LESSON PRESENTATION INSTRUCTIONS
SPACE
ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE
Lesson Objectives: Students will create a landscape using one point perspective.
Time Required: 1 1/2 hours
Artist: Raphael, The School of Athens, 1509-1510 (available online)
Materials:
Watercolor paper 9×12
Pencils
Rulers
Paintbrushes
Cups for water
Watercolors: red, orange, orange-yellow, yellow, black, brown, green, light green, blue-green
¼ inch strips of painter’s tape
Presentation:
Discuss one point perspective, horizon line, vanishing point. Discuss how you can use one point perspective to show depth in a painting. Show how The School of Athens, is a one point perspective painting.
Procedure:
- Pass out watercolor paper. Hold it vertically. Write names on back.
- Using pencil and ruler, draw horizon line 2/3 of the way up the page.
- Draw vanishing point halfway along horizon line.
- Continue using ruler to add in lines for road, tree trunks, and tree tops, making sure all lines converge at the vanishing point.
- Using very controlled amounts of water, paint in sunset using red, orange, orange-yellow, and yellow watercolor paints. Show how to blend colors so it doesn’t look like a series of stripes.
- Using strips of painter’s tape, tape off dashed line on center of road. Paint road black, painting over painter’s tape.
- Using green, light green, and blue-green watercolors, show how to draw tree branches from the top of the guideline to the line for the tree trunks. Start at the back with the smallest tree. Add trunk with brown paint. Fill in with trees (3 on each side of the road). Branches should overlap between the trees.
- Paint grass with the light green paint.
- Peel off painter’s tape and paint dashed lines yellow.
- Let dry. Mount and return to students.
