Course Highlights
- Learn how to draw
- Drawing Lessons
- Teaching Critique
- Learn to Sketch
- How to Draw People
- Affordable Art Classes
- Personalized Certificate
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