3 point perspective

three Point Perspective is the most complex form of perspective drawing. Three point perspective uses three sets of orthogonal lines and three vanishing points to draw each object.

Activity [optional]

Watch the video on drawing a city using 3pt perspective. You can give it a go if you like and create your cityscape in your visual diary *it does not need to be as complex as these, just try a 3pt building or two!!

Three Point Perspective

Three point perspective still uses a horizon line and vanishing points with orthogonals, However this time the lines that are normally horizontal in 1 & 2pt now converge to a third VP.

NEXT - Focused Task Creative Perspective drawing

Activity: "The Falling Boxes" (Bird's Eye View)

Objective: Students will understand how the third vanishing point creates the illusion of extreme height or depth by drawing floating boxes or "skyscrapers" viewed from above.

Materials: A4 paper, pencil, eraser, ruler

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. The Setup (The Triangle)

- Turn the paper Portrait (vertical).
- Draw a Horizon Line very close to the top edge of the paper.
- Place Vanishing Point 1 (VP1) on the far left of the line.
- Place Vanishing Point 2 (VP2) on the far right of the line.
- Place Vanishing Point 3 (VP3) at the very bottom center of the page.

Note: It should look like a giant upside-down triangle.

2. Draw the "Roof" (The Top of the Box)

- Pick a spot anywhere inside that triangle (start near the middle for the best result). Draw a single dot. This is the corner of the box closest to the viewer.
- Draw a light line from that dot to VP1.
- Draw a light line from that dot to VP2.
- Decide how wide the box is. Make two marks on those lines you just drew.
- From those marks, crisscross back: Draw a line to VP2 from the left mark, and to VP1 from the right mark.
- You now have a diamond/square shape. This is the top of your box.

3. The Drop (The Vertical Lines)

- This is the "magic" step. In 1-point and 2-point perspective, vertical lines go straight up and down. In 3-point perspective, vertical lines must go to VP3.
- Take the three corners of your "diamond" (the ones pointing down and sideways) and draw straight lines connecting them all the way down to VP3.

4. Close the Box

- Decide how tall the box is. Draw a line across the box panels to "cut" it off.
- Crucial Rule: These cut-off lines must also angle towards VP1 (for the left side) and VP2 (for the right side).

5. Repeat & Shade

- Draw 3–5 more boxes of different sizes floating at different heights.
- Shading: To make them pop, shade the "bottom" sides of the boxes darker than the tops, assuming the light is coming from the sky (the horizon line).

3 Challenges

Overlap: Draw one small box floating in front of a larger box (hiding part of the lines).
The Window: Turn one box into a building by adding windows. Remember: The vertical sides of the windows must point to VP3, and the horizontal tops/bottoms must go to VP1 or VP2.
Worm's Eye View (Extension): Put the Horizon Line at the bottom and VP3 at the top. Now they are ants looking up at the boxes!

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