In the images below, you can see that the piece is drawn in a one-point perspective from the inside of a room looking outwards towards a city.
When I normally draw in perspective, I often draw in either two-point or three-point and traditionally with a pencil and paper, as it is what I have grown accustomed to over the years. I challenged myself with this piece to stick to drawing digitally on Photoshop and restricting myself to one-point.
INSPIRATION
I drew inspiration for this piece from looking at the interior of modern houses and buildings, with many of the images that I had seen showing large windows that often acted as the primary feature of the wall and also drawing further inspiration from the cyberpunk genre. From this, I built on the idea of the camera being positioned within a high rise building looking out on a cityscape, which would allow for me to practice keeping to a single-point/one-point perspective when drawing.
EXPLANATION
Due to my relative inexperience with one-point perspective drawings, I decided that it would be easier for me to follow a tutorial rather than blindly attempt this project. I followed the YouTube video “Perspective Drawing in Photoshop! Grids and Tips” by BaM Animation, which helped with creating guidelines to ensure that the drawing remained in perspective. I made use of the polygon tool within Photoshop and created a star shape that had 100 points that could act as my perspective tool; This was recommended in the tutorial for one-point perspectives and I felt that it worked better than my previous attempts at creating perspective tools.
I first created the interior of the room, with the window being the central point of interest to the viewer. I also wanted to keep the interior of the room minimally furnished, with the only items within the room being the box that the automaton character is sitting on and the wall unit to create a contrast between how sparse and empty the interior of the room is in comparison to the built-up city that the viewer can see outside.
The positioning of the horizon line is also relatively low in comparison to the overall composition of the piece, which provides a sense of height to the image. This can be seen in the relation of the character’s size and the height of the window and the wall unit, which thematically helps to add to the contrast of the city versus the populace.
COLOUR CHOICES
I wanted the piece to thematically follow a darker feel to the piece, creating a disconnect between the elements of realism that could be seen from the large central window and touching more on the cyberpunk dystopian elements.
In a similar manner to my Photo Manipulation piece, I used a purple to red gradient for the skyline of the cityscape that I masked over the image to add a similar darker feel to the piece, which is often featured in the cyberpunk genre.
I used bright and vibrant colours for the outside of the building with pops of colour coming through on signs and windows to mimic neon signs that a person would see in large cities. The light that is seen outside the room is predominantly made from hues of purples and pinks, which when approached through colour theory, is often associated with nobility, luxury and power which helps to further the contrast between how built up the city is in comparison to the interior of the room. The interior of the room that the viewer can see is composed of a much colder palette. The use of colder colours, such as the use of dark blue on the walls reduces the bright, intense feelings of the cityscape and makes the interior feel more melancholic and lonely.
OUTCOME
I believe that this was a good challenge for me, as I rarely draw using one-point perspective. I experimented with new ways to compose a piece that will be useful for future projects, such as drawing cityscapes on a larger scale and incorporating colour theory into my piece.
Referenced Material:
BaM Animation (2018) Perspective Drawing in Photoshop! Grids and Tips. www.youtube.com. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upxBGNcryRs [Accessed 1 Nov. 2021].
Live Dallas Realty (2021) BEST CORNER FLOOR TO CEILING WINDOW APARTMENTS. Live Dallas Realty. Available online: https://www.livedallas.com/blog-posts/best-corner-floor-to-ceiling-window-apartments/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2021].
Peruchi, L. (2020) Everything you need to know about renting an apartment and moving in New York City. Laura Peruchi | NYC. Available online: https://lauraperuchi.nyc/renting-apartment-new-york-city/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2021].
Sato, A. (2020) How To Rent An Apartment In Tokyo 2021 | Find The Best Place To Live In Tokyo! – Japan Truly. japantruly.com. Available online: https://japantruly.com/how-to-rent-apartment-tokyo/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2021].