One-Point Perspective

I've started to learn perspective drawing and I'm enjoying it so much. I feel like I'm receiving some tools that will make it easier for me to convert what I have inside my head to a piece of paper. I have so many magical places in my mind that I want to share with you and I think I'm one step closer to being able to do so.

I'm only just starting to get the hang of one-point perspective but I'm eager to learn more. I have an art book that has been really helpful. It's called 'The Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide For Artists in Every Medium' by Phil Metzger. This book takes you through many different aspects of perspective drawing. I haven't read the entire book yet but I really like the way it's put together. There are many illustrations that help describe the subjects that Phil Metzger are explaining and a what-have-we-learnt section after each chapter.

Two things I've found really helpful to keep in mind, when drawing with one-point perspective, is the eye level of your scene and the scene's vanishing point. When learning new things I want it to be kept simple. If I have to remember too many things at the same time I'll be sure to forget one of them or confuse myself more than necessary. 

Once you've established your eye level make a dot on that line to represent your vanishing point. Now all the lines in your drawing, except the vertical lines, has to meet at that vanishing point. Once I learnt this I thought that that couldn't be right. As it turns out, it is. 

I've tried to make some lines on top of one of my inktober, actually one of the very first drawings I've ever made with one-point perspective, to hopefully clarify the meaning of eye level and vanishing point and how to actually use them. 

The red line is my eye level. I've drawn the blue lines to show that all of my lines, the lines of the table, the lines of the shelves, all meet in the vanishing point. As this is one of the first drawings I've ever made using one-point perspective I'm sure there are some mistakes. For instance I don't think the eye level should have been quite that far up the page.

I would definitely recommend this art book if you're learning perspective drawing. I had no idea about what to do at first but after reading some chapters in this book I felt like I could take on the challenge. 

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Pages from the art book are copyright Phil Metzger

The art book: The Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide for Artists in Every Medium

Yurmby Colour Wheel

I feel that art theory can be pretty confusing. You're trying to express your thoughts and feelings through a creation all while you try to remember some "rules" that you haven't quite grasped yet. That's how I feel nevertheless. However I've discovered a colour wheel I think will be a big help for me: the Yurmby colour wheel.

I painted this colour wheel myself and it's not spot on but it will definitely still be helpful. You might have noticed that this colour wheel isn't like the classic one. The so called primary and secondary colours aren't on their "right" places. This colour wheel therefore won't help you in the sense of colour mixing but it will help you create beautiful colour palettes for your paintings. 

The way to do this is by choosing some colours for your painting and with these limit your palette. I just choose some random colours and limited the colour wheel to see how it would look. 

Once you've decided on the part of the colour wheel you'll be using it's time to name some new primaries and secondaries. The corners of your limited area are now your primary colours and the colours opposite are now your secondaries. The colour in the very middle of your triangle is your neutral colour. Even though it might be a purple or green this colour will now look neutral in your painting.

You can use these limited palettes to create beautiful artworks with a simple colour range. Paintings with a simple colour combination are often more appealing than paintings that are too busy plus it's easier to handle. It's a win win.

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Gouache: Schmincke