* Eye Level - The eye level is the height of the line (eye level line) that connects your two pupils. This assumes that you stand vertically on a level surface.
* Eye Level Plane - A horizontal plane drawn through the eye level line is called the eye level plane. This plane divides a scene into an upper and a lower half space. It is worth mentioning and to remember that to see objects in the upper half space you will need to look up and to see those in the lower one you will need to look down.
* Horizon - The intersection of the eye level plane and a face-on vertical plane is called a horizon. An example of a close approximation of a horizon is the actual ocean horizon you see when standing on a beach. You will find that to view anything below the horizon your eyeballs need to rotate downward and to view anything above the horizon you will have to rotate your eyeballs upward.
* Vanishing Points - Each point on the horizon is called a vanishing point. Each vanishing point is a point where a particular set of horizontal parallel lines converge. Think, for example, how the horizontal parallel lines associated with a straight road (e.g., sides of the road, the tree line, the center line, etc.) all converge to the same vanishing point far in the distance. Of course, you will rarely see far enough to actually see the vanishing point but you can just imagine that all these lines end up intersecting in one point if you could see far enough in the distance.
Now let us detail two rules of simple perspective:
* Rule 1: Vertical Lines - Vertical lines in a scene are also vertical on your drawing paper. This also means that vertical parallel lines remain vertical and parallel on your drawing paper. For the mathematicians among you, this means that such lines converge to a vanishing point on a horizon that is located at infinity. This last observation reduces this first rule to a special case of Rule 2 below.
* Rule 2: Parallel Horizontal Lines - All parallel horizontal lines converge to a point on the horizon. That means they all the same vanishing point in common. Of course, sets of parallel horizontal lines of different directions will have different vanishing.
These two rules are just a reflection of how eye-optics works. As a simple application of these two rules, let us draw a cube that sits on a horizontal plane, i.e., a plane parallel to the eye level plane.
First, such a cube has four vertical parallel ribs which must, according to Rule 1, also be drawn vertical and parallel on your paper. Next, there are two sets of four parallel ribs. Take the first set and observe how two ribs of this set converge (i.e., observe the angle they make with each other). According to Rule 2, the intersection of these two ribs gives you the location of the vanishing point on the horizon for the whole set. The other 2 parallel ribs of that set are then easily added since because they must converge to the same vanishing point. You can now repeat this procedure for the remaining set of four parallel ribs. This will give you a second but different vanishing point. And there is your cube in fully realistic perspective.
Note that the horizon and the vanishing points frequently do not fall within the borders of your drawing paper. Therefore, this whole exercise becomes a matter of estimating where the horizon or vanishing points are located. This turns into a bit of learning a skill that must be practiced. In this, consciously practicing judging line angles or directions will be of great help.
Remi Engels, Ph.D., is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter. He is also the author of a popular Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Get Your Free copy here: Remi's Pencil Portrait Drawing Course while supplies last.
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