How to Create a Perspective Grid
A perspective grid is a series of lines that intersect at one or more points to help an artist draw objects or landscape with proper perspective and proportion. The intersection points are called "vanishing points," and the lines indicate how an object should shrink as it approaches the vanishing point. This type of grid is a particularly useful guide for new artists to use when learning how to draw objects in perspective. You can create a simple single-point perspective grid using virtually any graphics program that allows you to draw lines.
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Instructions
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1
Launch a graphics program and create a new image file. Click the line-drawing tool from the toolbar.
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2
Draw a horizontal line across the image, stretching from end to end. This is called the horizon line.
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3
Mark a point on this line by drawing a vertical line that stretches across the image and intersects with the horizon line perpendicularly. The point of intersection between these two lines is called the vanishing point. We'll need only one vanishing point for this single-point perspective grid.
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4
Divide your image vertically by drawing vertical lines at consistent intervals across the image. Try to leave at least 10 pixels between the vertical lines. The lines should intersect the horizon line perpendicularly.
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5
Divide your image horizontally by drawing horizontal lines at the same interval as the vertical lines in the previous step. These lines should be drawn across the image, parallel to the horizon. This creates a grid of squares.
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6
Select a row of 5 or more points on a single horizontal line well below the vanishing point where vertical lines you drew in Step 4 intersect with the horizontal line. Draw a line from each of these points to the vanishing point.
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7
Select two points, one on each of the far left and far right lines you just drew, where they intersect with a single horizontal line that is closer to the vanishing point. Draw a line connecting these two points to create a plane.
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8
Draw a line from the top-right point of the plane to the bottom-left point of the plane.
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9
Draw a horizontal line across the plane wherever the line you drew in Step 8 crosses one of the lines you drew in Step 6. This will create a grid in perspective with the vanishing point.
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10
Rotate the entire image 90 degrees clockwise (this is typically an option under the "Edit" menu) and repeat Steps 6, 7, 8, and 9 to create a right-side grid. Repeat this step until there is a perspective grid on all four sides of the image. You can overlap the grids to create a box, which can be useful when drawing a room.
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Click to select and delete the horizontal and vertical lines created in Steps 4 and 5, (or manually erase these line with the eraser tool) leaving only the top, bottom, right, and left grids. You can use this perspective grid as a reference when drawing the edges of buildings, tables, and other objects, or when drawing proportional object that are at different distances from the vanishing point.
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Click the "File" menu and choose "Save" to save the perspective grid image file. Click the "File" menu and choose "Print" to print out the perspective grid. You may wish to print out the grid at low opacity or in a light color if you intend to draw or paint directly on the grid.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
