How to Draw in Five-Point Perspective - an easy and fun art lesson

Drawing in five-point perspective is truly fun, and you can create amazing drawings with little effort.  There are only a few simple rules to learn and you will be off and running.  To make things easier, it helps if you are familiar with basic one-point perspective, but not it is not completely necessary.  See the slideshow on one-point perspective drawing at the bottom of this article for help.
 
The idea of five-point perspective is that you are drawing a scene that is contained within a globe shape.  The light of the globe is altering your normal perception of the scene and creating a fish-eye view.  You can draw interiors or exterior views with this system,  however, this article will focus on how to draw a city in five-point perspective. 

This is an art project that I do with my eleventh-grade students and they always come out great.  However, it could be done by students as young as middle school all the way up to adults wanting to learn some fun new drawing skills.  Once you have learned how to draw in five-point perspective, you will be addicted.  You really can create amazing drawings that blow people away.  Just don’t let anyone know how easy it actually is. 

This lesson will help you create a colorful city in five-point perspective. However, you can also do amazing things with just a graphite pencil.

We will start with some basic practice to get the idea, then do a larger drawing lesson. You can use your sketchbook or scratchpaper for practice.

All the lines you draw in five-point perspective will go to one or two of the five-points.

You do not need to draw tons of lines for your grid. Six on each side will do. Just make sure you are bending your lines and going to the appropriate points.

The history of linear perspective is fascinating. Filippo Brunelleschi is not only credited with re-discovering perspective systems, he is also the architect who designed the dome of the Florence Cathedral, which was impossible to do without his genius. To create the dome, Brunelleschi created a new type of brick laying pattern, that we now call a herringbone pattern. He is definitely an architect who is worth studying.

Using these three perspective rules will help make your drawings correct. All of your architectural lines should follow these rules. Organic shapes, like trees, do not necessarily need to go to the points. However, if you look at your drawing and something seems off, check and make sure that you are using your five points correctly.

It is also important to remember that windows and details added to the buildings, must also follow the rules.

The center point on the horizon line behaves in much the same was as it does in one-point perspective. All objects going back in space towards the horizon, should get smaller and move to the center point. These lines are straight, not arced. Think of the center point as where lines that seem to be going into the sphere go.

To draw the box below your horizon line, (eye level) first draw the red front box with your lines going to the top and bottom points and left and right points. Then, draw orthogonal lines to the center point from the corners. The back of the box should have lines moving to the peripheral points again.

If you remember these three simple rules for five-point perspective and use them correctly, your drawings will come out great!

Supplies: toned drawing paper or charcoal drawing paper, a ruler, a large circle to trace, colored pencils, an ultra-fine Sharpie marker, and an eraser. I recommend getting a good set of colored pencils with 12 to 24 different color choices.

You can free-hand draw the arced lines from the top and bottom and side to side, but it helps to mark off the distances between them along the axis lines. You can also add more arced lines as needed.

when you finish drawing in your white grid lines, your drawing should look like a globe with longitude and latitude lines.

Use the three rules to start to draw in buildings. Imagine your own city and add in elements such as, windows, doors, balconies, etc.

Notice that I have left room in the front for a side street and some low level buildings.

Now your dawing is coming along! As you get the feel for it, you should be able to make your buildings have different shapes and sizes. Your city is starting to form.

I have drawn in a small roundabout with a sculpture in the center of the road. Beacause it is meant to be a round monument, I stretched the elipse a little. What details can you add to your cityscape?

Be careful when you are inking in your lines, but don't be afraid to add additional windows or other architectural details to your drawing at this time. In five point perspective, it is often the little details that make the drawing pop. Use your imagination!

It is okay if you don't have all the details in before you erase the extra lines, and it is okay if all the pencil lines aren't able to be erased. The colored pencil shading will cover them. You can add more details with the marker as you are shading in areas with your colored pencils.

With colored pencil, you can build colors to very dark tones, but you should take your time. It helps to move the pencil in small circles to get the values even. This should be a slow process of layering colors. Don't rush|!

Notice that I am using cool tones for the areas in shadow and warming the colors as I go higher in the buildings.

Our cityscape in five point perspective is coming along great! I am not trying to use natural colors for the buildings, but rather a variety of warm and cool colors to achieve a bright drawing. I am also putting yellow in the windows and having it reflect into the streets.

Great job! You have finished your five-point perspective cityscape drawing. A blender pencil can deepen your colors and smooth your shading, but it is not required.

I hope you are enjoying drawing in five-point perspective.  Below you will find several examples of student artwork.  These students followed the same three rules of perspective to complete their five-point cityscapes.  Each student added their own personality and creativity to the project.  It is always surprising to see the many ways students apply the ideas of this lesson to their artwork.  You can too! You are only limited by your imagination.

Resources for further research on drawing in perspectie.

• How to Draw in One-Point perspective
• How to Draw in Two-Point Perspective Like  a Pro!
  
• How to Draw in Three-point Perspective Like a Pro!
• Elements of Art & Principles of Design

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