Urban Sketching:
Perspective Essentials
Perspective is the thing everyone finds difficult at first. These exercises start with the vanishing point and eye level, then work through one-point perspective on the streets of New York, two-point perspective on a simple building, putting weight into the ground, and finally how far you can bend the rules before the picture turns into a cartoon.
Already enrolled? Log in to access your lessons →
What’s Inside
Introduction to perspective
On the high street in Farndon, all the horizontal lines converge on a vanishing point you can’t see but can mark with a dot, and it always sits at your eye level.
One-point perspective
The junction of Broome Street and Broadway in Manhattan, busy but with a simple underlying structure.
One-point perspective in New York, part 1
On the corner of Broadway and East 23rd Street, with the Flatiron Building in scaffolding. A pen placement activity to map the structural lines first: pavement lines converging, roof lines rising, verticals dropping.
One-point perspective in New York, part 2
A sketch of Broadway outside the Flatiron Building, done in landscape because the life is at ground level.
One-point perspective exercise
With the N79 grey for structure and the N15 black to sharpen and exaggerate. Find the horizon, then the vanishing point, then draw buildings and contour lines.
Two-point perspective
A technical exercise I do on location with students, drawing a simple building. You’ll need two pens and a ruler, probably the only time you’ll see me use one.
Adding weight to perspective
A swing bridge in Amsterdam, and the hatching lines on the road surface. Horizontal lines read as stable and grounded, giving weight. As they sweep towards you they change angle slowly and spread apart, giving perspective.
Playing with scale and perspective
A student asked how I decide when I can lean a vertical. An architect stays subservient to the building, but as an artist the building is my starting point and I’m telling the story of being there. I have licence to bend and exaggerate.
£8
One-time payment. Lifetime access.
Enrolment opens soonAlready enrolled? Log in to access your lessons →
Questions about this bundle
What is in Urban Sketching: Perspective Essentials?
8 short video exercises: Introduction to perspective; One-point perspective; One-point perspective in New York, part 1; One-point perspective in New York, part 2; One-point perspective exercise; Two-point perspective; Adding weight to perspective; Playing with scale and perspective. It costs £8 once and you keep lifetime access.
Do I need to have done a painting workshop first?
No. A bundle is a separate, self-contained set of exercises on one skill. If you later want to see skills like this used in a whole painting, my painting workshops do exactly that.
When can I enrol?
Enrolment opens soon. This page will show an Enrol button when it does.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days of purchase, as long as you have not gone beyond the introduction or first lesson, because by then you have received the digital content. Email mike@artyfactor.com with the bundle name and the email you enrolled with. The full wording is in the Refund and returns policy.
How long do I have access?
It is one payment of £8 and you keep lifetime access.
Where this leads
Want to see the whole picture?
This bundle covers one skill. My painting workshops show how skills like this come together in a finished painting, one stage at a time.
Explore the painting workshops