Two-Point Perspective

Most of the time we don't look at things straight on: we see them from an angle, with a corner pointing toward us. That's two-point perspective, the most used system for drawing buildings, furniture, vehicles and almost any boxy object.

How it works

You need a horizon line and two vanishing points on it, one to the left and one to the right. Then:

• Vertical lines stay vertical.
• Lines going to the left converge to the left VP.
• Lines going to the right converge to the right VP.

There are no simple horizontal lines anymore (except the horizon itself).

Drawing a box in two-point perspective

1. Draw the horizon and place two VPs far apart.
2. Draw a vertical line: the front corner of the box.
3. From the top and bottom of that corner, draw lines to both VPs.
4. Draw two more verticals to define the left and right faces.
5. From the tops of those verticals, draw lines to the opposite VPs. Where they cross is the back corner of the top face (if the box is below the horizon).

Keep the vanishing points far apart

If the VPs are too close together, boxes look distorted, stretched like seen through a fisheye lens. Place them wide, even off the edges of the page. Tape your paper to a larger surface and mark VPs on the table if needed.

Adding details

Doors, windows, signs and steps are all smaller boxes or rectangles on the faces of the main box. Their edges go to the same VPs as the face they belong to. To find the center of a face (for a door, for example), draw its diagonals.

Inclined planes

Roofs, ramps and open lids are tilted planes. Their sloped edges converge to a point above or below the original vanishing point, on a vertical line passing through it. This point is called an auxiliary vanishing point.