collections
Differing Elevations
Part Three:
Curves and Inclines
Circles and Ellipses
Circular Objects
Combinations of Cylinders
Arches
Exaggeration as an Aid to Seeing
Measuring Relative Sizes
More Vanishing Points
Some Vertical Lines Converge
Looking Up
Inclines
Roads, Paths, and Streets
Fields and Streams
Stairs
Beyond Eyeballing
Common Goofs
Conclusion
Part One:
The Basics
If you're like most painters, you probably work hard at trying to make a flat
surface appear to have depth. You look at the three-dimensional scene in front of
you and sweat to get it down convincingly on your two-dimensional paper or
canvas, but sometimes you're frustrated. A distant object doesn't look so distant
on your paper, or an object seems the wrong size compared to another, or a
building looks as though it's sliding off the page.
You're not alone. We all struggle throughout our careers to make our drawing
more convincing. Some teachers say that our drawing problems are all magically
solved once we learn to see better. If you see better, so the argument goes, you'll
automatically draw better.
I think that's too simplistic. In order to draw well, four things are needed:
1. Seeing
2. Understanding
3. Practice
4. Technique
Seeing
Seeing means looking at the subject you're about to draw and analyzing it as a
bunch of abstract shapes, colors, values and textures.
You must overcome what you “know” about the object. An editor at North
Light Books who teaches figure drawing says that students drawing a model
standing on a platform often have trouble drawing the platform correctly. They
“know” the surface of the platform is a rectangle, and tend to draw it that way.
The result is something like the drawing at upper right.
If they were to draw what they actually see, rather than what they know,
they'd come up with something like the second sketch.