Thinking inside The Box : Beyond 2 Point Perspective

How do you use 2 point perspective when drawing interiors?

Picture yourself standing inside a giant shoe box looking at one of the corners.

Unlike before, when you are inside a building, the corners recede away from you. I will show you how to draw this using a version of 2 point perspective that I call “eyeball perspective.”

It's not technically exact, but as artists, we don't need to be as precise as architects or technical illustrators.

• Draw the vertical corner first. Then set your eye level by drawing a horizontal line across the middle of the whole drawing surface.

  

• Next you “eyeball” the angles of the lines where the floor meets the walls. Draw these lines as they meet at the bottom corner line. Then, extend them on up until they cross the eye level line. So the line coming from the left will converge at your right vanishing point. Similarly, the line coming from the right will meet the eye level line at the left vanishing point.

• After you have your two vanishing points, you can draw any angular objects in front of the corner by applying the same principles.

Take some time to practice eyeballing the starting angles, eye line, and vanishing points, so you can quickly establish a rough perspective whenever you need to.

• Find a corner with some angular objects such as a bookcase, coffee table, or a wall with windows or doors. Use your ruler as much as you need.

• Draw any items on the walls first: picture frames, mirrors, and such. Make sure you keep all the vertical lines parallel. The horizontal lines at the top and bottom of your objects point toward the vanishing points.
  

  

• When you draw furniture, draw the back edges next to the wall first. This way you can keep your furniture from looking like it poking through the wall. Then you can use the rules of 2 point perspective to position the front legs, etc.

Practice, practice, practice...and have fun with it. When you first start out, you may feel lost with all the eyeballing of angles, vanishing points, and eye lines.

Or you may get halfway through and realize you shifted your position, and now everything is distorted. Just keep at it! You will improve, and it is well worth the effort!

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