Vanishing Point Drawings 4 th Grade February Art

Vanishing Point Drawings 4 th Grade February Art Project West Mercer Elementary Art Enrichment Program

What is perspective?

Canalleto, “Piazza San Marco-Square of Saint Mark”

Useful Vocabulary • Horizon Line: the horizontal line where the sky meets the earth. • Vanishing Point: the point on the horizon where images disappear. • Foreground: images that appear to be nearest to the viewer. • Background: images that appear to be further away from the viewer. • Mid-ground: the point in the picture that separates foreground from background.

Currier and Ives, “The Happy Family”

Pieter Brueghel, “Winter Scene”

Today’s Project • Practice drawing a horizon line and single point perspective

Step 1 - • Practice! • We will make several practice drawings and one final drawing • 2 -3 pieces of scratch paper • a sharp pencil to each student. • Perspective Formula either: 1/3 sky and 2/3 ground or 2/3 sky and 1/3 ground

Step 2 - Drawing Exercises • Draw straight vertical lines across the page, some starting at the top, others starting from the bottom. • Draw horizontal lines, going from left to right, and them right to left. • Draw wavy lines. Draw parallel wavy lines, both horizontal and vertical, and at angles. • Practice drawing basic shapes: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles.

Step 3 – Straight Path Practice • Put paper in landscape position • Draw lines to divide the next practice sheet into quadrants. Each one will be a different sketch • In the first box, draw a horizon line with a ruler just over halfway up the box. • Place a small dot for the vanishing point on the horizon line and two dots at the bottom of the box for the starting points of their path. • Using a ruler, draw lines that connect these dots to the vanishing points. • To increase the illusion of depth, add something to the horizon-mountains, cityscape, sunset etc.

Step 4 – Offset Practice • In the next square, draw the horizon line. • Make a dot for a vanishing point on the far right side of the horizon line. • Make two dots for the starting point of their path. Make one dot on the far left side of the bottom of the box; the other dot can be more in the middle. • Using a ruler, draw lines that connect the two dots at the bottom of the box to the offset vanishing point. • add something on the horizon (different from their first box). You also could suggest adding freeway lines, which will start big and get progressively smaller as they approach the horizon line.

Step 5 – Winding Path Practice • • • In the next square, draw the horizon line. Put a dot on the horizon line for a vanishing point. Put two dots for the starting point of their path (bottom of the box). lightly draw a horizontal line halfway between the bottom of the square and the horizon line. Using a straight edge, draw from the dots at the bottom of the page toward the vanishing point on the horizon line, but stop at the lightly drawn middle line (imagine you are connecting the lines to this vanishing point). This is where you will put a bend in their path. Draw a second vanishing point on the horizon line for the new direction of the path, and finish connecting the path lines from the middle, lightly drawn to this new point.

Step 6 – Final Drawing • 1 sheet of white construction paper • draw any one-point perspective drawing style of your choosing • Things to remember: – details near the horizon line are tiny – details in the foreground/bottom are large