More on Perspective Drawing: 1-point Perspective

Now that we have looked at the basics of what is perspective drawing and what types there are and their basics, it is time to look more closely at each type. This time it is the simplest type; 1-point perspective
Start off by drawing a horizon line and a vanishing point (VP) like in the picture below. There is only one vanishing point which is why it is called 1-point perspective. Perspective drawing is easier if you have at least a ruler, I am using a technical drawing board which allows you to create perfectly straight lines and right-angles when using the rulers supplied with it. I have also used blue tack to stick my paper to the board so it doesn't move. I am also using an A3 piece of paper but you can easily use A4.

Proceed to draw some lines which are perpendicular (right-angle) to the horizon, these will form the basis of some buildings. Then, using a ruler, draw a line from the top of one of these lines directly to the vanishing point. It is these lines that will give us the impression of being 3 dimensional. 

Notice the horizontal lines in the picture below, these lines are needed to give some objects depth, if we didn't have them we would only 'see' one side of the shape and thus it would be 2 dimensional.

In the picture below I have added doors to the front of the buildings. Start off by drawing a door on the foremost building as this will give you the correct perspective for buildings which are further back or more distant. You can ensure that all doors are the same size by finding the centre of the first door (do this by drawing a line from corner to corner diagonally so you have an 'X' in the middle of it) then draw a line from that spot to the VP. Then you draw a line from a corner of the object (in this case the door) furthest from the VP through the centre of line closest to the VP (you will know it the centre because the line which you drew from the 'X' in the centre goes straight through the centre of the line). This creates an exact copy of the door  directly next to the original, repeat this process until door is where you want it and it will be the correct size.

 Next you can add windows by drawing squares or rectangles inside of the buildings you made using the exact same process as the one to make buildings.

Horizontal lines can be used to make windows etc. in buildings that directly face you, like the one I added on the left of this picture.

You can add a field or more buildings if you want to. Note how the buildings in the background are directly facing us and so the lines for the building and windows are horizontal or vertical, the other lines used to create the sides of the buildings go to the vanishing point.

To create triangular/pyramidal tops to the buildings add some extra lines to turn the top part of the building into a cube. Draw 'through' the building so that you can see all sides of it and then draw a line from corner to corner in the top face to find the centre. Then draw a line from the centre point to each corner of the building.  This is one of the exceptions when a line is not vertical, horizontal nor goes to the vanishing point.

You can outline your drawing in pen/ink if you want to as it will be easier to remove all of the guidelines instead of trying to avoid rubbing out all of your pencil lines.

That is how to draw in one-point perspective. You can elaborate on this picture by adding kerbs, window frames, door frames, door handles, letter boxes, pavement, road lines, road signs or more variety of shapes of buildings.

The rules of perspective drawing are essential guides for drawing more elaborate works as they allow you to maintain correct perspective and proportions of objects in relation to one another which will result in a far more realistic looking picture.

Objects do defy the rules of perspective drawing one example is the pyramid tops to the buildings another is the trees and the grass. Things that are not square cannot follow the rules exactly but they must maintain the rules of proportion, some grass in the distance cannot be bigger than tree in the foreground otherwise it would be monster grass but a tree in the distance can be bigger than grass in the foreground.

Here are two more examples of perspective drawing. The one on the left is more at a human eye level compared to the previous picture, in that one you have a high view looking down on the street as though you are giant. In the one on the left however, eye level is a bit lower than the doors suggesting that the viewer is smaller than a door (which are usually around 6 feet high).

The picture on the right is a bird's eye view of some buildings. You can see how one-point perspective can be used for more than simply looking down a street or a train track.

    

If you need more explanations or pictures of some of the things described in this post do not hesitate to ask and I will happily oblige and put up some clearer descriptions along with images.

That's 1-point perspective covered (at least I think it is, if there is something I missed let me know), next I will look more closely at 2-point perspective.