Today I bring you part 2! In the previous helpful discussion I showed photos of various paths in landscapes, and why some can be challenging when we don’t get the perspective right. In today’s project I’ll show you via a little fox how you can plan a scene when you don’t have any reference photo!

Tutorial: Perspective in Nature: Roads and Paths part 2

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Foreground elements & perspective

Whether a drawing of a fox like this one, or a stamped image – if the subject is seen at ground level, then the perspective will be low to the ground. The horizon will most often be within the subject itself – that way the subject’s head is above the horizon line.

That means if you do put a road high up in the scene with the horizon line high, it will look like a big hillside swooping upward, or else will just feel wrong. While you might think about having taken a picture of your dog and the horizon is high up – remember you’re usually looking down at your dog – and that changes the perspective.

An easy tool to develop ideas

If not using a reference, sketching an idea first can be a big help! Grab a piece of acetate (it can even be old packaging or a page protector) and dedicate it to being your horizon-finder. With a permanent sharpie draw a horizon on one side. Then use a water-soluble pen or marker to sketch possible scenes. 

Place it over your initial drawing and see if a high horizon is what you need – or if you need to fight what you “know” and use a low perspective like this fox cried out for.

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The Background Scene

Once you make a decision about where the focus of the scene will be on your acetate, then it’s time to sketch it onto the piece itself. 

In this image I was thinking not only of the perspective, but in keeping sccene colors light….and denser color would just be in the ground in the low section. That means the fox remains the star – and the perspective looks nice and dramatic too!

Make life easier on yourself…

If you want perspective to be simpler, find a reference! If you’re using stamps, find a scene at the same height the stamp is shown – generally low to the ground. So scenes to pick are ones that the photographer might have been seated in a chair.

That will at least help you develop the size range between elements in the scene as well as the way a pathway appears at that angle.

Supplies

1. Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor Markers BLICK – AMZ 
2. Arches Cold Press 8×8 Block BLICK – AMZ 
3. Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin Brush Round 4 BLICK– AMZ 
4. Winsor Newton Kolinsky Sable Series 7 Round #8 BLICK – AMZ 
5. Sakura Micron Pigma Pens BLICK – AMZ