Project - How to Draw Above and Below Eye Level

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Project - How to Draw Above and Below Eye Level

Lesson by

Marshall Vandruff

in The Perspective Course

38K

Mark as Completed

Course In Progress

Assignments 40Lesson NotesDownloads 5

Skill-Building Project

Sketch examples repeatedly, this helps to internalize concepts. 30 times and you'll get it, 50 times and you'll never forget.
Redraw scenes with higher or lower eye levels. Observe how the lines aiming toward the horizon change angles.
Maintain proportions. Forms don't change, only the angles of the lines do.

Remember:

Looking down, lines go up
Looking up, lines go down

Dedee Anderson Ganda

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first 16, I find it really tough inventing rooms and objects around a middle eye level especially if the vanishing points are pretty close. I think Im so used to draw object from bottom or top view

Stevie Roder

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18h

Just wondering after watching the video twice so far. Before I get started on this assignment, how long do we have before turning our drawings in for this one? I plan on starting this week.

Pamela D

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I used some sketches I did recently in cafe bars for references then redrew a section to fit square ratio, followed by the two changes to the horizontal line. When I next go back to the cafes I will try the new views to compare with the ones I imagined.

You Ji An

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lnitially, I spent more time trying to get things right but as I went, I slowly just started doodling and trying to get the perspective right more intuitively.

Carlos Javier Roo Soto

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Here's my first try. Next time I'll just sketch the outlines free-hand instead of using the tools, it will be quicker. I guess that more I do this, the more details I can add in 5 minutes. Just wish my dexterity was better. See anything that I should improve on? Would it be better to start with room itself first before adding furniture?

@vange

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Smithies

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I love these... Seeing them in the same view but from different angles is so interesting and weirdly therapeutic. And they're so clean and easy to understand

Anke Mols

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thank you so much for posting yours. I struggle a lot with the assignment and your pictures really help me figuring it out. Thanks!

@jimmyp102375

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My first attempt at two point perspective

Dave Sakamoto

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Phew! After drawing 50 rooms at different angles I will never forget... um, what was I talking about? This was a great exercise. It makes you think about how lines recede and converge to accurately depict forms.

Spyridon Panagiotopoulos

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Tried to do my first 7, no angle change, just to get a quick feeling. I will be moving to sketch and then angle change from here. Tbh, it's the first time I look at the rest, and feel defeated. 7 years in, and it still looks bad. Oh well 7 more years ahead. I hope.

@ashfin613

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Keep it simple concentrate on the major forms first and imagine what they would look like at a different angle. I didn't bother with trying to find the horizon and vanishing points I just used marshalls up and down rule.

Sita Rabeling

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Some were quick warm-ups (and redrawn for cleanliness) and for some I lost time. I did not use any reference, and forgot why. :-) It’s nice to step into this world where you can build anything.

Lin

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Ahhh this is going to be an ugly mess, since it’s a lot of experimenting with severe timers without dwelling to fix errors. But I’m posting it to inoculate myself against fear of failure. I started with rooms but I can’t do 50 rooms without withering inside. So I am doing church interiors/exteriors which I love (blame my medieval history degree). Atm testing what low/high HLs feel like. Anything to avoid rooms…but it’s still familiarising me with the horizon level and I feel changed again. going to attempt some irl church drawing soon now I’m braver and can see HLs differently. :3 also attached 2 gifs I found very helpful

Blondie the good

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Oh wow!,Great studies!!!

@ashfin613

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Not the prettiest of sketches. Hopefully I understood the assignment lol.I used the beds to help me orientate the views.

Randy Pontillo

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I know that since i put the VPs within the boxed borders, that the perspective would get super distorted, i was ready for that! Whats confusing me is why I'm having trouble with the lower angles in particular, applying the same logic as the higher angles just winds up putting the viewer under the room in space instead of giving them the view an ant would. Is it the small workspace? Is my logic flawed? What am i doing wrong here? ("open original image" with the 3 dots enlarges the image quite a bit if you're having trouble seeing) More rooms in the making-

Minqi He

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23h

Hello, this is just my personal opinion: if we look up, it is actually a three-point perspective, because the vertical direction, that is, the Y axis, is no longer completely parallel. Considering the height of the observer, it is difficult to observe the ground close to us, because the horizon (EL) at this time is higher than the ground. Therefore, when constructing the scene, should consider where you are and how you observe. If the horizon is consistent with the horizon, then you need to consider whether the scene can enter the visual cone (COV), because the range of human eye observation is limited. If it is only a two-point perspective, then you can put any object on the right, as long as the vanishing point of the object itself is on the horizon, but whether the human eye can observe it needs to be considered separately.

Randy Pontillo

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Aside from the glitz and glamour of working in a production line, work has yielded me yet another benefit: perpetual blueprints! And what are blueprints but incomplete orthos? Orthos for miles! orthos for days! Orthos for 1 year 6 months and 11days but whos counting?

Lin

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Sorry for the mess, it’s hard to understand proportions without an ortho and within a strict timer but for an ant’s view, my intuition says we move the vanishing points really close together with a pretty low HL. an ant will be very close to things so close VPs. Everything will be huge and with severe perspective. Like this maybe? You’re on the ground low but with dramatic perspective. Don’t judge my stairs I am not there yet 😆 I do think the cube and plinth should have been bigger though, since I realize now it goes up to the sixth step and possibly the top of the stairs. sidenote: I was playing nightreign earlier and when I looked up at the castle to find where to scale it, the perspective was dramatically moving towards close VPs, I noticed, as I got cooked by a troll with giant blueflame pots (if you know you know)

Josh Drummond

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Is there a reason that looking up is less intuitive than other angles? I did a couple rooms and tried to experiment with some basic skull constructions. It helps to draw through but I need to slow down as well.

Melanie Scearce

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It may be because we typically are at standing or sitting height. Just not used to looking up at furniture 😁

Carlos Javier Roo Soto

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Maybe is because a lot of people lack optimism.

Randy Pontillo

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Glad I'm not the only one! My best attempt at a low angle still feels quite off despite following the same thought process.

Nassim A.

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The timer was a little bit stressful 🫣 Quick and dirty but really fun! I struggle the most with keeping proportions correct.. Will do more now!

Vera Robson

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First attempt at changing one-point perspective very slightly...

Blondie the good

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Nice work!

Dermot

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I look forward to these animations, brilliant Marshall, thanks. :)

@jazzw

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Ooooh, this video shows something that's always been on my mind...I mean for years! How to figure out the horizon if you're looking down at something. Like if I'm looking down at people from atop a small hill. Coool... I'm very behind all these lessons, but I hope to still get somewhere with the course when my time is better! I'm looking at this one here and I'm gonna attempt to add something from what bit I have so far. ^_^ I really want to add my progress pics one day because what videos you've shown that I've seen have been excellent info! I'm really looking at things around me and into my characters and whatnot, with a better eye on perspective! Thank you, Marshall!

Carlos Javier Roo Soto

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10d

QUESTIONS: Should I draw from photos only and/or life? Are other artist work acceptable? Is it thumbnails like the examples show in the video or is it a full page quick sketch? Do I draw one example in 5 minutes first then redraw it in 3 minutes, then in 1 minute? Also, I notice you are giving demonstrations like the one of this book, should I read the chapters on Eye-level as a companion for this lesson? Can anybody recommend where to find examples that aren't ai generated? And finally are you annoy by this many questions? If so would you accept my apologies?

Marshall Vandruff

•

10d

Carlos, That's a lot of questions, but I'll do my best here to help get you on your confident way! Photos or life, either is fine. Life is harder, but probably better for you if you're up to the challenge of "binocular vision" and distractions and a changing environment. Photos are easier because they stay fixed and are already flat, so starting with photos is good for any student who finds this scary. Working from other artists is fine too, but the problem is that artists take liberties, and you may find that their views don't quite conform to the world the way romance stories don't quite conform to romance. If you want to work from the examples in the video, why not? They were from students working to "tell the truth" of their rooms, and may get you started with their simple approaches. The increase in speed is to start you slowly enough not to freak out, but when you are comfortable, speeding it up to increase your focus on what's important: eye level. I think it's even a good idea to say out loud the "up goes down" and "down goes up" mantras because that is the purpose of this lesson — to drive in that awareness. Remember, this is not about slick drawing, it's about noticing, now and forever, what's above and below you, and drawing it with ease. Norling's books are good. Use them. Use any books that help. They may add things I have not taught you. But the job here is to draw room after room after room, learning to aim up, down, and away.

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Marshall Vandruff

I Write, I Draw, I Teach