You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less (44 page)

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f you enjoyed experimenting with one-point perspective, you are really going to have fun with two-point perspective. Two-point perspective is using two guide dots on a horizon line to draw an object above and below your eye level. I could go on for three pages elaborating on this definition, but as you and I now know, a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s draw.

In this lesson we will really focus on the laws of drawing size and placement. With these two vanishing-point guide dots, you are going to see immediately why size and placement are such powerful concepts.

1. Very lightly, sketch a horizon line. Draw this horizon line all the way across your paper.

2. Place two vanishing-point guide dots on the horizon line.

3. Draw a tall vertical line in the center of your horizon line to position your tower.

4. Using your ruler or a straightedge of a magazine, book, or scratch piece of paper, draw guide lines from the left vanishing point to the top and bottom of your tower.

5. Now do the same for the right side. Using your ruler or a straightedge, lightly draw guide lines from the right vanishing point to the top and bottom of your tower.

6. Draw two vertical lines on either side of your center vertical line to determine how thick you want the tower to be.

 

7. Darken and define the edges of your tower and horizon line. Erase your extra guide lines. Draw a guide dot below the center bottom corner of your tower. Add guide lines lining up with your vanishing points. This will begin to shape the pedestal.

8. Using your vanishing points, draw in the back sides of the pedestal. Now, repeat this process to begin to shape in the top capstone of the tower.

9. Draw the sides of the capstone and pedestal with two vertical guide lines.

10. Draw the thickness lines for the pedestal and the capstone lined up with the vanishing points.

11. Determine where your light source will be positioned. Add a cast shadow opposite the light source. This drawing is an excellent visual example of how the Nine Fundamental Laws of Drawing work and why. For example, using your straightedge to extend the bottom right edge of the tower in a southwest direction will position the cast shadow lower on the surface of the page, making it appear closer (placement). Also, by using these vanishing points, you have drawn the near corner of your tower larger (size). Adding shading to all the surfaces opposite the light source will create the illusion that the tower is standing in a three-dimensional space. Notice how I’ve added a cast shadow under the top capstone and at the base of the center column. Cast shadows are powerful tools to help visually hold the objects’ components securely together, like visual glue.