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Note that if the line has infinite length, then any two
distant points will serve; but if the line has a fixed
length (a line segment), then the two end
points are necessary to define its length. This leads
to the most economical method of perspective
construction: we project only the end points of a line
onto the image plane, then connect them by a
straight line. For example, we can define the edges
of a cube by projecting only its significant
points or defining elements — the six corner points
— onto the image plane, and then connecting the
appropriate corner points with straight lines to
construct the edges.
figure 3
figure 4
figure 5
The key is that line VS, the viewing height from the
ground plane to the viewpoint V, is perpendicular to
the ground plane at the station point S. Extended
without limit, this line is equivalent to the head
midline of a standing viewer. If a line intersects VS,
its plan line will intersect S, and the two lines will lie
in the same plane as VS, which is perpendicular to
the ground plane. Therefore the line image of the
plane (perspective rule 10) will also be
perpendicular to the ground plane, the vanishing line
of the ground plane (horizon line) and its intersection
with the image plane (ground line).
figure 6
11. The image of an extended plane must end
in two lines: its intersection with the image
plane and its vanishing line. This is the matching
principle to rule 4 for lines, and similarly the only
exceptions are planes parallel to the image plane and
planes that contain a visual ray — for these the
intersection line and vanishing line are the same.
In figure 6, a plane (magenta area) intersects the
image plane at ABC (green line). All lines in this
plane that are not parallel to the image plane recede
to its vanishing line XYz. I have drawn this plane so
that it is tilted to intersect the ground plane also; this
intersection is the line CK in physical space. The
vanishing point for CK is Y, the point where the
image vanishing line intersects the image horizon
line; and the line YC is the perspective image of the
line CK. Note as before that y lies on the plan
line KS.
perspective distortions
The standard demonstration of linear perspective
— drawing on a sheet of glass the view from a
fixed location as seen through one eye — shows that
the geometry of linear perspective really works: what
you see is what you get!
Viewing Distortions. However, a perfect
perspective drawing or optically flat photograph
reproduces three dimensional space on the viewer's
retina only when we view it with a single eye, located
at the center of projection and looking along the
correct direction of view implied by the perspective
geometry.
N E X T : Central Perspective
Last revised 07.I.2015 • © 2015 Bruce MacEvoy
The second general topic is the artist's control of this slanting & sloping planes
powerful depth illusion. I explain the triangular
geometry that governs the distance & perspective gradients
size relationships between object size, object
distance, drawing size and viewing distance; the distance & size
procedures for scaling the drawing that control the
size and arrangement of objects in perspective scaling the drawing
space; and the overall effect of display
geometry on the image impact. These topics are display geometry & image
conventionally obscured by cookbook perspective impact
construction techniques, but they offer many creative
resources for the design of compelling images. anamorphic images
The last general topic is the practical, step by step constructing a 1PP cube
method necessary to construct a perspective image.
I describe the early Renaissance methods, early renaissance methods
outlined by Alberti in 1435 and used by most 15th
century painters, as a point of contrast with
the modern approach.
perspective gradients
The problems of drawing unit transversals and a
receding staircase have produced drawings with line
spacings that become smaller with distance. This
effect of linear perspective appears powerfully in
the perception of textures. As textures are usually
too small to have vanishing points of their own, their
appearance is controlled by the powerful central
convergence around the principal point. This is the
perspective we always see no matter which direction
we look.
a perspective gradient
For the standing man 1.6 meters tall to fit into a 36°
visual angle (circle of view):
x <—> S <—> z
viewing distance <—> format size <—>
image size
reduction in Bierstadt's
Looking Up the Yosemite Valley
anamorphic images
Anamorphic images have been distorted so that they
appear flat or undistorted (veridical) when they are
(a) viewed from a direction that is not perpendicular
to the image plane; (b) viewed in a curved mirror or
other highly reflective object; or (c) painted on a
curved or faceted surface (i.e., the image plane is
not a plane).
As a simple example, the ellipse (right) is the
anamorphic image of a cross within a circle, if the
plane on which the ellipse appears is viewed from
above at an angle of about 45° to the computer
screen (more, if your screen is tilted). Foreshortening
causes the long dimension to appear visually smaller
in comparison to the width, compressing the ellipse
back to a circular appearance, and centers the cross
within the virtual circle.
The presentation of two dimensions of recession, and locating the measure points
the freedom we have to represent the primary form
from countless points of view, makes this framework constructing a 2PP cube
suitable for nearly all landscape, portrait and
architectural situations. The three vanishing points inclined lines & inclined planes
of 3PP perspective are usually necessary only for
downward or upward looking landscape views, or distance point projection
hovering views of buildings or still life objects.
the ground line framework
The unifying theme of this page is the correct
proportioning of objects in perspective through who has a 12 foot table?
methods for rotating vanishing points to a specific
angle of view and locating the measure points to VP spacing from an object
project in depth the dimensions of a measure drawing
barestablished to a specific image scale on the
image plane. where is the center of
projection?
Working with two vanishing points creates some
practical problems when the points are spaced very
far apart. I discuss some approaches to solving the
problem.
VP spacing
for sides of a right angled object
(1.0 = radius of 90° circle of view)
angle to dv
left VP right VP
(degrees)
5 0.09 11.43
10 0.18 5.67
15 0.27 3.73
20 0.36 2.75
25 0.47 2.14
30 0.58 1.73
35 0.70 1.43
40 0.84 1.19
45 1.00 1.00
50 1.19 0.84
55 1.43 0.70
60 1.73 0.58
65 2.14 0.47
70 2.75 0.36
75 3.73 0.27
80 5.67 0.18
85 11.43 0.09
shown within the 60° circle of view; note that the plan
must be reversed left to right, as in a mirror, to project
the correct image
The next step is, for each point, to carry its plan
distance from the anchor line back to the anchor
line with by an arc centered on its orthogonal
intersection (pink lines, above), the method
of rabattement or plan rotation first attested in the
17th century.
architectural blueprints
The point h' will always define a 90° angle with the
two vanishing points on the vanishing line. That is, it
is equivalent to the viewpoint in a 2PP rotation of
vanishing points. So you can draw two arcs from this
point back to the vanishing line, using each vanishing
point as the center of an arc, to define the measure
points for the vanishing line — just as you would
in two point perspective.
Confusion about the choice of vanishing line measure
points is usually dispelled by the following two
criteria:
sine(25°) = 0.423
cosine(25°) = 0.906
tangent(25°) = 0.466
1 cm = 1 cm/0.00235 = 4.26 m.
2. Separately, the plan of a circle was bisected, then Piero Uccello (c.1450)
quartered, and then each segment bisected again
three times, resulting in 32 equal divisions of a circle.
Third, the measure bars for the cone height and base
width are defined using the procedures for scaling
the drawingdescribed earlier.
Using the measure points, a rectangular solid that is
3 unit dimensions high and 1 unit dimension square
is projected into the perspective space.
paraline perspectives
In the introduction to these perspective materials I
stated that the point of view, not objects in space,
is the fundamental perspective theme. One
consequence of this is that the objects in space are
not always clearly defined. The side of a building may
recede along the direction of view, obscuring its
length, openings or surface details of the side, or the
building may extend outside the 60° circle of view,
causing the form to appear distorted.
curvilinear perspectives
One of the most elusive but apparently inspiring
goals of perspective studies since the 19th century
has been curvilinear perspective, which involves the
representation of space using vanishing curves rather
than vanishing lines. As these curves seem to
converge at both ends, the horizontal and vertical
transversals create two vanishing points each with a
fifth created by the orthogonals parallel to the
direction of view. Hence the name five point
perspective or spherical perspectivefor some of these
projection systems.
The appearance differences between linear and
curvilinear perspective are shown in the exaggerated
example at right. The linear projection seems to push
distant objects farther away, and to make nearby
objects loom too close, appear out of scale and
exhibit gross distortions at the extreme ends.
Curvilinear perspective crowds the side views toward
the center of the image yet implicitly strengthens the
sense of personal presence through the rapidly
square columns and tile floor
increasing divergence in the approaching orthogonals drawn in linear perspective
(lines in the floor).
by david hockney
perspective of reflections
Reflections are the linear perspective of an image
transformed by the shape of a surface. If the surface
is flat, like the surface of still water, then the image
is reversed — top to bottom, for water reflections,
and left to right for vertical mirrors. If the surface is
curved or perturbed, then the reflection is both
reversed and distorted.
This wall has its own vanishing point for the floor and
ceiling edges (vp2), which creates a second vanishing
point for lines perpendicular to the mirror (wall)
surface (vp1). If one or both vanishing points are not
already defined, they can be found using the
methods for circle of view reconstruction. It is
also necessary to find the mirror station line,
which is usually the base along the floor of the wall
supporting the mirror or window, or the ground line
of the exterior foundation supporting the reflecting
window or door.
of sky are called skypoolsand the areas of land (top) vertical smearing of horizontal
reflections landpools (image at right). The landpools features, such as glitter from the
dominate at far distances close to the opposite sun or the span of a bridge;
(bottom) interweaving areas of
shore, and skypools dominate at near distances close
landpools (dark) and skypools(light
to the observer. The transition between the two orange)
areas appears as a complex interweaving or
(adapted from Lynch & Livingston,
overlapping of roughly circular areas of reflection,
2001)
which represent the troughs of the irregular circular
waves shown in the illustration above. These roughly
circular troughs appear to be stretched out because
we view them from the side, which causes extreme
foreshortening.
This complex image would be far easier to draw "Hand with Reflecting Sphere"
freehand, or by tracing a photograph, than through
by M.C. Escher (1935; 32cm x
laborious perspective construction. But as a 21cm)
construction stunt, the major landmarks of the room
(the ceiling corners, the window frame, the
bookshelves and the location of the chairs) could be
mapped by hand into the sphere outline using the
transversals of the spherical projection template.
The rest of the drawing could be filled in from those
reference points.
These distorted reflections can be "reverse
engineered" by anamorphic images, which are two
dimensional, unrecognizable drawings that become
recognizable if viewed from an extreme oblique angle
or in the reflection from a cylindrical or spherical
mirror. These were very common in the 17th and
18th centuries, both as perspective curiosities and as
examples of the projective distortions of interest to
mapmakers and geometers.
aerial perspective
Aerial perspective is not really perspective at all, but
is the effect of the atmosphere on the appearance of
distant landscape. Leonardo da Vinci originated the
term when he wrote "There is a kind of perspective
called aerial perspective which depends on the
thickness of the air," and he contributed important
observational studies of the phenomenon. Since
then, aerial perspective has often been cited as a
feature of distant views that linear perspective could
not explain. But that belief is incorrect: aerial
perspective is exactly governed by linear perspective
geometry in the same way that a perspective
gradient is.
rainbows
To conclude these perspective studies, it's
appropriate to look at rainbows. Rainbows became a
significant theme in western art during the late 18th
and early 19th centuries, when academic perspective
rigor was displaced by a new interest in the
atmospheric effects of light and clouds. And so they
signal the end of our perspective labors.