Keeping things in perspective

By Nancy Shuman

Cross with Ladder in Perspective by Lautensack
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The following is something I have a hard time describing, but I find it important enough that I'm going to give it a try.

I think we're made to look for the time when things are stable and settled, but we set our sights too short.  Heaven is where our gaze (even now) is to be directed.

I compare it to the "vanishing point" I did projects on in Art school.  In a study of perspective, the vanishing point is that place on the horizon where what one sees, in effect, vanishes.  It's a central point, sometimes illustrated by a single little dot.  It is that spot to which all things are directed.   Everything in the picture is geared toward that point.  Streets, roofs, windows, roads can then be lined up as the eye sees them: wider when they're closer to the viewer, and narrower toward the horizon.  the picture is only correct, nicely proportioned, and logical if the artist takes into account the vanishing point.  In a basic perspective lesson, the student is taught to project the vanishing point and then to practice by using rulers until all things in the picture line up correctly with that one central spot.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog The Breadbox Letters.