2D/3D ART

PERSPECTIVE &
COMPOSITION
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE

What is it?

Perspective in drawing or painting is a way of portraying three-dimensions

on a flat two-dimensional surface suggesting depth and distance.

Perspective is an approximate representation, on a flat surface (such as

paper), of an image as it is seen by the eye. The two most characteristic
features of perspective are that objects are drawn:

Smaller as their distance from the observer increases

Foreshortened: the size of an object's dimensions along the line of sight are
relatively shorter than dimensions across the line of sight

Depth is the distance between objects on a picture plane.

2D mario 3D mario
HISTORY OF PERSPECTIVE

The system of perspective we

take for granted today is a
relatively recent discovery in
artistic history. Before the 14th
Century little to no attempts
were made to realistically depict
the three dimensional world in
art in the way in which we are
now accustomed to seeing it.

The art of the Byzantine,

Medieval and Gothic periods
was rich and beautiful, but the
images made no attempt to
create the illusion of depth and
space.
HISTORY OF PERSPECTIVE
The Italian masters Giotto
(c. 1267 1337) and Duccio
(c. 1255-1260 c. 1318-1319)
began to explore the idea
of depth and volume in their
art and can be credited with
introducing an early form of
perspective, using
shadowing to great effect to
create an illusion of depth,
but it was still far from the
kind of perspective we are
used to seeing in art today.
 HISTORY OF PERSPECTIVE
The first known picture to make use of linear
perspective was created by the Florentine
architect Fillipo Brunelleshi (1377-1446).
Painted in 1415, it depicted the Baptistery in
Florence from the front gate of the unfinished
cathedral. The linear perspective system
projected the illusion of depth onto a two
dimensional plane by use of vanishing points
to which all lines converged, at eye level, on
the horizon. Soon after Brunelleshis painting,
the concept caught on and many Italian artists
started to use linear perspective in their
paintings.

!
Masaccio (1401 1428) the first great painter
of the early Renaissance period, was the first
artist who demonstrated full command of the
new rules of perspective; the figures in his
paintings have volume and the buildings and
landscapes realistically recede into the
distance. Masaccio is seen now as being the
initiator of the new style of Florentine Realism.
 By the late 15th Century, artists were in total
command of perspective and were able to create
in their art a beautiful and realistic world. The
great painters of the time were using the system
first created by Brunelleschi to wonderful effect.

!
Underlying these changes in artistic method and
the use of perspective was a renewed desire to
depict the beauty of nature, and to unravel the
axioms of aesthetics, with the works of Leonardo,
Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Donatello and
Titian representing artistic pinnacles that were to
be much imitated by other artists.

!
The developments were not limited to Italy; in
the Netherlands, a particularly vibrant artistic
culture developed, with the work of Hugo van
der Goes and Jan van Eyck having particular
influence on the development of painting in Italy,
particularly stylistically in terms of naturalism in
representation.
 HISTORY OF PERSPECTIVE
For the next five centuries, Brunelleschis
system of perspective was used to create
the illusion of depth on the picture plane
and was used as the basis of the great art
of Western culture.

The Baroque painters (approx. 1600-1750),

notably Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci,
Gianlorenzo Bernini, Rubens, Rembrandt,
Velazquez and Vermeer used this now
long established system in thousands of
varied approaches, as did the
Neoclassicist painters (1750-1850). The
use of perspective in art to depict reality
continued through the works of the
Impressionists (such as Renoir, Monet and
Pissarro) and was even used in the works
of the Post Impressionists (such as Vincent
Van Gogh, Gauguin and Seurat).

It was around the time of the Post

Impressionists however that a significant
change in direction took place.
 HISTORY OF PERSPECTIVE
Towards the end of the 19th Century French painter
Paul Czanne (1839 1906) began to question the
underlying structure of his subjects. At points his
works became almost abstracted, the canvas being
covered with thick layers of pigment often applied
with a palette knife, the naturally occuring forms
simplified to their geometric essentials.

!
Importantly, Czanne had begun to ignore the laws of
classical perspective, allowing each object to be
independent within the space of a picture while letting
the relationship of one object to another to take
precedence over traditional single-point perspective.

!
This was perhaps the beginning of the end of
academic composition following the long established
rules of perspective. Heavily influenced by Cezanne,
several young artists were soon to radically break the
mould and themselves become major influences on
20th Century art.
 Pablo Picasso was a towering genius of 20th
century art. A brilliant draughtsman, creatively
imaginative, he was one of the great
innovators and changed the course of art
history.

!
Born in Spain, he moved to Paris in 1904
where he associated with other ground-
breaking artists such as Matisse, Derain and
Braque. His early work (the Blue and Rose
periods) was beautiful, but essentially
traditional. The painting which marked his
breakaway from the traditions of perspective,
Les Demoiselles dAvignon was painted in
1907, but its significance was not recognised
for many years; influenced by African art and
Cezanne, it is a milestone in art history. In the
following years Picasso and Braque continued
to develop the angular, structural style,
dubbed Cubism by critics. Renaissance
perspective had been superseded. Picassos
most famous work, Guernica, depicts the
inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war
and is considered to be one of the major
paintings of the 20th Century.
 Matisse, regarded with Picasso as one of the
20th Centurys greatest artists, also
abandoned the traditional rules of
perspective as the foundation of his work, but
in a very different way.

!
Matisses work was primarily an exploration of
colour. After an exhibition in Paris in 1905
Matisse and a group of friends freed colour
from naturalism and were resultantly labelled
the Fauvists (wild beasts) by the critics.
Based on the world around him but
abandoning traditional perspective, Matisse
created his own shallow space where each
object was distorted and adapted to fit its
place in the overall design and brilliant colour
was used as an independent structural object.
 Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian by birth, lived
and worked in Germany. Kandinsky was an
accomplished artist, art theorist and
musician and spent many years teaching at
the Bauhaus school until its closure in 1933
by the Nazis, at which point he moved to
Paris. Kandinsky was the first painter to
completely abandon contact with reality
and to give form and colour alone a
spiritual meaning. Kandinskys work
often appeared confused, but it had a
great freshness, fluidity and vitality.

!
Kandinsky is widely credited with creating
the first abstract art, produced following
a long period in which he considered and
developed his own artistic theories, based
often on music music being the
ultimate teacher his spiritual beliefs and
his own artistic experiences.
PERSPECTIVE

Ok so now you know the history, how does it work?

There are a few components to make a perspective

drawing lets try to understand them together and
then practice.
 PERSPECTIVE
Linear Perspective is always
determined by the point of view of the
viewer and where their eye level is.

When the observer is looking out into

a field of view he has a cone of vision.
The cone of vision is defined as the
scope of what the observer can see
where he is standing.

At the center of every cone of vision

there is what is called a center line of
vision that represents the focal point
of that persons gaze. Eye level also
determines the center line of vision
depending on their height.
 PERSPECTIVE
A picture plane is the flat 2 dimensional
plane that stands between the viewer and
the scene. Similar to your drawing paper
or canvas or a piece of film or a digital
image.

Inside of the picture plane there are a few

different elements that help us create
perspective.

The horizon line is the line that is at the

eye level of the observer. Some artists like
to define the horizon line where the sky
meets the ground - sometimes there is no
sky and ground that can be seen.

The vanishing point is the star of the

perspective drawing. It is the anchor, focal
point and reference point of a perspective
drawing. There can be multiple vanishing
points in a picture. It delineates depth and
space and as things recede into the
vanishing point they get smaller.
 TYPES OF PERSPECTIVE
1 point perspective contains only one vanishing point on the horizon line.
 TYPES OF PERSPECTIVE
2 point perspective contains two vanishing points on the horizon line.
 TYPES OF PERSPECTIVE
3 point perspective is where you can get crazy!!!
Ok lets try this!
COMPOSITION
W H AT I S C O M P O S I T I O N ?

The arrangement of elements and principles to create

a pleasing whole.

The positioning of parts in a picture.

 The whole effect of my paintings depends on
composition. The place occupied by figures and
objects, the empty spaces around them, their
proportions, each has its place.

- H E N R I M AT I S S E
COMPOSITION

Focal Point - The center of interest

Most compositions are built around a main focal point

Focal Points are created in many ways

CONTRAST

making something stand apart from its surrounding area.

contrast of size, shape, color, value or texture.

 focal point may be created through rhythm or
repetition of an element such as line, to bring the eye
to a focal point.
 focal point can be created through converging or
leading lines (think perspective!)
 In addition to focal point - the artist must consider
what is around the main subject in order to create an
interesting composition.

Artists can use the golden mean or the rule of thirds to

help determine the best composition.
RULE OF THIRDS
GOLDEN MEAN
the golden ratio is a
mathematical
equation that occurs
naturally in nature

it was conceived by
fibbonaci.

it claims that the

focal point of the
picture plain should
spiral out in interest.
COMPOSITION

Sometimes
compositions are
planned using
geometric shapes
such as triangles,
ellipses, or a V or
and L shape.
 symmetrical asymmetrical

compositions may be symmetrical or asymmetrical balance

of masses.

good composition involves looking at mass, visual weight

of objects, and color values.
COMPOSITION QUESTIONS

When planning a composition, ask yourself:

What do I want to emphasize?

How will I emphasize it?

Where will I place it? (On a grid, triangle, etc)

What elements should be diverse

What elements should be unified?

Will it be symmetrical or asymmetrical?

What visual weight do the objects have?

What kind of space exists around the objects?

How should the viewers eye travel around the picture plane?
HELPFUL
TOOLS

A viewfinder can be helpful

in planning compositions
and in helping determine
what portion of an image
you want to include in a
drawing or painting.
Moving the viewfinder in
and out can help the artist
to visualize what size to
make the object and how
much to crop
PA R T 2 O F A S S I G N M E N T 2

You guessed it! You will be drawing your sculptures

with your new found knowledge of perspective and
composition!

You will use a viewfinder to create your composition

and the composition must fill the edges of the page.
(no floating objects)

You can use a ruler and a pencil! You have one week to
finish!