Art 127 / Math 155                                                                             

  Due:  Monday, May 21^st at the beginning of class

"Perspective is the rein and rudder of painting"   Leonardo da Vinci

  Objectives: 

·        To realize the use of linear perspective in paintings and drawings

·        To understand basics of linear perspective and how distance distorts an image

·        To understand the difference between one-point perspective and multi-point perspective

  Materials:      

Part A:  clear transparencies, transparency pens, Art 127 textbook

  Part B:  table & chair (provided), Plexiglas, transparency pens

Process: 

Part A:  Inspecting perspective in works of art

This part of the project is to be done individually; however, analysis of the first painting should be done in class with your group members.  For each painting listed below, place a transparency or piece of tracing paper on the pictures, on which to draw the vanishing point(s) and the orthogonals.  Consider how many vanishing points where used and where they were places.  Speculate on why the artist placed them where he did.  For each painting you will need to turn in your transparency along with your answers to the discussion questions.

1.      Page 625:  Perugino Christ delivering the keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter

2.      Page 640:  Leonardo da Vinci Last Supper (use the cleaned picture)

3.      Page 653:  Rafael School of Athens

4.      Page 683:  Tintoretto Last Supper

  Part B:  Drawing "real-life" perspective

In groups of 3-4 people, you will be taken to a location on campus where you will make a simple "perspective machine" with a sheet of Plexiglas (Durer's "machine" is shown in the picture on the back).  One group member will be asked to draw what he/she sees (3 dimensional) on a flat (2-dimensional) surface.  When your group is finished tracing the outlines of the building and pillars, hold the Plexiglas against a plain background and examine the drawing.  Does anything surprise you about the ratios or sizes of any part in the drawing?  At least one person from the group needs to trace the plexiglass drawing onto tracing paper or drawing paper to turn in with your discussion questions.  (Note:  although the drawing is done in the group, each person needs to turn in their own discussion questions about the experiment).

  Questions for written analysis:

Part A.  For each painting, how many vanishing points did you find?  Where are they located? Did the artist use "true" linear perspective?  Can you speculate why the artist put the vanishing point(s) where he did (e.g.: was it to provide narrative focus, or was it to emphasize a particular person/object,…)?  Also mention any experimentation or changes your made during your analysis.

Part B.  Discuss what happened when you or your group member drew the scene on the Plexiglas. What did you find?  Does anything surprise you about the ratios or sizes of any part in the drawing (e.g.: what is the ratio of the first pillar to the last one drawn, how close are the pillars, …)?

  Grading criteria:

Process:  33% of the grade. This part of your grade will be based on your effort and purposefulness, quality of your work, as well as your attendance and participation in class. 

Project:  33% of the grade.  This grade will be based on the drawings (tracings) that you turn in for both part A and B.  Although there is not only one "right" answer, you should put care and knowledge into how you think the perspective should work.

Written Explanation:  33% of the grade.  This grade will be based on your written answers to the discussion questions.  Your written analysis needs to be neatly hand-written OR word-processed, and it should be of sufficient length to include a thoughtful analysis of both parts of this linear perspective project. Your written work will be assessed for the correctness of your analysis, your thoughtfulness, and your logical organization and clarity.