Two-point perspective can be used to draw the same objects as one-point perspective, rotated: looking at the corner of a house, or

looking at two forked roads shrink into the distance, for example. One point represents one set of parallel lines, the other point

represents the other. Looking at a house from the corner, one wall would recede towards one vanishing point, the other wall would

recede towards the opposite vanishing point.

One point perspective can be limiting, with two-point perspective you can capture the same

objects from more view points.

Here are some examples of boxes drawn in two-point perspective. The top three show a view from below with the parallel lines intersecting above the horizon

line. The parallels of the first two boxes in the second row intersect above and below the horizon

line while boxes (B) and (E) intersect below the horizon line.

Notice that cluster (A) shares a common vanishing point, whereas cluster (B) does not. Box (C) is drawn as if transparent. Box (D) is positioned so that we see a great deal more of one face than the other two. In such a case, the vanishing point for the greater face will be located farther away. The placement of vanishing points is based on judgement. Sometimes it may be necessary to locate one or both the vanishing points outside the edge of your drawing. What you want to avoid, however, is the distortion that occurs when you place the two points too close together as in box (E).

Two-point perspective is great for drawing architecture. In this drawing the vanishing

points are on the very edge of the page.

This image also uses vanishing points that are on the very edge of the page. Notice that we

can see the tops of the buildings that fall below the horizon line while we cannot see

those that extend above the horizon.

Once again the vanishing points in this drawing are at the edge of the drawing. By placing the horizon line higher on the page the view point

appears to be one from high above.

The vanishing points in this image are out of the picture plane. This makes the use of two-point perspective less exaggerated. To place points outside of the page you simply tape two extra flaps of newsprint to the back side of your drawing and extend your horizon line across them. Now you can place your points off the page.

This, and all of the following drawings are CR student drawings from this assignment.

In this detailed, impressive drawing it would be nice to see more contrast-- dark and light.

This is a creative idea for a drawing with extremely lazy execution. If you finish your drawing in less than three class

periods you have not given yourself a challenging enough subject.

In this student drawing the two point perspective rules are used to create a challenging space that is unusual and

interesting to look at. Notice the attention to depth on the floating stairs!

Another good idea with lazy execution. More attention to the use of ink wash, more careful details (notice how the shingles just become a scribble), and further use of two point perspective could make this an amazing drawing.

This is a lovely take on this assignment and everything, including the round table, uses two point perspective. It would,

however, be nice to see more pen details on this drawing.

This is one of the more creative responses to this assignment-- notice that every surface has a different

texture!

While some of the ink wash gets a bit too sloppy in this drawing, the details are lovely and the

space is very complicated and believable.

This is one of the most successful and creative responses to this assignment. Notice that you can see the buildings both above and below ground-- you can

even see the tunnels of the subway under the buildings.

This piece really uses the wash and pen well together– notice that this student achieved excellent darks using texture and pen.

This piece uses wash and pen in a lovely way and all the perspective is correct. It would be a more exciting drawing if each storefront was a slightly different size and therefore used two point perspective more.