How to Draw a City Street View in 1-Point Perspective: Narrated

Hi, Tom here. In this week's Circle Line Art School video, I'll show you one way to draw a street scene in one point perspective. Please subscribe to keep up to date with all the content that I make. First, draw a horizontal line just below the middle of your page. Next, we can draw a vanishing point to the right of the center of the page, on the horizon line. We will use this vanishing point to draw a building on the left, So we need some lines going left, one below the horizon line and one above the horizon line. Now we can draw a vertical line between these two diagonal lines for the corner of a building, next draw another diagonal line below the top line, now using the vertical line draw a short line going left and then another short line going right parallel to the horizon line. We can use these two short lines to make the overhang of the building and the overhang of the roof. Draw another vertical going down from the short line, then we will have, then we need one more diagonal for the overhang of the top floor of the building and one more line for the edge of the roof In one point perspective, vertical lines stay vertical but lines and edges of things that are going away from us, that are receding will be going towards a single vanishing point if they are parallel lines. We could draw a series of small windows and divide the top of the building into a series of smaller structures as we already have the basic shape. For this drawing we need to leave space at the lower part of the building so that we can add a car or a bus on the road later on. Next, draw a series of boxes in perspective for some distant buildings. Again, the sides of the buildings which are all parallel to each other, they are parallel lines as well, but they'll look like they are receding and getting closer together as they recede all the way to the vanishing point Next we could add a small group of buildings in the middle of the drawing using vertical and horizontal lines to make a sort of rectangle and using the vanishing point for the diagonal lines, for the lines of the side of the building that are going away from us. For this rectangle we could add a roof and maybe a poster display and a few buildings behind the front one. It's always easier to draw the buildings behind the first building because they're sort of Partly obscured or hidden by the building in the foreground. So these buildings in distance can just be sketched in. So far all the buildings are parallel and so use the first vanishing point, the single vanishing point that we've used so far in this one point perspective drawing. But now we can add another vanishing point for some buildings on the right that are also in one point perspective but as they are not parallel to the first group of buildings on the left. They need a new vanishing point. As long as the vanishing point is on the horizon line, on your horizon line, then that's fine. So for the next group of buildings I'll draw them in a similar way to the first group, the first group of buildings that we drew on the left. Start with some diagonal lines and then we could add a vertical line in between for the corner of the building. We could use the two horizontal lines, the two short horizontal lines again, Again, the overhang of the building and the roof. We could add some tonal values at this stage to the top of the buildings only. For this drawing I'm using a 4B pencil. The smaller buildings in the distance can just be indicated, implied, using a single vanishing point for each building. So each building is in one point perspective and each building only uses one of our vanishing points. And in the background I think I'll add a building with some domes, with some points on top of the domes. So a big building very far away. Now using the original vanishing point we can draw a few more lines for a road coming towards us. I think for this drawing I'll draw a bus on the left. To do this start by thinking about where the bus will go and then to draw Two lines going towards the vanishing point for the top and bottom of the bus that are going away from us and we need to use the same vanishing point that the road's on because the bus is going to be more or less parallel to the road. Now draw a big rectangle for the front of the bus. Taller than it is wide and we could add a curved top to the bus too so it's not just a box shape. Choose carefully how long you want the bus to be. Don't make it too short and definitely don't make it too long. In perspective, you have to think if it goes all the way to the horizon it's basically endless, so a really long train would go all the way to the horizon, but a bus would be quite a lot shorter. Once you have the basic shape, you can add the wheels. The bus wheels are pretty big, and remember we're looking at the wheels at an angle, so they'll sort of be looking at the side, and each wheel will have a thickness too. Next we can move on and draw a car. Start with the front of the car, just a rectangle of the front forward part of the car, and then we could draw the baseline of the windscreen, and then the line of the top of the windscreen, and a curve for the roof of the top of the car, and then by using our vanishing point again, we can draw the lines for the side of the car, which will go towards the vanishing point. Once you have the basic shape, you could add some details, some headlights and some wheels. On the right I think I'll draw a man standing next to a bike, push bike. To do this just draw two thin wheels which are quite tall as he is quite near us, quite near, close to us and then we can just sketch in a very simple person a head and some baggy clothes and just a line for the base of the foot. Now I think it's time to erase some of the guidelines to clear up the drawing a little bit. The next stage is to add some more tonal values to this drawing. Please visit www.circlelineartschool.com where you can sign up for details of how to join Circle Line Art School on our next course. If you have any ideas for drawings that you'd like me to make a video on, please leave your thoughts in the comments section and I'll try and make a video of one of the ideas every week. This is drawing number 367. Thank you very much for watching this drawing tutorial, please click to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Circle Line Art School, to keep up to date with all the content that I make.