The horizon line or eye level is the line at which the artist sees flat land or sea meet the sky. On hilly land you cannot see this line so you have to imagine it. The line is where your eyes are looking if you do not look either up or down but just look straight ahead. You can get different feeling for your paintings by changing the position of this horizon line or artist’s eye-level, compared to the eye level of your model or any figures in the painting. The artist may be at model eye level, above model eye level, or below model eye level.

In this course unit

In this unit you will learn as much about perspective as you need for the majority of your paintings. These are the rough and ready practical techniques you can use out in the field or in the studio. You will learn a simple and practical approach to linear perspective, and the essentials of drawing ellipses — a critical skill for all painters that distinguishes the amateur from the professional. You will learn the techniques of:

• Angular transfer – a rough and ready technique you can use without knowing anything at all about the science of perspective that will give you fairly accurate results
• Different horizon lines
• How to use horizontal lines and vanishing points to increase the accuracy of your perspective drawing
• Perspective center
• Drawing ellipses
• Drawing a cylinder
• Hemispheres and umbrellas
• Fixing complex drawings

Total number of assignments: 7

Total number of pages: 25