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General Information 33
Perspective drawing – method of setting up
1 Draw the plan to a scale and set it at the angle at which it
is to be viewed.
2 Establish the position of the Observer on plan, preferably so
that the building falls within a 30º cone. Any wider angled
cone will produce a distorted perspective. The centreline of
this cone is the line of sight.
3 Draw a horizontal line through the plan. This is called the
picture plane, which is set at 90º to the line of sight. The
further the picture plane is from the Observer, the larger
the drawing will be.
4 Draw two lines parallel to the visible sides of the building –
from the Observer to the picture plane – to determine the
vanishing points (VP). As this building is orthogonal, these
lines are at right angles to one another.
5 Draw the horizon where the perspective drawing will be.
Draw vertical lines from the picture plane VPs to establish
the VPs on the horizon.
6 Draw lines from the Observer to the three lower corners of
the plan, cutting the picture plane.
7 Where these lines cut the picture plane at A, B and C,
draw vertical lines up to find the three visible corners of
the building.
8 Draw a vertical line from one of the two points where the
picture plane cuts the plan to establish a vertical scale line.
Mark this line to the same scale as the plan to determine
the bottom and top edges of the building relative to the
horizon. The horizon should be at about 1.6 m for normal
eye level.
9 Connect these marks to the appropriate vanishing points
to complete the outline of the building.
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