Pt 3, Pr 4, Ex, 1 – Parallel Perspective

Not necessarily an interior, however, it was an enclosed walkway that had some nice arches running down one side that all met in the middle to create another set of archways running down through the passage way forming a perfect scene to show one point perspective. With the added brick work and the large stone slabs on the floor, the setting was done.

I chose charcoal to do a few preliminary studies which didn’t turn out as effective as I would have liked them to. The charcoal would have lent itself better to a larger scale, but it gave a nice contrast between the dark shadows of the archway and the illuminated walls opposite giving a nice gradation of tone.

I drew a focal point in the centre and started with the last arch which was the entrance/exit and worked my way back, trying to keep everything in proportion and equal with its neighbour.

This was much more of a difficult task than I imagined, constantly cross referencing each side and it took me a while to understand how the archways actually related to one another. Looking down the passageway and trying to see where they connected to the wall was quite confusing to start with and I found I had to simplify them. But once I got the pattern it made more sense.

By chance, the photo I had taken of the archways captured perfectly a city worker on his break walking out of the passageway, which, funnily enough, the vanishing point coincided with his waist, so I decided to keep him in the frame for the final drawing I made.

Instead of using a ruler I estimated the horizon and perspective lines and just tried to build the picture up by cross referencing where the arches started in relation to the lights, the pattern of the arches and the relation between the pillars on either side. Using a wash of water colour pencil, I then began to build up the tones with coloured pencil, charcoal and fine liner until I was happy with the stone textures of the floor slabs and the overall perspective of the passageway.

Some of my vertical lines on the right hand side were off, and the biggest problem I had was getting the arches convincingly even, but I think it is a successful scene with the addition of the paving slabs and brickwork that help to identify the movement of the walls and floor. I left all the working perspective lines in so I could trace my steps.