21. Introduction to Perspective - 6 Ways to Create Depth

 This lesson comes from a series of videos created by Stan Prokopenko.

There are six different ways you can indicate a sense of depth and space (near and far) in your art.

1. Overlap

Any object that overlaps another appears in front. This is the most powerful method, superseding every other. Look at this drawing by Luc Desmarchelier.

Although it simplifies (and flattens) reality, he manages to fit rows and rows of trees into overlapping shapes, giving his drawing a great deal of depth:

Overlapping works just as well in still lifes:

I drew this in the spring of 2014.

Note that with overlapping, the higher up something is, the farther away it is, and the lower an object is, the closer it is - not always, but in general. This receding as you look up is very common in traditional Japanese drawing and printmaking, and is sometimes known as Japanese perspective.

2. Size

As objects/shapes get smaller, they appear to go back into the distance. Size comparisons can be very effective when you take something small, like a rowboat and make it really big on the page, and pair it with a very tall ship, that you portray as very small in the distance. Note, the two boats aren't overlapping.

Girl in a Punt, by Winslow Homer, 1880.

3. Convergence (Linear Perspective)

This is the system of converging lines into vanishing points on a horizon line, developed by the architect Brunelleschi, during the Renaissance.

Study for a Painting, by Leonardo Da Vinci, drawn in 1481.

4. Foreshortening

This is when you manipulate a shape (smush it) so that it seems to be pointing towards you, coming off the page. Foreshortening was first introduced to drawing by the ancient Greeks:

This amphora, made around 520-510 BC, shows a carriage with four horses coming toward the viewer.

Sophisticated use of foreshortening grew in popularity in Europe during and after the renaissance.

5. Atmospheric Perspective (uses value)

The Outskirts of Antignano, by Elin Danielson-Gambogi in 1916

This is a technique, whereby as objects recede into the distance, they become lighter, contain less contrast, and blend more with the background color, which, on sunny days, is blue, except at sunrise and sunset.

Lake Nemi, by Sanford Gifford in 1856-57.

Note, you don't need color to indicate atmospheric perspective. So long as you lower the contrast, viewers will feel the atmosphere. Also note that people can intuit color from different values of grey, as they read into your work:

A Mountain Landscape, Lofererthal, Austria, by John Singer Sargent

6. Shading & Rendering (light & shadow - also uses value)

Adding light and shadow creates depth in any work, regardless if you're inside or outdoors.