Simple Tools For Perfect Perspective Drawing
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About instructor
I Teach Creatives
comments 31 submissions
For those using DIGITAL during this course! I have a resource for you! Digital allows us to use hotkeys and line tools, but just like with the ruler in Marshall's example, the freehand is a LOT faster. I'm attaching a recreation of an exercise I picked up years back in school and still use. For practicing freehand lines in digital, you can rehearse the movement by connecting the dots in these columns. The left one is easier, with thick dots to connect, while the right column is a bit more precise. I know it's a simple and maybe goofy exercise, but it really helped me at throwing down straight lines with more ease. I'll have another of these later when we get into Ellipses....
LESSON NOTES
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To master perspective drawing, you need knowledge, skill, and some basic tools. While you can draw by hand, tools help you do what can't be done manually. Let's explore the essential tools to enhance your drawing skills.
Basic Tools
Pencils
You only need one sharp pencil to learn perspective. An HB pencil works well. Mechanical pencils are recommended because they're inexpensive and reliable. Choose between 0.5 mm lead for finer lines or 0.7 mm for thicker lines. Use what feels comfortable and produces clean lines.
Paper
Two kinds of paper you'll use:
- Bond Paper: Standard printer paper, suitable for most exercises.
- Transparent Paper - When your drawing gets messy, tracing paper lets you start clean. Vellum is best, durable and erasable. If it's too expensive, tape bond paper to a lightbox or window to make it transparent.
Erasers
Two types of erasers:
- Plastic Erasers - Ideal for precision erasing. They have sharp edges and you can cut them to create new edges. They're firm and erase heavy lines well.
- Kneaded Erasers: Soft and shapeable for precision. Great for lightening areas by gently dabbing or rolling.
Drawing Straight Lines
In perspective, we use many straight lines drawn in two ways:
- Freehand: Drawing straight lines freehand is challenging but improves with practice.
- Ruled - Use a ruler or straight edge when you need precision. It's not cheating, it's a tool to aid accuracy.
Understanding Angles
To draw lines at specific angles, understand and measure angles.
Using a Protractor
A protractor helps measure angles from 0 to 360 degrees. Key angles:
- 90 Degrees (Right Angle): Lines are perpendicular.
- Less than 90 Degrees: Acute angles.
- More than 90 Degrees: Obtuse angles.
- Parallel Lines: Lines in the same direction.
Knowing these angles is part of the technical language of drawing.
Drafting Instruments
Two classic tools make drawing common angles easy:
- T-Square: Slides along the edge of your surface to draw consistent horizontal lines.
- Triangles: Used with a T-square to draw vertical lines and angles of 30°, 45°, or 60°. They help create parallel and perpendicular lines efficiently.
Axonometric vs. Linear Perspective
Axonometric Perspective
Axonometric perspective lets you measure along any axis. Used for technical drawings, lines recede at consistent angles without vanishing points. However, it lacks the depth of linear perspective.
Importance of Vanishing Points
In linear perspective, lines aim toward vanishing points, creating depth. Placing vanishing points and drawing to them requires both brain and hand skills. Developing these skills lets you invent any viewpoint and build complex worlds.
Developing Hand and Brain Skills
While tools help, it's important to:
- Practice Freehand Drawing: Improves hand skills.
- Use Tools as Needed: Keep tools simple, using them to solve problems.
- Focus on Learning: We're here to learn linear perspective, the foundation before adding color or rendering.
Want more? In the premium course you'll get additional lesons, demos, critiques, and more!
DOWNLOADS
simple-tools-for-perfect-perspective-drawing.mp4
377 MB
simple-tools-for-perfect-perspective-drawing-transcript-english.txt
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simple-tools-for-perfect-perspective-drawing-transcript-spanish.txt
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simple-tools-for-perfect-perspective-drawing-captions-english.srt
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simple-tools-for-perfect-perspective-drawing-captions-spanish.srt
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To master perspective drawing, you need only basic tools: a sharp HB pencil, paper, and erasers. Mechanical pencils and printer paper are fine. Use a ruler! Don’t worry, it's not cheating. Understanding angles is crucial to learning perspective: protractors, T-squares, and triangles help. Axonometric perspective uses fixed angles without vanishing points. Linear perspective uses vanishing points; more flexible but harder to learn. Practice drawing toward vanishing points freehand. Keep tools simple and focus on learning.
I didnt even thought that using a ruler could be considered cheating :p I cant do straight lines so I just considered myself debuffed this whole time. All I need now is the round thingy (I dont know the name in english) and the T square.
After about 8 months of doing this class thought I would offer some of my thoughts about the tools.
Mechanical Pencils: I use .03 and .07mm with 2b leads for both and have been happy with them. The .03 works for underline drawings. The thinness of the lead forces you to be very light with pressure but the softness of the lead still makes the line readable, while the .07 makes a noticeable bolder and thicker marks that make it stand out nicely for the finished lines.
Paper: I buy large rolls from Amazon. It might be a little sticker shock to spent 100 dollars on paper, but you can cut it yourself and ultimately spending many, many less pennies per sheet of paper you are using. (Note I like working on 14x17 paper thus why I buy rolls and cut it myself, other wise I would have to pay close to 20 cents per page, but you can probably use standard printer paper which last I checked is still less than a penny per sheet)
T-Square: Absolutely loved (more on the past tense in a moment) my aluminum T-square. Sturdy without being heavy and glides across the table easily. Word of caution though, never ever, ever use it as a straight edge for cutting tools. An x-acto knife will cut through it like butter. My technical drawing teacher in high school warned me of this and his voice was echoing in my head when I needed to cutout an ortho view for one of the lessons. Long story short, I had that T-square for close to 20 years, took less than 2 minutes of bad judgment to ruin it, listen to Mr. Hanewinkel's advice and don't use T-square as a cutting tool.
Triangles: Plastic, beveled Triangles are the bane of my existence. The beveled edge is designed to not smear ink, but when you need to flip them and stack other triangles on top they become slippery and borderline impossible to use. Also the plastic is not durable, only 8 months in and some of the edges give me craggy lines. Also annoying is the cutout templates that some have. They'll constantly snag the paper when you're siding them across your T-square. Every time I use them I vow to buy the larger aluminum variant... but they are hard to find and are tad expensive for the larger ones online.
Not sure if this will be helpful to anyone.. but heck I'm stuck on Planned Projection and decided to watch some of the older videos again... so here I am with some unsolicited thoughts on drawing tools. You're Welcome? Maybe?
"If you're trapped in an island I'' show you how you can almost reinvent modern society with a T-square and two triangles" one of the most formidable sentences out there. Thank you Marshall
I really want this course but i live in South America and in dollars is like an insult to me, maybe another day. :(
Oh, boy...I gotta see what tools I still have. LOL I used mechanical pencils before, but I'm so heavy-handed that they break...all the pencil. :( Once the roads are good again, I'll try and get a 0.7. I don't think I have that. I MIGHT have triangles, even one.
Slightly off topic but does anyone else have a pile of french curves that they never use? What are they? What do they want? I wanted to round off some edges on the isometric assignment I've been fumbling with but... kind of at a loss XD Is it really just having the patience of a saint and trying to work out what curve I need to use or can you organize them in some sort of fashion?
Yay, I am quickly catching up to the course again. This was a real great insight on what's to come Marshsall. I already have my pencils and erasers in hand. Plan on stacking up on more of my fave erasers though and will be adding the others on the list for the upcoming lessons this week.
how do you guys post pictures on the community? I know this is a dumb question but I haven't been able to figure it out.
When you click in the text bar, a little button that looks like the sun over some mountains should appear in the bottom left of the bar. If you click it, a window should pop up that you can drop image files into. The only dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked! 👍
Getting more excited with every video and thinking about what I want from this course.
I do feel intuitive drawing and perspective has always been quite hard for me, but I have been scared to use tools as everyone says they will dull your skills and hurt you in the long run.
I really want to master perspective I think knowing the math and science behind it will help my intuitive side. I would love to able freehand something then use these tools to give myself feedback.
Maybe it sounds silly but. But I feel a little more confident in my artistic future thinking I can improve my skills with math.
I’m gradually expanding my summary notes on perspective, adding a bit at a time. I’ve come across the term plan projection here and there, and I’m eager to learn more about it. Getting my tools ready for a solid learning journey!
I recently rediscovered how to construct shadows from a light source. It really helps to position the light source on the ground plane and then connect it with radiating lines in perspective. One thing I’m struggling with is creating both rotation and translation at the same time—like building a helix or spiral staircase structure. I want to spend some time developing a better intuitive feel for rotating a cube on a plane with an offset axis.
The animations are great. 😁
I'm going to talk to my tools.
I'll say things like......... "Draw perfect perspective guys"!
Then I can say things like, "You Guys are letting me down" !
"Right" and "Simple" and "Freehand" !
Sound good, to me.
I fear what's really ahead!
😁 😁 😁
For those using DIGITAL during this course! I have a resource for you! Digital allows us to use hotkeys and line tools, but just like with the ruler in Marshall's example, the freehand is a LOT faster. I'm attaching a recreation of an exercise I picked up years back in school and still use. For practicing freehand lines in digital, you can rehearse the movement by connecting the dots in these columns. The left one is easier, with thick dots to connect, while the right column is a bit more precise. I know it's a simple and maybe goofy exercise, but it really helped me at throwing down straight lines with more ease. I'll have another of these later when we get into Ellipses....
Great exercise to do on paper too! You can also practice different straight angles by drawing random dots all over a page and try to connect any two of them in one swoop, try 'ghosting' the line a few times first by pretending to draw the line just above the paper to get the angle right then commit. Great exercise for both traditional and digital. :D
