[ozenzo]

I've been working on excercises in a couple different books on perspective, but some can be rather boring sometimes, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to spice up working on perspective ...I've been drawing different rooms in my house, set up still life out on the back porch , I've even made those cut out cubes from the paint along with fred tutorials, I guess I'm just looking for more ideas that can help.....I find it interesting ,but sometimes frustrating..........
in case anyone is wondering the books I'm using :Perspective for the Artist, Rex Cole
Creative perspective for Artists and Illustrators, Ernest Watson
and a little perspective book by William P.
so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears and empty sketch pad..........thanks

[Fred Flick Stone]

Oz-here are two assignments that might help.

All this is invented now, but based on careful observation, and study of outside references...

assignment one-working in one point perspective, draw a circular table with four legs. On the table, draw a computer, tower, monitor, keyboard and mouse with mouse pad. YOu can use your computer, but it has to be placed into this scene. Don't make the scene based on where your computer sits now. Also place on the table, five books, in any arrangement, and a few desk accessories, i.e., a tape roll, stapler, whatever. And there should be one chair at the foot of the table in front of the computer...This requires invention, based on careful studies and observation.
The vanishing point should be directly over the center of the table, six inches above the level of the major axis.
Do not do anyshading yet, as there is no set light source yet, but you will add one later...

The second assignment will be a two point perspective drawing. This drawing will be of a warehouse, large in size. This warehouse is a biohazard center. It should look so. No real ventilation noticeable. Maybe some windows, but all of them will have that tempered frosted glass, with no handles or sliding mechanisms for opening them. The roof should have a heavy lipped eave all the way around the building, and many antennae, mounted ontop of it. Five to seven roof vents, always an odd number, and a few Air conditioning boxes. Actually, these would be air purifying units, but for sake of explanation, we will call them AC boxes. All these shapes should be kept very simple. Wall designs are of your choice, i.e. additional layers of stucco for design traetment, etc...
When drawing all these objects, I want you to draw all the way through the form, show me where the other side ends. This will show that you are completely aware of all the volume of the building, and not just rendering surface greeblies, giving the false illusion of knowing form. Again, leave out all shading, just use line. THen we will set up different angles of light, using xerox copies of the drawing you produced. This should also help you out in learning light and dark, in relation to form...but that is the next part of this assignment. Get the perspective started first.

What you need to do is give yourself creative exercies that will not only help out your learning, but also give you something that might actually get put into your portfolio one day, and or inspire your creative brain to try other things, delving more into the creative side of art, rather than the technical side...

Good luck, and I hope these help a bit...

[ozenzo]

this is going to be fun!! thanks I'll post them when I get finished!!

[ozenzo]

is it ok to use a ruler?

[Fred Flick Stone]

It's not only ok, it is necessary...

[ozenzo]

well I've been working on it....did a few sketches this turned out ok so I'm posting it.....so give me the crits


[This message has been edited by ozenzo (edited July 14, 2000).]

[Fred Flick Stone]

Oz-this is fairly sound with regards to the forms, and the perspective. But what I kinda find odd is that everything on the table looks purposefully placed, there is no randomness to it. Plus, the way the keyboard and foreground books are placed, it is difficult to say they are stacked ontop of one another or back and front of each other.
What you want to do with this scene now is push a couple of the objects around, overlap them. This really pushes dimensionality in a big way. Since this is a one point perspective problem, everything has to be a bit stiff, one direction. But with subtle or even major overlap, you begin to form a 3 dimensional spacein the picture, giving the picture plane volume, and depth...

I would tuck that chair under the table, and for sake of consistency and design, make the chair a typical four legged chair. Simple shapes, don't need to get crazy yet. Plus the chair design looks like something out of king aurthur.
Also, overlap the Tesla book with the books behind it a bit, about close to halfway through the book end is good. And dont over lap the book at any corners of objects behind it if the corners of those objects meet with the corners of the TESLA book. This is called a tangency and will cause just as much confusion as the way the objects are arranged at the moment. I would also push the keyboard forward a bit more to overlap the hard drive tower.
Is that Tesla peeping at the book on him? Interesting abstract symbolism...

How do you feel about this peice so far Oz? Do you think you have learned some from it? Hope so, it is a really great start, just a few wrinkles to work out.

Post again when you have further developed the image, and I will see if I can't email you something here within a day or so...

Good Luck
I wish I could get some images to you, maybe I will email them to you, I have no way of accessing my geocities page so I am kinda at a stand still for the moment. I think I am going to get a pac bell account. tie it to the phone bill and all this garbage will be resolved.

[ozenzo]

Well I added the Tesla as sort of a joke, and it is rare that anyone knows who he is. If they do they don't know the extent to which he played a part in almost every electrical invention we have.Forget about Edison, he was just a hack.....
back to the subject...I feel I learned a great deal, (I haven't been working on forshortened circles at all just sqaure shapes and rectanlges..oops)so when it came time to draw the table I was at a loss.
I started out thinking this is going to be easy but it wasn't as easy as I thought, at least the table wasn't.
It seems very stiff to me.I had fun doing it which was good. I havent started on the two point yet, but let me iron out some those other things in this one first.
Thanks again for the help, it is greatly appreciated and I will be posting the new one as soon as I get it finished.