A classic step-by-step guide that makes perspective drawing simple, from the horizon line to whole streets and rooms
The horizon, the vanishing point, the eye
Many people who love to draw find perspective intimidating, a tangle of lines and rules. Ernest Norling, an American artist and teacher, set out to show that it is actually simple, and that a handful of principles explains almost everything. His book, first published in 1939 and still in print, teaches those principles one step at a time, with a drawing on nearly every page.
Who will enjoy it
Beginning artists, sketchers, comic artists and anyone who wants buildings, rooms and objects in their drawings to look convincing.
What you will get
A friendly, clear classic that makes perspective drawing simple, with short lessons and plenty of illustrations on almost every page.
Perspective Made Easy Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Nonfiction · Drawing · Perspective · Art instruction
Length
224 pages · ≈ 7 h
More about this book
The book begins with the basics: the horizon, the vanishing point and the viewer's eye level, and why everything else depends on them. Each later step builds on these ideas, showing how to draw boxes and buildings from different angles, how to handle several vanishing points, and how to place objects and figures correctly in a scene. Norling explains each idea in a few plain sentences and then shows it in sketches.
The style is old-fashioned and friendly, more like a patient teacher at your shoulder than a technical manual, and the illustrations, some of them charming period scenes of streets and houses, are easy to copy and practise from. Readers looking for advanced mechanical methods or digital techniques will need another book, but as a foundation it is hard to beat, which is why it has stayed in print for so long.
Inexpensive, compact and genuinely useful, a good companion to more general drawing courses. Work through it with a pencil and ruler in hand. Ten minutes a day with these exercises can transform a beginner's sketches within weeks. About 224 pages in the Dover paperback.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Keys to Drawing
Draw 50 Animals
How to Draw
Making Comics
The Animator's Survival Kit
How to Cook Everything
The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual
Cook with Jamie
Ortho's Home Improvement Encyclopedia
Good Eats: The Early Years
Organic Housekeeping