In last Thursday's class we discussed and practiced creating perspective in a drawing. According to our professor, perspective is a method to give the illusion of three-dimensional distance and depth on a flat two-dimensional surface. She also provided us with the following five methods to create the illusion of depth:
- Overlapping objects in order to create the illusion that one object is behind the other.
- Scale/Size changing to give the illusion that larger objects appear to be closer to the viewer than the smaller objects.
- Placement can create the illusion that lower objects on the picture plan are closer to the viewer than the higher objects.
- Value/Focus creates the illusion that objects who are darker are closer with more detail, while lighter objects are farther with less detail.
- Converging Lines is created through the linear perspective where lines are used to show distance and depth.
All five of these methods can be used when working on perspective in drawings, paintings, etc. After learning the definitions of the different methods and what perspective actually was, we practiced it in our own drawing. Here is my attempt at perspective:
As you can see, I started out by drawing a horizon line and then added my vanishing point. From there I used my ruler to draw three squares along the bottom and top of my paper. Next, the dashed lines were added. These dashed lines helped me to see which squares needed the added three-dimensional effect depending on where they were positioned on the paper. For example, the squares directly in the middle just needed depth on top, but the two on the sides needed it on the top and the sides.
Incorporating Perspective Drawing into the Classroom:
Incorporating Perspective Drawing into the Classroom:
You may be thinking, "how is this relevant to my teaching?" This can be incorporated in your classroom in a variety of ways! For example, in many elementary classrooms I have seen the same science assignment: draw your school layout and write a key that corresponds with each object. This is typically done in a two-dimensional manner, no depth whatsoever. But, what if teachers challenged their students to add some perspective? Of course this would need to be taught first. Some students may find this concept difficult, so allow a couple of days to teach and practice this. Also, take your students' grade level into consideration. If they are too young, do not go as in-depth with them as you would with the older students. There will always be the students that find this too easy, so challenge them to draw it from a birds-eye or worms-eye view. This could also be used during math lessons when students are learning about the different shapes. Many of the times, I have seen students create three-dimensional shapes with paper that guides them on how to do it. What if after that, students were challenged to incorporate those three-dimensional shapes into a drawing? The teacher could require them to choose three to five of the shapes and then add them into a mathematical drawing. Not only does this provide students the opportunity to practice perspective drawing, but they also can be creative on how they choose to do this! There are so many fun ways to add perspective drawings to the classroom, but here are a few examples:
Credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d1/d5/91/d1d591a581a246b2a27a642478cb3303.jpg
Credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a2/2d/03/a22d0318ec2609498823a2d1ff98c83b.jpg
Credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/5e/59/85/5e59857c2189a490f3ec25894669b143.jpg
