The Right Perspective!

Perspective is the way we see it! Albeit our perspective towards painting as an observer may be manifold, a painter is expected to have a defined knowledge of perspective in painting. In brief, it is the way a three dimensional object is laid on the canvas i.e, two dimensionally true to its spatial alignment in a way that it looks realistic. This knowledge is of immense importance in painting as the very purpose of painting is to make the observer enjoy the three dimensional experience of the subject of the painting, be it in still-life or landscape. It is equally technical too! The two most commonly used perspectives in painting are:

• ·         Linear

• ·         Aerial or atmospheric

Linear perspective:

It is also called geometric, mathematical or optical perspective. Though it involves great deal of mathematical calculations and optical laws, simply put abides following properties. 

1. Objects which are closer appear larger than those which are farther through the line of sight. For eg. A bush in the foreground looks much bigger than the mansion far away.
2. Objects get foreshortened with respect to their dimensions. Usage of this gives the illusion of depth in the painting. It means, in the brief sense, 2-3 km of farther space is reduced to only few inches on the canvas, where as the foreground that we see are painted with more details covering more of canvas.

It is drawn keeping line of horizon and vanishing point as reference. All the parallel lines appear converging to one point on the line of horizon called ‘vanishing point’. Linear perspective is further classified as ‘one-point’, ‘two-point’ and ‘three-point’ depending on the plane of vision.

Aerial perspective:

Aerial or atmospheric perspective refers to the effect of atmosphere on the objects when viewed from distance. This is due to dispersion and filtering of colors by the moisture and dust particles in the atmosphere. Colors of the farther objects shift to background color which is usually blue, but to red tones in times of sunrise and sunset. 

Important points to be remembered as one looks into distance are:

1. Colors become cooler having more blue in it.
2. Intensity of the color of the object decreases.
3. Contrasts diminish with distance
4. Details are blurred and edges get softened. 

A well handled perspective makes the painting 'come alive'. Following are some of my attempts at 'Perspective Study'.

Hope you enjoyed the Third Dimension of Painting!