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Perspective Tutorial: 1VP 9 — Description
So far, you've seen how to draw blocks with a Single Vanishing Point.

But- what if you want to draw a specific kind of shape, one that is consistent, the same? Like the most basic things of all: squares and cubes- real squares, actual cubes?

Here it is:

First, draw a Vanishing Point. Draw the horizon it's on, as with the checkered floors.

Next, and this is central to it all, draw a point somewhere directly below the vanishing point, and call it "C." (Well, you don't have to call it "C," but why not?)

Measure the distance from the Vanishing Point to Point C, and then, to the left and the right of the vanishing point, draw in points at the same distance from it- call them Points A and B.

You now have everything you need!

Draw a little horizontal line somewhere. Connect its ends to the vanishing point. You should have something like Fig. 1.

Now, from one of the ends of that little horizontal line, draw a line through the opposite side to one of the two new points on the horizon; since the line started from the left end of this horizontal line, I used Point B. Had I started from the right end of the horizontal line, I would've used Point A. You just have to be sure that it goes through one of the vanishing point lines.

Where that line crosses the vanishing point line...simply draw a horizontal line. All of this results in what you see in Fig. 2.

You have your Single Vanishing Point Square! I marked the top corners Points E and D, but it really is this easy!

To check it, draw a diagonal line from the corner opposite of the one you used to the other point on the horizon. If it passes through the other top corner of the square, then it came out right. If I do this with the right tip of the first horizontal line and draw the line to Point A, it will pass through Point E.

For a cube, all you have to do is first draw a regular square with the first horizontal line for the top or bottom (in this case, I drew it up). All four sides should be the same length since, like all Single Vanishing Point shapes, you're looking directly at the front of it and it's supposed to be a square. You could have just as easily drawn it downward, too.

And now you have the front of your cube, as in Fig. 3!

Next page:

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One thing that might seem confusing is how it can be that this works? How does it "know" to use Point B, the 14 space point? True, we went down 14 spaces for Point C, but we can place a line anywhere, not just 14 spaces down, and get a square. Why does drawing that line to Point B in Step 2 give an angled square?

Two things might help with this:

First, from Point B on the horizon in Step 2, drop a vertical line down to the lower horizontal line.

Look at what the Point C, the Vanishing Point, Point B, and that new line will give...

A square.

That shape that is formed is the "basis" or reference point for this method. Dropping a line from Point A will do the same thing.

The second thing is this: consider the lower horizontal line- the one with Point C on it.

If it had been only 10 spaces down from the horizon, then Points A and B would both only be 10 spaces from the vanishing point. You know that, but why would Points A and B then give a square while in the image above (using 14 spaces) it would suddenly give something else? This is what may be hard to grasp at first.

You have to remember what that lower horizontal line represents. It's not just the horizon that counts, but both lines, because together they show the angle of the surface.

For example, if that lower line in the above image was raised up 14 spaces, what would happen? It would be on the horizon...meaning that you are looking at the surface absolutely at eye level, perfectly even with your vision. Take any flat object and hold it up until it looks like a thin line to see this happen.

Lower it, and this is no longer the case. The more you lower the side nearest to you- keeping the horizon at the same height- the more of that surface you can easily see. Thus, a square drawn on it will also be at less and less of an angle.

That is what is happening here.

The reason Points A and B are 14 spaces away from the vanishing point is because the lower line is 14 spaces away from the horizon, and so THE SURFACE IS AT A CERTAIN ANGLE TO YOUR VIEW. Using a point 14 spaces away from the horizon is "just right" for drawing a square on a surface at that particular angle.

If you move that lower line up then you must also move Points A and B closer to the vanishing point because that "stretches" the square towards the horizon- and this compensates for the increasingly shallow angle of the surface.

Move the lower line down and you must move Points A and B away from the vanishing point because that "flattens" the square- which compensates for the less and less shallow angle of the surface.

Move the lower line, you must move Points A and B to balance it out.

And that is very important, because very soon, after finishing up with the cube on the next page, we'll go deeper into this...and it will give you a working method to draw more than squares and cubes!