Falling For Foreshortening

Falling For Foreshortening

For this art lesson, students learned about a type of perspective called foreshortening.

Foreshortening is a drawing technique used to create the illusion where parts of something or someone appear to come out at the viewer strongly, making those areas seem closest to the viewer, and some parts appearing to recede strongly, making those areas seem the furthest away from the viewer.

Students used this technique by drawing a person that appears to be falling backwards into something, with their arms and legs outstretched. They did this by tracing their hands along the top of the paper, and their feet along the bottom of the paper, leaving space in the middle. They then drew the head, neck, arms, and legs of a person smaller, to create the illusion that the body was further away than the feet and hands. Students were instructed to pay special attention to the soles of their shoes, being sure to add details to make it look like the bottom of their feet. Students could take off their shoes or sneakers to draw from if they wanted to, or create their own details from their imagination.

Students then drew a background depicting what their person was falling into, and colored in using colored pencils. Students were also asked to think about the expression on the face of their person, as well as the direction of the person’s hair, to heighten the illusion they were falling.

Learning Goals:

-Demonstrate an understanding on foreshortening and show this in their work