More on Perspective Drawing: 2-Point Perspective

Now that we have looked further in to 1-point perspective it is time to dig deeper into the world of 2-point perspective.
2-point perspective is very similar to 1-point perspective but there are some notable changes. The biggest change is that instead of lines being horizontal, vertical or going to the vanishing point they now go to either one of two vanishing points (VPs) or are vertical.

There are exceptions to this rule, as there are in the rules of 1- and 3-point perspective, but these are the basic rules that are almost always constant.

Let's take a look at some pictures I have done for you in 2-point perspective.

The first picture is a classic idea of a street view, normally you see the pavement and a house on the corner and the view than extends down to either side of the building giving you a view down 2 streets. In this picture your view is quite high up but not too high, the view roughly centre so you neither look up or down on the picture.

In 2-point perspective lines are either vertical and perpendicular to the horizon (90 degree/right-angle) or they go to one of the two VPs. These VPs are usually located to the far right and left of the picture along the horizon line.

The drawing at the bottom is a far more elaborate picture compared to the one above it. Clearly you are 'above' most of the buildings looking down on them. When first learning to draw in perspective it is better to being using simple shapes (mostly squares and rectangles) until you become familiar with how perspective drawing works.

Since I am trying to develop a comic book style the simplicity of the images above is sufficient to convey the type of scene I want to. Over-complicating an image can make it look crowded and busy and sometimes messy. With just a couple more buildings on the bottom picture and I would have a very convincing city-scape.

To make 2-point perspective a bit more simple draw vertical line first, this will be the corner of the building closest to you. Then from the top and bottom of the line draw a straight line to each vanishing point. You will have a total of four lines, one going from the top of the line and left to the VP and one going from the top of the line to the right VP, then you will also have a line going from the bottom of the line to the left VP and one from the bottom to the right VP.

Then you can draw another vertical line anywhere to the left or right of the original line in between the lines that you have just drawn. Do this on either side of the original line and you will have a big rectangle on your page. This is in essence your building and all you need to do is add windows and doors.

I hope that explanation was clear enough for you. That's it for 2-point perspective so go and have a practice yourself.