Drawing a Cube in Perspective

Now that you have read some preliminary theory behind perspective, let's apply it in practical terms. The following exercise will show you how to easily draw a 3 dimensional cube in 2 dimensions using a horizon line and a vanishing point. We are starting with a cube because it is the easiest of the four basic geometric shapes to draw and it will also put to use the straight lines you have been practicing. Although many objects can be drawn with the cube as the foundation, we will start by drawing the following house.



Step 1: Draw a long horizontal line in the center of your page.
Step 2: Choose a point just off the center of the horizon. This will be your vanishing point.
Step 3: Draw two perspective lines. One on a diagonal below the horizon and one on a diagonal above the horizon. These lines do not have to be drawn at the same angle although I suggest keeping them within a small range of one another for sake of proportion in our final drawing.



Step 4: Next, draw two vertical lines extending from the upper perspective line to the lower. This will make up one side of your house.

Note: These two vertical lines are not the same length. The shorter line tricks the eye into perceiving depth within the drawing. You may also notice that the top perspective line goes past the connecting line just drawn. This portion of the line is not needed so we are going to erase it. In fact, it is quite common to draw lines that are too long or too short so draw your perspective lines lightly so that they can be erased easily.



Step 5: Next we need to draw two horizontal lines of equal distance extending out from the corners of the wall's edge closest to us. These two lines can now be connected with a vertical line.



Step 6: Finally, let's add the roof. From the rectangle we just created, draw a diagonal line upwards and inwards from each corner to form a small triangle. From the upper tip of this triangle, draw a straight line connecting this point to the vanishing point.




Step 7: Draw one last diagonal line connecting the back of the house to the line just drawn. Be sure to draw it parallel to the angle of the roof at the front of the house. Shade in the roof and erase any unnecessary lines and there you have it, one beautiful house drawn in perspective.




Exercise: Follow the same steps as the previous exercise but instead of drawing one perspective line above the horizon line and one below, draw both perspective lines above the horizon line for the first sketch and then both below the horizon line for the second sketch. If you have completed this exercise correctly, you should have two sketches similar to the following.

Above the horizon line



Below the horizon line

Other pages of interest

Establishing the horizon line
Drawing a cube in perspective
Taking drawing perspective a step further
Sketching cube based objects
Sketching spherical objects