Teaching beginning artists how to draw perspective does not have to be a stressful struggle! Below are my 10 favorite, tried-and-true, guided drawing activities to help any artists to feel confident in this fundamental art skill.
Prior to beginning…
Before I start teaching my beginning artists how to draw perspective, a few concepts that I think are very important to review include:
- This will take the 3 P’s… PRACTICE, PATIENCE, and PERSEVERENCE! It’s kind of like riding a bike and once you’ve got it– you’ll never forget it!
- Draw LIGHT ’til you get it RIGHT
- Find real world examples of perspective… look down the school hallway to see how the lines converge, check out photographs of city streets and more!
Furthermore, beginning artists should have a firm understanding of the following terms.
- Horizon line
- Vanishing Point
- Converging lines
- Parallel lines
- Perpendicular lines
- Horizontal, vertical, and perpendicular lines
- Linear perspective
- Atmospheric perspective
Activity #1- One Point Perspective Landscape
This is my favorite guided perspective tutorial to introduce beginners to perspective. Artists really seem to have those “A-HA!” moments and build confidence with how to render depth using linear perspective. Click here for step by step tutorial.
Activity #2- One Point Perspective Room Interior
This one point perspective room interior activity challenges artists to apply concepts of linear perspective, while also giving freedom to be creative with added furniture, wall colors, etc. Click here for a step by step tutorial.
Activity #3- Two Point Perspective & Points of View (bird’s eye, worm’s eye, street view)
A large part of drawing perspective is understanding the concepts of point of view, such as bird’s eye, worm’s eye and street view. With this tutorial, artists practice drawing 3 different 3d forms in two point perspective to explore point of view possibilities. Click here for the tutorial.
Activity #4- “Alien’s Eye View” Exaggeration Perspective
Ready to explore how exaggeration and distortion can be mixed with the rigid rules of perspective drawing? Check out this fun, “alien’s eye view” drawing. Click here for the step by step guide.
Activity #5- Two Point Perspective City
As artists become more comfortable with one point perspective, it’s a great time to introduce two point perspective. This simplified city drawing is the perfect place to start for beginners- check it out here!
Activity #6- Two Point Perspective Advanced City with Tagged Brick Wall!
Artists who have mastered activity #5 may be ready to take it the new level! This detailed two point perspective city project incorporates more detail, atmosphere, and the creative option to add a graffiti tag in the city. My middle schoolers love this project– full tutorial can be found here.
Activity #7- Atmospheric Perspective Misty Forest *Digital option*
In addition to linear perspective, atmospheric perspective is another tool artists used to show the illusion of depth on a 2d picture plane. This misty forest activity with step by step instructions is a great introduction! This activity can be done digitally to illustrate the concepts, or using traditional tools such as paint, colored pencils, etc.
Activity #8- Exploring Foreshortening
Foreshortening is a hard concept to teaching, and an even harder thing to draw! This guided blog post shows a few activities teachers can use to introduce this concept.
Activity #9- One Point Perspective Glowing Street Lights with Scratch art!
Simply put, I love scratch art! The feel of etching, the immediate contrast, and the final product is so rewarding.
In this activity, artists mix their understanding of perspective with scratch art to create a one point perspective scene with glowing street lights. Check it out here!
Activity #10- Creative Perspective Architecture // Gingerbread House Drawing and Haunted House Drawing
Artists that have really gotten the hang of perspective can be challenged to render unique architecture, such as a gingerbread house, a haunted house, and much more! My young students artists always appreciate these projects!
ACTIVITY #11 (Yes, I know it says 10 but I’m making it 11 LOL!)– 2 Point Perspective Winding Wall
Feeling pretty confident with the fundamentals of 2 point perspective? Check out this engaging tutorial to draw a winding wall in 2 point perspective.
Thanks for checking out this blog post! I would love to see your creations if you use any of these activities. Feel free to tag me on Instagram and possibly get featured in this site! Also, please follow Make a Mark Studios on Facebook to keep up with the latest posts! Thanks in advance!
-Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios