Chapter 6 Elliptical Perspective and Cylindrical Objects

Objectives

• Understand elliptical perspective and describe its use in drawing.

• Draw an accurate ellipse freehand.

• See the underlying cylindrical form of objects in order to simplify their shape.

• Draw cylindrical objects, whether they are standing up or lying down, accurately and with a sense of the object’s volume.

Elliptical Perspective

• Seen from directly above or below, a circle is round.

• As the edge of the circle comes closer to your eye level, the ellipse narrows.

Upright Cylinders

(1 of 2) • The two ellipses (circles) on the ends of a cylinder are the same size.

• Their apparent shape changes because you don’t see both ellipses from the same eye level.

Upright Cylinders

(2 of 2) • The ellipse you can see (top or bottom) is narrowest where it meets the sides, widest in the middle • Draw perpendicular guide lines to keep the ellipse from being lopsided.

Cylinders on Their Sides

(1 of 2) • Drawing a cylinder that’s lying on its side requires using both elliptical and linear perspective.

Cylinders on Their Sides

(2 of 2) • First, draw a guide line down the center of the cylinder, parallel to the sides and running through the centers of the ellipses.

• Then, draw perpendicular guide lines for the ellipses.

Volume in Cylinders

(1 of 2) • Establishing volume in cylinders combines the techniques of the sphere and the cube.

• The greatest contrast on the sides comes in the middle —the area closest to the viewer — as in a sphere.

Volume in Cylinders

(2 of 2) • The greatest contrast on the edges comes at the point closest to the viewer, as on a cube.

• The cylinder, like the cube, has a second cast shadow, a thin dark line.

Summary

(1 of 2) • Elliptical perspective – An ellipse appears to narrow as it comes closer to your eye level, to widen as it gets farther away.

• The cylinder is one of the four basic shapes.

– It combines the attributes of the sphere and the cube.

• The two ellipses of a cylinder do not appear identical because they are at different distances from your eye level.

Summary

(2 of 2) • When a cylinder is lying on its side, linear perspective makes the sides appear to converge.

• Draw a central guide line and a perpendicular guide line to render the ellipses of a cylinder lying on its side.

• Illusion of volume in a cylinder comes from contrast in value between ellipses and sides and between light and shadow areas of the sides.