Basic principles of perspective drawing 4 – Overlapping

Overlapping

OVERLAPPING: This obvious and very simple technique not only shows which objects are in front and which are in back — it’s also a very important way of achieving a sense of depth and space in drawings. Notice the depth confusion when overlapping does not exist {right).

Overlapping SHADES AND SHADOWS:

Naturally the shape and structure of three-dimensional objects can be understood only when viewed in some form of light. But it’s really the shades and shadows created by this light that render the shapes “readable” and discernable. So working with light, shade and shadow will dramatically help to give a drawing form and a sense of the third dimension.

Color And Value Perspective

Values (black to white range) and colors are bright and clear when seen close up but become grayer, weaker, and generally more neutral as their distance from the observer increases. Detail And Pattern Perspective Details, textures and patterns, such as blades of grass, the bark of trees, leaves, the distinguishing features of people, etc., are also clear and discernable when close but become “fuzzier” and less sharp when further away. These principles are rarely discussed in perspective books yet they suggest useful techniques for increasing the sense of depth and space in a drawing.

Focus Effect

This principle is worth noting despite the fact that only a few artists apply it in their work. The eye looking at a distant object will focus at that object’s range; things in the foreground, consequently, will be “out of focus” and therefore blurred. For example, a distant steeple seen through a window might appear something like this. Such a blurred foreground-clear background effect might be used to emphasize the center of interest as well as the sense of depth.

Conversely, when the eye focuses on foreground objects the background will appear blurred and unclear. (This principle is rarely used because artists drawing a view such as this will focus back and forth in order to see and draw all parts clearly. Yet if emphasis or a “spot light” effect were desired this “truth” of seeing could well be applied.)

Two professional examples, a painting and a landscape drawing, employing the fundamentals of DIMINUTION, FORESHORTENING, CON- VERGENCE, OVERLAPPING, SHADE AND SHADOW, VALUE PERSPECTIVE, PATTERN PERSPECTIVE, etc., to achieve a sense of space and depth.