Linear perspective

Linear perspective is the art of representing three-dimensional constructions on a two-dimensional surface. It presupposes a fixed viewpoint and a desire to create an "objective" recording of one's visual experience - two conditions which have been the most dominant in the Western art of the past half-millennium.

1-point perspective

If the viewpoint is pointing directly into a linear object like a building or a road, one would use one vanishing point, that is the principal focus. All lines perpendicular to the painting plate would vanish in the vanishing point.

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More precisely, one-point perspective exists when the painting plate (also known as the picture plane) is parallel to a "Cartesian scene" (see also Cartesian coordinate system) --- a scene which is composed entirely of linear elements that intersect only at right angles. Therefore, all elements are either parallel to the painting plate (either horizontally or vertically) or perpendicular to it. All elements that are parallel to the painting plate are drawn as parallel lines. All elements that are perpendicular to the painting plate converge at a single point on the horizon.

Related Topics:
Picture plane - Cartesian coordinate system

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