Basic Single Vanishing Point Perspective Drawing
in PI 7
(Can be done in any version of PI)
 

For a very long time I have seen my colleagues struggle with getting things into perspective in PhotoImpact. Indeed I did too until I came across Daniel's Lamarche's tutorial. Just the first part in that tutorial gave me all the information I needed to start getting things right with respect to creating furniture, houses etc., and so I thought I would pass that information on in the hope that it will help you too. This tutorial is for the competent user of PhotoImpact and therefore I assume you have a good working knowledge of the programme.

Lets start by opening a new white canvas 500 width and 400 height. Click on Web/Grid & Partition and enter the values you see here: Row - 9; Column - 1; Grid line - 1; Color - black; Be sure there is a check mark in the box Draw Border Line, but leave the next box blank.

Click on the Transform Tool and then in the attributes bar change the transform to Perspective. On your canvas drag the top right hand corner handle down about a third of the height. Your canvas should now look something like this.

Looks a little weird on the eyes doesn't it? From this grid we can see that the lines are going to a vanishing point somewhere off your canvas to the right and it's along these lines that everything from now on will be built and we're going to build the basic shape of a house.

Using the Path Drawing Tool; Shape - rectangle; Color - of your choosing; Mode - 2D; draw a rectangle to represent the front of your house. You will need the left hand side of your rectangle to go from the 3rd line down of the grid to the bottom line. Use the Transform Perspective Tool to pull the top of the right hand corner down to follow along the same grid line as the top point of the left hand side corner. You will see that the bottom right hand corner doesn't follow a line as it should do, so change to the Transform Distort Tool and being careful to keep the vertical line very straight, pull that bottom corner up until it does follow the lower grid line. (Keeping vertical lines absolutely straight is VERY important!) Duplicate this shape and drag it off your canvas, we will be using this duplicated piece later.

Ok, now is the time to add in a few details such as windows and a door. So just as you did with the front of the house, draw a rectangle shape to represent a window. Go from the 4th perspective grid line down to the 6th one down for the upstairs windows and the easiest way to get those windows right is to make your rectangle longer than the width of the house...yes that's right, longer! Then using the Transform Resize Tool only, resize your window by dragging in the right and the left sides until they're in the exact position you want them to be. Don't be tempted to drag the rectangle itself because if you do then it won't follow along the perspective grid lines as it should do. Do exactly the same for the downstairs windows but going from the 7th to the 9th perspective grid line.

The door is to be done in much the same way the windows were, going from between perspective grid line 6 and 7 to perspective grid line 10 (the bottom one). This is great isn't it? We're starting to see the decent formation of a house and hopefully your image will look similar to my one here, but of course we're not finished yet!

We need to put a roof on the house, so using the Path Drawing Tool again draw yet another rectangle and use the Transform Distort Tool to be sure it follows the perspective grid lines 1 and 2, but be sure that it lines up vertically with either side of your house. Change to the Transform Slant Tool and pull the top making it slant to the left until you reach an angle that you're happy with.

Using the Line & Arrow Tool, Shape - line; Color - same as that of the roof; Mode - 2D; Border - 2; click on the top left hand corner of the roof and then on the lower left hand corner of the roof to make a thin line. Rotate this line horizontally and then arrange to form the apex of the roof.

Now then, do you remember that house front section we dragged off the canvas earlier? Well, it's time to drag it back on to your canvas again. Rotate it horizontally and resize it by pulling in the left hand side only so that it fits between the apex you just did. Use the Transform Distort Tool to pull the top left hand side up into position at the bottom most part of the apex. It's wise to leave the tiniest of gaps between this piece and the house front because it will give the house a more defined corner look.

Finally we need to fill in the triangular gap in the apex, so using the Path Drawing Tool find custom shape A08 (an equilateral triangular shape). Draw the shape and resize it to fill the gap. To be sure that things are kept neat and tidy, send this piece to the back.

Select all objects and save your house in your easy palette (DO NOT MERGE ANY OBJECTS), you can use this house as your base image in future projects. All that would be required is the addition of textures and inclusion of other detailing.

WOW, fantastic job!!! You have just completed my first tutorial on basic one point perspective drawing. Well done :-)

Paul E. Castle has put together a discussion concerning depth and perspective that may be of interest to you. I hope you take the time to read it and find it helpful....Thanks Paul :-)

17th November 2001
 

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