Cheeseman-Meyer - Vanishing point : perspective for comics from the ground up

VANISHING
POINT

Perspective for Comics
From the Ground Up

Jason Cheeseman-Meyer

Vanishing Point: Perspective for Comics From the Ground Up. Copyright 2007 by Jason Cheeseman-Meyer. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by IMPACT Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

Other fine IMPACT Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store or direct from the publisher at www.impact-books.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Cheeseman-Meyer, Jason.
Vanishing point : perspective for comics from the ground up / Jason Cheeseman-Meyer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-954-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-58180-954-9 (alk. paper)
1. Perspective. 2. Drawing--Technique. 3. Cartooning--Technique. I. Title.
NC750.C442 2008
741.51--dc22
2007027254

Edited by Jacqueline Musser
Production edited by Sarah Laichas
Designed by Guy Kelly
Production coordinated by Matt Wagner

Metric Conversion Chart

Jason Cheeseman-Meyer is an artist, illustrator and writer currently living in Arizona with his wife and two daughters. Formally educated at Oberlin College after a stint at Otis College of Art and Design, he continues his arts education with artists and illustrators around the country. Jason has studied curvilinear perspective since 1993. He has utilized his background in art, math, teaching and, of course, comic books, in devising a practical system for drawing and teaching curvilinear perspective.

When I set out to write this book, I asked my fellow artists what they wished perspective books would cover, and found almost all of them were resentful about how many important concepts perspective books had never seen fit to share. Then I talked to friends and friends of friends to whom perspective drawing had never made any sense, to find ways to make the concepts instantly clear. Its my sincere hope that this book delivers to both of these groups, and thank you to everyone who talked with me.

I owe many people debts of gratitude on behalf of this book: Ellen made it physically possible for me to write this book; John F. was the first to tell me you should make a book out of this, and his questions about perspective helped shape my teaching approach (not to mention he showed me a thing or two in the process); and Rush W. sparked my interest in the possibilities of perspective drawingway back in 1993into a fire thats never cooled down. I also owe a debt to Albert Flocon and Andr Barre, whose system of curvilinear perspective drawing helped fill the final holes in my own system.

To this I add the legions of artists past and present who have inspired me.

Tools of the Trade

Start by understanding the difference between an environment and a background. Then learn the lingo to help you perfect your perspective drawing.

One-point is the simplest perspective and a great place to try out all the concepts and tricks youll use in more complex drawings.

Master the workhorse of straight-line perspective. The majority of comic scenes are drawn in two-point.

Find the freedom to look anywhere within the scene using three-point perspective. Its the essential perspective for drawing flying, swinging and leaping superheroes or villains.

Boxes are easy to draw in perspective, but what about objects that bend and curve? This chapter shows you how to draw cylinders, circles and, most importantly, people in perspective.

Five-point is the curvilinear equivalent to one-point perspective, but its wide-open field of view makes it much more flexible.

Learn how to use four-point perspective to draw wide vistas and create full 360-degree panoramas.

Dont let the fear of perspective keep you from drawing everything you imagine. Learn how to find vanishing points using thumbnails and floor plans.

In the perfect world, every drawing would be in perfect perspective, but large projects and deadlines often call for shortcuts.

Cities, people, trees, waterfalls, playing cards, cars: Everything you see, you see in perspective. In comic book and fantasy art youre drawing whole worlds, scenes from all angles, characters and objects in extreme foreshortening, all in perspectiveyou really need to know your stuff.

Ive written this book to cover all the bases of perspective drawing. It even dives headlong into curvilinear perspective, where straight lines are drawn as curves. Its a powerful way to draw and gives us alternative views of the world, but it hasnt been taught in any of the major perspective booksuntil this one!

This book has to go further than other perspective books because comic book and fantasy art are generally based on invention rather than observation. Were inventing scenes from worlds no one else can see. The information we put on the pages comes from our minds rather than our eyes. Once our minds develop an intuitive understanding of perspective, we can work not only from observation to image, but from concept through construction to imagefrom the ground up.

Vanishing Point is a dual-purpose text. Go through the chapters, follow the step-by-step demonstrations, draw, and your mind will begin developing that intuitive understanding of perspective. The lessons of each chapter are built upon in the following chapters. Youll quickly learn the nuts and bolts you need for 95 percent of your drawings.

This book also has a series of technical tricks for that remaining 5 percent, and they can get complicated. But complicated doesnt mean advanced, or even hard. These tricks actually make drawing easier by taking away the trial-and-error guesswork.