Watercolor Painting for Dummies (40 page)
Read Watercolor Painting for Dummies Online
Authors: Colette Pitcher
Tags: #Art, #Techniques, #Watercolor Painting, #General
Three-point perspective is sometimes called
worm’s-eye
or
bird’s-eye view.
If you can imagine what a worm or bird might see from their lowly or lofty positions in the world, you can understand three-point perspective. Look at the cube as it becomes a product of three-point perspective in Figure 8-11. The sides are no longer parallel. They too follow a vanishing point toward the horizon which leaves the cube floating in space.
Figure 8-11:
Three-point perspective example.
Draw a cube again, using three-point perspective this time:
1.
Draw a horizon line across the long side of a piece of 81/2-x-11-inch paper.
Make it fairly high on the paper because you go down 5 inches in Step 3.
2.
Lay a ruler on the horizon line and place a point on the horizon line at 0 inches, 5 inches, and 10 inches.
The point at 0 inches is vanishing point #1 (VP1). The point at 10 inches is vanishing point #2 (VP2). Mark the 5-inch point as the center of the horizon line (H1). Label them as such, following Figure 8-12 for guidance.
3.
Draw a 5-inch line down from the center (H1), perpendicular to the horizon line, so this line forms a right angle with the horizon line.
Mark the bottom of the 5-inch line as vanishing point #3 (VP3). Figure 8-12 shows the two lines.
Figure 8-12:
Laying the foundation for a three-point perspective cube.
4.
Mark the 2-inch point and the 4-inch point on the line extending from H1 to VP3 (see Figure 8-13).
These are corner 2 (C2) and corner 4 (C4), respectively.
5.
Use a ruler to draw two lines from the two outside vanishing points, VP1 and VP2, to connect with C4 (see Figure 8-13).
This is the bottom of the cube.
Figure 8-13:
Starting out with the top and the bottom.
6.
Use a ruler to draw lines from VP1 and VP2 to C2 (see Figure 8-13).
These form the top of the cube.
7.
Measure 11/2 inches from the center line along the line from VP1 to C2 and make a mark (see Figure 8-13).
This point is corner 1 (C1).
8.
Mirror Step 7 by marking 13/4 inches from the center line along the line from VP2 to C2 (see Figure 8-13).
This point is corner 3 (C3).
9.
Draw a line from C1 to VP3. Then draw a line from C3 to VP3 (see Figure 8-14).
These are the sides of the cube.
Figure 8-14:
Setting up the sides.
10.
Finish the cube by drawing a line from C1 to VP2. Mirror this line by drawing a line from C3 to VP1.
You now have Figure 8-11.
A few more rules of perspective.
Aerial perspective
is about creating the illusion of depth of space with some tricks to make things appear to recede into space. You’re using a flat piece of paper after all, so how in the world do you make something look a hundred miles away? Well, you remember these rules about perspective. As things get farther away, they:
Get smaller:
In the one-point perspective example in Figure 8-6, notice that things get smaller the farther away they get.
Keep in mind that objects get smaller in
proportion to vanishing points and distance.
Have less detail:
Keep the details in the foreground to bring an item closer. As an object goes back into space, it has less detail until no details at all are visible.
Are less intense in color; they’re grayer:
Colors are more vibrant or intense the closer they are to the viewer. Layers of atmosphere obstruct the view, and the colors appear grayer in the distance.
Appear cooler:
A blue tint helps the background appear to recede into space. As things come closer they’re warmer. A meadow landscape is already set up for this, having hay-colored grasses in the foreground and a blue sky for background. Why fight nature?
Atmospheric perspective
refers to layers of atmosphere getting in the way of space to create the illusion of distance. Think of old European paintings that show fog in the air and objects in the distance getting smokier or hazier as they get farther away. To achieve a foggy look, make colors grayer and edges softer. Also simplify details to indicate fog and distance. The term
sfumato,
which means smoky in Italian, is used to describe the look. Many of da Vinci’s paintings incorporate this technique.
Up to now, I’ve been discussing tips and techniques for drawing images
freehand.
The public seems to prize drawing freehand. “Did you do that freehand? Wow!” Somehow using tools and aids is regarded as “cheating.” I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to cheat sometimes. In fact, in this section, I’m going to tell you how to cheat. And I’m not going to use the word
cheat
anymore; after all, it’s just using tools.
As you start drawing, you develop more skill and a better eye. But because we have cool tools, why not use them to grow in drawing? Let’s face it; this is the age of technology. If Michelangelo and da Vinci were alive today, they would be all over computers and optics. They made the most of what they had back in their day. This section offers some tools that are available today for a variety of budgets.
Just a word of caution about the reference material you use. If you’re working from an educational book, like this one, you can re-create the exercises. After all, that’s what it’s all about. But understand that your paintings won’t be original material and should never be sold or exhibited in a show as your own. It’s not a bad idea to make a note on the back that includes “after Colette Pitcher,” the title of the work you’re copying, and your name and date.
What about other stuff? There are fabulous calendars, Internet images, and magazines that just call you to paint from them. Caution: These are all copyrighted materials. You can use them to practice painting and techniques in the privacy of your own home, but they aren’t original images by you, and you can’t exhibit them.
The easy solution is to get your own camera. Take your own shots. You are in total control of your images now. You took the photograph reference material, so it’s an original image. Practice with anything, but aim at working up to using your own originals.
The technology tools I mention in the next sections are great. Do they replace the artist’s eye and skill? Absolutely not. Projectors and cameras distort images. When pictures are enlarged, the distortion only becomes more pronounced. All these machines and aids still require the artist to hone the images, place them correctly, choreograph the outcome, and add the content and emotional impact that a machine never can. You, the artist, must constantly correct and refine what the tools help you achieve.
