Before turning to the question of what a perspective is, the first thing to pay attention to is the meaning of the word. It came from the Latin "perspicere", in translation - "to see clearly." This expression is used both to indicate a better future for a person or situation, and to display depth in the visual arts. The principles of understanding the second option were laid down by the architect Brunelleschi from Italy. Since the end of the 15th century, subject image as a result of visual distortion of size and volume, as well as shadows, has been called perspective. In other words, the perspective in the picture conveys the subject image in real visual perception.
A related term in visual art is “horizon.” In the visual arts, this concept is not something new. As always, the true horizon is the visual line of contact between the Earth (or sea) and the sky. An important aspect for this term in the drawing is the position of the horizon at eye level.
In simple perspective, the outlines of objects are taught even in preschool age: everything that is further in the drawing is smaller. What is a perspective can be seen visually on the example of a road or railways. On the horizon, roadsides converge to a single point. With the removal of the route to the horizon of the posts, the lights along its edges become shorter, thinner, proportionally smaller in all respects. It happens similarly with other objects and phenomena in the everyday world. If you extend all the horizontal lines, they converge on the horizon.
The term "vanishing point" refers to a place where all lines distant from us converge parallel to the horizon. It should be noted that if you look at the cube at an angle of 90 degrees (on one of its sides), then this side will not be subject to long-term reduction (since its entire plane is at the same distance from our eyes). If you turn the cube to us one of the faces, then two sides will be subject to prospective reduction. In this case, the vanishing points are already two.
The object can be located on the horizon, so below or above it. The horizon is a conditional line, the object located closer (in the foreground) is larger. Accordingly, it covers part of the horizon line.
We continue to consider this on an object of a cubic or oblong shape, if the object is on the horizon, in contact with it. As shown in the figure, we can not see the upper, lower sides, as well as the two further ones. We also note one more point: moving the object closer to the foreground, you can see that the vanishing points approach each other, making the vanishing lines steeper. Respectively, moving away - the opposite is true. If the object is above the horizon line, there are three visible sides, there are two vanishing points, as before.
What is a perspective, how to convey it in a drawing, many subconsciously understand. Having understood the concept of “perspective” in the picture, everyone will be able to more competently convey the location and scale of objects in space, for example, the location of cabinets after repairs or windows in the extension to their own home.
Next, we’ll look at how to draw perspective in complex objects. By the principle of the foregoing, the rule applies to all projecting corners (parts): the lower the horizon, the vanishing points are closer and the vanishing angles are steeper. Another important aspect for drawing a room: the horizon for the object is one, but the vanishing points for each object in the drawing can be two (on the same line, strictly for this composition).
So, we figured out what a prospect is, but to fully convey the idea of what we saw, we will need another tool - a shadow. To do this, determine the light source, then find the lowest corners of the structure. Let us extend the lines of descent of these corners to the edges of the figure and, as we move away from the structure, we will decrease the intensity of the shadow. The farther the object is from the horizon and from the light source, the longer the shadow.
Create and enjoy your creation!