Using Perspective: Showing Near and Far

1What is perspective?

Your paper is flat. It has only two dimensions: width and height. The real world has a third dimension, depth: some things are near you and some are far away. Perspective is the set of tricks artists use to show depth on a flat surface, so that the viewer feels they could walk into the picture.

2Four tricks for showing depth

1. Overlap. When one thing hides part of another, the one in front looks nearer. The front hill hides the bottom of the house, so the house must be behind it.
2. Size. Things that are far away look smaller. Hold up your thumb at arm's length: it can hide a whole bus at the far end of the road! So draw the same kind of tree big when it is near and small when it is far.
3. Placement. Far things are drawn higher on the page, closer to the horizon line, the line where the land seems to meet the sky. Near things are drawn low down, near the bottom of the page.
4. Colour and detail. There is air, dust and mist between you and faraway things. It makes them look paler, bluer and less detailed. Near things have strong colours, dark shadows and sharp details. Artists call this aerial perspective.

3Foreground, middle ground and background

Many landscapes are planned in three zones, like the layers of a sandwich:

• The foreground is nearest to you, at the bottom of the picture. Its shapes are big, dark and detailed.
• The middle ground is in the middle distance.
• The background is farthest away, near the horizon. Its shapes are small, pale and simple.

4Draw a landscape with depth

You need: a piece of card, a pencil, paper, and colours (crayons, paint, or soil, charcoal and leaf paints).

1. Make a viewfinder. Cut a small window, about 6 cm by 4 cm, in the middle of the card. Hold it up and move it until you find a view you like: hills, trees, houses.
2. Draw a light horizon line about one third of the way down the paper.
3. Background first. Draw the farthest hills as simple, smooth shapes near the horizon.
4. Middle ground next. Draw medium-sized trees and houses that overlap the bottom of the far hills.
5. Foreground last. Draw big, detailed things at the bottom: a banana plant, a fence, a path. They overlap everything behind them.
6. Colour from back to front. Mix plenty of white or water into the far colours so they are pale and a little blue. Use your strongest, darkest colours in the foreground.

5Look closely

This photograph was taken early in the morning in Nyungwe Forest National Park, in south-west Rwanda.

• Find three layers: the trees at the front, the forest in the middle, and the hills at the back.
• Which layer is the palest and bluest? Which layer shows the most detail?
• Where do you see overlap?

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.