Drawing: Trees with William F. Powell

Trees in Perspective

The technique used to represent depth or three-dimensional objects on a flat surface is based on the principle of perspective. The rules of perspective are guides for keeping objects in proper proportion to one another in a composition. The following exercises demonstrate the principles of one- and two-point perspective. For further information, refer to Walter Foster’s Perspective (AL13) in the Artist’s Library series.

All objects appear smaller as they recede into the picture toward the horizon. In order to draw all the trees in proper proportion to one another, use some simple tools of perspective. First, draw a line to represent the horizon. Then draw two guidelines to a point on the horizon line, one from the top of ...