Project Perspective Exercise 3 Linear Perspective

This is a definition of linear perspective taken from the Collins English Dictionary:
n
1. (Art Terms) the branch of perspective in which the apparent size and shape of objects and their position with respect to foreground and background are established by actual or suggested lines converging on the horizon
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

I made use of a nice morning and went to a nearby village to make sketches and take a few photos. When I arrived there despite looking around for quite a while I had a little difficulty in settling on a view which was to my liking. I wanted to find something with curving lines of buildings for added interest and with a low horizon line to give a sense of space and distance, but it seemed impossible to come by. Finally I chose a spot with a good view of some interesting looking old ramshackle buildings in an alleyway off a crossroads on the main street. Somewhere that I could sit down to sketch relatively undisturbed, or so I thought.. Anyhow, the first sketch  focused only on the old buildings. I decided this looked rather closed in and although the building were receding into the distance there wasn't  much depth. When I zoomed out with my viewfinder a bit more so that the view of the street on my side of the crossroads was visible there was a big improvement in this respect. It also brought into view what I thought was an interesting juxtaposition of angles and shapes. There was  a curve on the edge of the pavement and some beer barrels outside a pub on the corner where there was a tall street lamp outside. Also, being a bright clear morning, there were good contrasts of light and shade, evident in the long shadows. Both the sketch displayed on here and the more finished composition were completed using watercolour pencils and crayons.

 As there is a lot going on below the horizon line I didn’t intend to do much with the sky. As it happened it was blue and cloudless at the time. However I did put some scribbly lines in which possibly detract from it. The foreground shadow is very dominant as it is large and dark and runs from one side to the other. I’m not sure if this is acting as a barrier to the elements behind it. Also the beer barrels – they don’t seem to look as spontaneous and convincing as I would like. Otherwise I do like the way the medium has reacted with the surface watercolour paper giving a broken almost shimmering effect.  I think I have the perspective and proportions reasonable accurate and the composition seems to work.

The second sketch in wax crayon of a street in Kinsale.  Thinking about the techniques Giacometti used in his paintings and drawings I decided to add directional perspective lines from the buildings, continuing out to the edges of the paper, in as many places as possible. It was an interesting exercise. I would also like to try out a painting using a similar technique to one Raoul Dufy would often use - to quote a sentence from the exercise guidelines: using painting diluted to washes to create a sense of indeterminate space that is structured just by line.