Lesson 9

Drawing & Communication: Perspective & Speaking Life

Perspective and Speaking Life, with Dean Estes and Jessie Nilo
These visual art exercises are meant to strengthen our visual communication and learning skills. Whether or
not you will use these particular methods in your own artwork, the practice of learning various art methods
can inform other areas of your artistic growth, and increase your capacity to learn unfamiliar art methods.
If you are advanced at perspective, please set up a perspective still life and draw it while this video is playing.
If youre new at perspective, relax and see how much you can learn. There will not be a test. You dont have to
like it or ever use it again after this video. You just might pick up something new, but its fine if you dont, too!
Supplies needed as you watch this video:
White or light-colored paper. A large paper size is preferable, such as 12 x 18 newsprint or larger.
A drawing board, thick cardboard backing, large book, or other hard surface to support your paper.
Clamps or large binder clips (if necessary) to attach your paper to the board.
A dark, bold drawing instrument such as a thick dark marker, charcoal, or India Ink and brush. Make sure
whatever you choose is not dried up or too faint to see well. Dark colors (blue, purple, etc) are fine. Test to
make sure its capable of creating bold, smooth, confident lines without tugging on your paper or skipping.
Also prepare and cut out your own viewfinder that youll use during this video (see template on next page).
When youre ready to start the video:
Lean your paper (which is attached to a drawing board) on a chair facing toward you, as in this photo.
Sit on a different chair thats facing your drawing board (kitchen chairs work well for this). You might want
to cover the chairs with rags or plastic to catch dust or drips, especially if youre using charcoal or ink.

Lesson 9

Drawing & Communication: Perspective & Speaking Life

A FEW MAIN POINTS well be giving in this video (take notes if theres more you want to remember)...
Line of sight: In the picture plane (the scene youre drawing), your line of sight is the imaginary clothesline
stretching from your eyeballs into the distance toward the direction your picture plane is facing.
When to Use Perspective: When youre dealing with geometric objects that are aligned with each other or
are parallel in real life, or when youre dealing with organic objects of similar sizes that are lined up and/or
overlapping, stretching off into the distace, or appearing to get smaller farther away.
1-Point Perspective
Use 1-point when looking straight ahead (head-on) at a wall, or when an outdoor
scene has long lines (think railroad tracks or narrow hallway) that line up parallel
with your line of sight (the imaginary clothesline stretching from your eyeballs to
the distance in the picture plane).
2-Point Perspective
Use 2-point when youre looking toward or into a corner or if youre noticing
a lot of objects have their corners pointing toward you, and you cant see many
lines that run parallel along your line of sight (imaginary clothesline).

Viewfinder (template)

Outside dimensions: approx. 4.25 inches x5.5 inches

Find a dark piece of thick paper or very thin

cardboard or card stock. (You could use white or
light paper if you want to, but its easier to look
past the edges if its dark.)
For the outside dimensions, its easy to use 1/4 of
a letter size sheet of paper. Fold a standard piece
of paper into fourths, then cut along the fold.
Inside dimensions can be approx. 2 inches x 2.75
inches, or whatever you like. If youre drawing
on a sketchpad that is skinnier or more squareshaped, adjust the dimensions of your viewfinder to match your drawing paper.

If you prefer, you

can tape thread to
one side of your
viewfinder to
mimic crosshairs
separating your
view into 4 quadrants (optional) for
reference of how
to break up your
drawing paper.

Inside:
Cut a rectangular
opening, using
scissors or
an X-Acto knife
approx.
2 inches x 2.75
inches