Understanding Perspective on Curved Walls

Perspective just keeps turning up in different ways. This video explores some of the ways it is relevant when the surface of the structure is curved. The reference photo for the drawing is available on my channel Community Page if you'd like a chance to put it into action.

[@no_chefs_here3194]

this drawing just looks so solid and 3-d! plus the removal of foreshortening explained - just what we talked about in critique session👍👍

[@stephentraversart]

Thanks. Glad it’s been helpful 😀

[@maryaltabev5275]

Some people are experts in their subjects but they are not able to communicate or share their knowledge. You are one of the rare birds who have both skills. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned about drawing in my first 3-4 videos! I really can’t thank you enough. Happy holidays to you. I’m going to treat myself to a couple of your videos per day as a present to myself 😊

[@stephentraversart]

Wow, thank you. That’s very kind. With around 500 videos, you have enough to keep you busy for a while 😆. All the best with them. 😀

[@glennmorrison7595]

Thank you for a great lesson. Dawn

[@stephentraversart]

Glad it was helpful!😀

[@Asterix34518]

Thank you very much Stephen for this excellent demonstration of how to draw a building with curved perspective. Your detailed explanation highlighted the many points to be considered in this regard . I admire the ease with which you use your pen or pencil to gauge the angle of a line on the photo and then accurately transfer it to the drawing something which i am not able to get right. I guess it takes a practiced eye and a steady hand.

[@stephentraversart]

Most things improve with practice. But the important thing is to draw at the rate you can draw accurately. Then when you improve, you get faster at drawing accurately. 😀

[@Asterix34518]

Yes that's right . I have to slow down and put in extra practice in areas of perspective drawing that I'm struggling with.

[@glennmorrison7595]

Im going to have to practice this...

[@stephentraversart]

Have fun. 😀

[@energi751]

I love the perspective

[@stephentraversart]

Great. Thank you. 😀

[@patdarlington3297]

I have learned so much from you about perspective but this one confused me. I got some of it but parts were unclear. I hope you do another one or a few more similar ones that I can continue to try to learn from. I wish I could explain better how I was confused but the confusion robs me of this ability here. Somewhere along the way the conceptual framework quickly got a bit too complicated. It went from easy to get to too hard too fast with little middle ground. Still, I am very appreciative of all that you do to teach us. Thank you truly.

[@stephentraversart]

If in doubt Pat, just observe really carefully, and draw what you see. But perhaps I can do more. All the best with your drawing. 😀

[@joannsmith9]

Genius!

[@UndaAutistica]

In general, for beginners like myself, would you recommend we draw a cuboid for capturing the cylindric tower and its key circular perspectives first? I see you drew the various components directly without such a reference on paper.

[@stephentraversart]

I don’t do that as I draw freehand directly in pen, so any roughing out lines will be there at the end. I certainly visualise what you say however. My suggestion is that you practice what/how you want to get better at. But start at a simple enough level that you can do it well and then slowly increase the difficulty 😀

[@UndaAutistica]

@@stephentraversart thank you! I started drawing a week ago because I found an old notebook lying around and didn't have any other uses in mind. I came across your videos (particularly perspective ones) and I can confirm they've been surprisingly helpful - already seeing great improvements in my sketches just one week apart for someone with zero previous exposure. Thank you !

[@leporium]

Thank you so much for all of these videos, I've recently gotten into them and been finally clicking what perspective is. I do have one questions about the eyelevel and it is possible you might said in on of your videos but I still don't seem to quite catch it. If eye level is where the eyes looking why doesn't it change the eye level when the head tilts down or up? Does this mean the eye level is where the eyes are off the ground plane, no matter if you tilt your head up or down? However it gets a little confusing when we look at object from birds eyes view because eye level is entirely different? I'm not really sure what is not clicking to me right there but if you have the time to answer the question I would be really thankful!! 😊

[@stephentraversart]

Yes, it’s where your eyes are level relative to the ground plane you as the observer are on. So if we are looking up above our height at a tall building, there will be no horizontal line made by the architecture within what we are seeing. It will be level with our eyes, so we’ll have to bring our head back down to see it. There is always an eye level, but it is not always within our view. A cropped photo may also have removed or tilted it without our being aware. Hope this helps. 😀

[@michaelbarwinski2522]

I really appreciate your videos and explanations of perspective. Love your architectural renderings too! If you print out the photos yourself can I ask what printer you use? Thanks for the great content.

[@stephentraversart]

Thanks Michael. Yes I do print print my photos. I just use our old home printer: Canon Pixma TS 5060. It must be 4-5 year old at least. It only cost $84AUD. Nothing hi-tech, but I need straight forward. I use Hi Res paper printing photos to use on camera. Hope that’s what you wanted to know.

[@michaelbarwinski2522]

@@stephentraversartThanks for the quick response, I need a new printer. I really enjoy your videos, you’re like the James Gurney of ink! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@EnglishwithAlan]

this is brilliant. question: what's the word you used for the rectangular bits near the top that you said were stylized representations of woodne beams? I couldn't make it out. thank you.

[@stephentraversart]

Thanks Alan. They are called triglyphs, from the three vertical bars carved into them. 🧐

[@EnglishwithAlan]

Thank you

[@ralucacristina7394]

God bless you indeed, thank you so, so much, curved objects in perspective quite difficult for me. I also struggle with the proportion, your foto is smaller than your actual drawing, how to do that because i tried so many times and i run out of paper 😊

[@stephentraversart]

Thanks Cristina. Actually, I had intended to draw it same size, but it somehow got larger. Happens to me as well. The video I just posted is on keeping proportions correct, so you might find that helpful. All the best with it. 😀

[@khrisabuid4315]

Hi, I don't seem to be able to find the reference pic for this.....any help would be appreciated.

[@stephentraversart]

It’s on my channel community page which may not be accessible from your mobile device. Do you have a desktop or laptop you could find it on?😀

[@khrisabuid4315]

@@stephentraversart using laptop but cannot find it....sorry! How far back is it?

[@khrisabuid4315]

Steven, I can find ALL the other reference pics going back 12 mths BUT I cannot find this one!

[@stephentraversart]

@@khrisabuid4315 Khris, my apologies, I don't think I loaded it. Who knows what i was remembering.?! It's definitely there now.

[@khrisabuid4315]

@@stephentraversart Thank you :)