MYP Design Perspective Drawing Notes

Perspective Draws What the Eye Actually Sees

1. In perspective drawing things get smaller as they get further away, which is what your eye does and what a camera does.
2. Parallel edges on the real object no longer stay parallel on the page; they lean towards each other as they recede.
3. That convergence is the whole reason a perspective drawing feels like a place you could walk into.
4. The trade is simple: you gain realism and you lose the ability to measure anything off the drawing.
5. Use perspective for the pages of your design folder that are meant to persuade, and flat views for the pages meant to inform a maker.

The Horizon Line Is Your Eye Level

1. The horizon line is a horizontal line across the page that marks the height of the viewer's eyes, not the ground and not the top of the paper.
2. Anything drawn below the horizon line shows you its top surface, because you are looking down onto it.
3. Anything drawn above the horizon line shows you its underside, which is why you can see the bottom of a high shelf.
4. Every vanishing point for a horizontal edge sits on that line, so the horizon is the first thing you rule and the last thing you should move.
5. A standing adult has an eye level near 1600 mm, so a 450 mm high stool sits well below the horizon and a ceiling light sits above it.

Where You Stand Changes the Story

1. Putting the horizon low, near the bottom of the page, makes the object loom over the viewer and look important.
2. Putting the horizon high gives a view down onto the object, which shows layout and how parts are arranged.
3. Matching the horizon to the height of the real user is the honest choice: a toy for a five year old should be drawn from about 1100 mm up.
4. An object drawn exactly on the horizon line shows neither its top nor its underside and usually looks flat and dull.

One Point Perspective Keeps the Front Face Square On

1. In one point perspective you stand square in front of the object, so its front face is drawn as a true rectangle.
2. Only the edges running away from you converge, and they all meet at a single vanishing point on the horizon.
3. Draw the front face, mark one vanishing point, then rule light lines from each corner of the face back to that point.
4. Cut the depth off wherever it looks right, then join those cuts with lines parallel to the front face.
5. It suits corridors, rooms, shelving units and anything viewed head on, which is why interior sketches so often use it.
6. Moving the vanishing point off to one side while keeping the front face square lets you show a little of the right hand side.

Two Point Perspective Puts You at a Corner

1. In two point perspective you look at the object corner on, so no face is square to you and two sets of edges converge.
2. Start with the nearest vertical corner, drawn as a true vertical line, then run edges from its top and bottom to a vanishing point on each side.
3. Vertical edges stay vertical throughout, which is the rule that keeps a two point drawing from tipping over.
4. Put the two vanishing points far apart, often off the edge of the sheet with tape marks on the desk, or the object bulges like a fish eye photo.
5. Two point perspective is the usual choice for showing a product on its own, since it reveals two faces and the top in one image.
6. Three point perspective adds a third vanishing point above or below for very tall subjects, and it rarely earns its place in product work.

Keeping the Depth Believable

1. Equal spaces in reality get smaller as they recede, so identical shelves must be drawn closer together the further back they go.
2. To halve a receding face correctly, draw both diagonals of that face and the crossing point is its true centre in perspective.
3. Repeat that trick to space out evenly repeated parts such as drawer fronts, slats or keys on a keyboard.
4. Circles on a receding face become ellipses that grow rounder as they move away from the horizon line.
5. Keep all construction lines faint, then trace the finished outline heavily so the guide work sits behind the drawing.

Perspective Sells, Isometric Measures

1. Show a client perspective when the question is how the product will look and feel in their hand, shop or kitchen.
2. Perspective can place the product in a setting with a background, a user and a sense of scale, which isometric cannot do convincingly.
3. Large items gain most: a 2 metre storage unit drawn isometrically looks as though it flares outwards, while in perspective it settles onto the floor.
4. Isometric wins whenever the reader needs a size, an assembly order or a part that must be made accurately.
5. A strong design folder normally carries both: a perspective view to open the page and flat measured views to back it up.