Russian Drawing Course Part 3: Measuring from Observation

[Brittney Bach]

Did the box. Now that I look at it it looks completely off. Why is it so hard to draw a box? I couldn’t do it with the needles so I tried it just by eye.

[erikdennes]

Boxes are hard to draw because our eyes can easily detect any errors in perspective.  It just won’t look right.

Hopefully this will help you make some corrections:

• Lines going off to the left vanishing point (green) are higher than the lines going off to the right vanishing point creating a horizon line that is not horizontal.   Solution- when laying in the shape, go ahead and lightly draw in the orthogonals to the edge of the page (as shown below) so you can visually tell better if the horizon line is horizontal.  There is also an “in picture” method called the Brewer Method for creating a grid so you can construct your box when the vanishing points are way off the page rather than just relying on observation.  I’m pretty sure there are tutorials for it available online.
• The top lines for both the left and right vanishing points don’t have enough diminishment (they are sloped too high).  Solution – Again, extending those lines out to the edge of the page will help you visually determine if all the lines on one side indeed go to the same vanishing point. (Or construct it using the Brewer Method to create your grid)
• The slope on the right hand side vertical (yellow) looks too kicked out.  Solution – Instead of worrying about 3 point perspective, just make the verticals all vertical.  If you choose to go with 3 point perspective, then go ahead and lay out a grid so you know your verticals will be correct and meet up at a vanishing point off the page.
• Try drawing a little smaller so you can have a little more length on your orthogonals.
• When shading have a little more separation in value between the top side of the box and the right vertical plane of the box.  This will give it what is called a 1 2 3 read  and makes each plane read very clearly on paper (even if that is not what you observe).

 

Hope this helps.

 

[Lin R]

Hi, when we do measuring from observation, do we measure with our arms extended or closer to our body? Does it matter at all? Also do we have to measure the object at eye level? Thanks!

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Lin, its best practice to have your arm fully extended. this way there is no variance in how far away your arm is from your eye. there is a lot of perspective distortion close to your eye so you want to keep the distance as consistent as possible.
So yes this is pretty important.

I dont think it maters if you are at eye level or not, just keep your horizon line consistent, otherwise your vanishing points will move! 🙂

[Lili]

Hi. What size knitting needles do we need? They aren’t included in the materials list. Thank you

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Lili, it looks like knitting needle size is a measure of the diameter, so I think a smaller size would be better because it would be easier to hold.  But I don’t think the exact size is super important. You could probably use 2 pencils just as well as knitting needles.

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