Perspectives on a Place

• Make a realistic drawing of a place at your school or in your community.
• Then make a second drawing of the same place, this time playing with color, pattern, and texture.

• Choose a place that has interesting angles or architectural details.
• Use a pencil, a ruler, and your observations to render the scene, playing with perspective to create depth.
• Consider which parts of the scene are in the foreground, middle ground, and background. How can you use scale and color to emphasize depth?
• Think about the pencil drawing as a framework. Then layer color, texture, highlights, and shadows over this structure.
• In your first drawing, use realistic colors in the medium of your choice.
• In your second drawing, exaggerate the colors, patterns, and textures. How does this transform the scene?

Draw a space in your home. Simplify the composition by including only the most important details.

Before you begin, check out these examples by Nancy Hoover’s students at the Girls’ School of Austin in Austin, Texas!