We were introduced to yet another new tool in Illustrator, which involves a 3d viewpoint. The first thing we learned of was what a vanishing point is, which is a point on an image plane of perspective drawing where the 2d perspective drawings of mutually parallel lines in a 3d space appear to converge. In basic terms, it is the point where the lines appear to disappear within the illusion of distance. We also quickly went through a two-point perspective, which is where you can only see two sides of a shape, and a three-point perspective, which is three sides.

 

Demo

•  Open up Illustrator and click the perspective grid tool (shift + p). A template comes up which can get wider as you zoom in. With the bottom controllers, left-clicking hold can move the whole thing and the one at the top allows shortening. The left and right shrink the perspective, and the bottom changes the square size. It’s quite customizable and you can change the template however you like.

 

 

• The cube at the top left lets you select which part of the grid you want to work at and at the minute, it is only two-point perspective so only two sides can be utilised.
• To actually start adding things to the template, go to the rectangle tool and select a side from the little cube. Add the filled shape to make a wall and it will automatically fit the perspective of that chosen side. Things can also be designed separately, like a more detailed window or interesting shapes. You then go back to the grid tool, left-click and hold and click perspective selection tool.
• The view at the top, the perspective grid can be changed to a three-point perspective, 3P normal view.

 

 

• Text can also be applied in the same way as the shapes and fit into the perspective of the chosen side. This is useful because when making shops and other buildings, text can be added, such as on signs.
• Patterns and textures can also be added. In colour swatches at the bottom left, the swatch libraries menu has gradients, gem/jewel-like textures, metal, foliage, etc. They can be added to the walls and with the gradient, clicking g pops up the settings, so that everything can be customized. I think that this is a really fun feature to be able to play around with, and can add personality and realism to an illustration with the perspective tool.

 

 

 

After learning all of these basics, we tried to create a present using the three-point perspective. I had fun adding the gradient to all of the sides, and I also managed to create the slide by stretching out the top rectangles a little further than the bottom ones. What I didn’t succeed in doing was adding the shadows underneath the lid. I first attempted to add the black to the gradient fill of the bottom rectangles. But that disrupted the other colours, so I tried again, but with thin rectangles directly underneath the box. That still didn’t look realistic just completely black, so I tried adding a gradient, to try and match the example we had, but I couldn’t get the range right and it did not look like a shadow. Unfortunately, we moved on before I could ask how it was done, onto creating something of our own using the tool.

 

 

I actually picked out an example that I wanted to draw inspiration from when creating my own street. I really like the idea of having different sized buildings and colours, and it seems so visually interesting when combined with the perspective tool. When recreating this, I didn’t want to use too bright of a colour scheme, because it would look strange and more like giant colourful boxes rather than buildings. I did add the skyscraper type-looking building at the back because it adds variety and really brings the street to life. When starting to add the details, like the windows, it took longer and was more difficult than expected, because I had to create many copies of the window and then delete some to fit with the shape of the skyscraper and work out the overall by organising layers. Most of the other buildings would probably be easier to add details to, and I began with a door and window and things like that on the front building. It was enjoyable thinking about the possibilities of what I could add to the other buildings and giving each a character of its own.