Basic Drawing- Perspective in Drawing

Today we continued our study of line, focusing on the concept of perspective, a tool used in two dimensional art to depict volume and space, among other things. I did a quick demonstration of one and two point perspective, then we did a few drawing exercises of drawing simple geometric solids from a set up, paying close attention to their relative location to the table, the artist, and each other.

The Assignment - We did two exercises. In each the goal was to draw exactly what was seen, paying attention to the proportions and shapes of the box/can tops and sides, to the positions of the still life elements on the table relative to the tabletop and each other, and the negative space shapes in between.

For the first I arranged several boxes on the table, some by themselves, others stacked in short piles of 2 or 3, the boxes at various angles relative to the table edge. Students were asked to select a view with at least 3 groups of the boxes and draw it in their 18" x 24" pad using the pencil of choice. Students spent about 90 minutes working on the drawing. To make this up, make a similar arrangement of boxes (cereal or cracker boxes laying down flat are a good size- a single box, two boxes stacked, and three boxes stacked) pick a viewpoint, and draw it.

For the second exercise I kept some of the boxes, but also added some cylindrical objects (gallon paint cans, cookie tin, etc). Students were asked to pick a view that had at least two clusters of boxes and two of the cylindrical items to draw. Students spent about 90 minutes on it. An example can be seen above. To make this up, come up with a similar set up (books and soup/vegetable cans should work well), two groups of boxes/books, with a can on one, and an additional can on the table itself, for a total of 5 boxes and/or cans. Draw on your 18" x 24" paper using pencil line only, filling the whole page.

These are portfolio exercises that must be made up by the first half portfolio grading.