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Are you excited to learn how to draw? Learning how to draw using one point perspective is one of the many rules I will be covering so you can enhance your drawing skills. Understanding these basic rules will help you to draw what you see.

How to draw Using One Point Perspective

You will not need a lot of drawing supplies for this drawing tutorial. All you are going to need is a graphite pencil, ruler, eraser and paper. inexpensive printing paper will work fine for this practice.

What is One Point Perspective?

One point perspective is a type of linear perspective that utilizes a single vanishing point on a horizon line. This method of drawing shows how things appear to get smaller as they get further away and creates a three-dimensional, realistic look on a two-dimensional surface.

Drawing in one point perspective is a technique used when a subject is viewed from the front, like the front of a building or cube. This technique is also used when looking down something long like a railroad track or a road.

Rules of Perspective

Surfaces that directly face the viewer will appear as their true shape that is not distorted. These shapes are typically drawn with horizontal and vertical lines.

For example, the painting and the front of the table in the example below.

The surfaces that travel away from the viewer go towards a single vanishing point located on the horizon line. The vanishing point is located directly in front of the viewer’s eyes. The horizon line is also known as an “eye level” line.

In the example below, surfaces that travel towards the vanishing point will be the top of the table, the sides of the table’s legs, the walls, ceiling, floor and door.

Horizon Line

The horizon line is sometimes described as a line that divides the ground from the ski. However the horizon line does not always represent the separation of the ski and ground. For example, the image above is of a room. There is no ski or ground but there is still a horizon line. The horizon line represents eye level.

The horizon line will give a perspective of someone’s point of view from eye level.

The drawing below will give you an example of what a viewer would see if they were looking at the front of an object.

If the object is bellow eye level, the viewer would be able to see the front, top and side of the object.

If the object is higher than eye level, the viewer would be able to see the front, bottom and side of the object.

If the object is eye level, the viewer would be able to see the front and side of the object.

Vanishing Point and Orthogonals

A dot that is placed on a horizon line is called a vanishing point. All of the lines of a subject will recede back to the vanishing point. This is also know as the place where objects begin to disappear in the distance. the lines that recede from an objects corners are called the orthogonals (the sides of the object).

Why Use One Point Perspective?

Using and understanding one point, two point and three-point perspective drawing will help you to draw realistic drawings from both real life subjects or reference images. You will be able to see the depth of an object and have an understanding of how light reacts to the surface which will create the illusion of space and form on a two-dimensional surface.