One Point Perspective City

Middle School students will finally grasp one point perspective in this One Point Perspective City artwork. This project covers Common Core Standards for Math for grades 5-8 which can be found at the end of the lesson.

Grade Levels

5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Grades –  The examples shown were made by a 7th grade class.

Objective

In this One Point Perspective City lesson, students will demonstrate one-point perspective by creating artwork inspired by a city road.

Time

3-4 60 min lessons

Materials

• Pencils
• Rulers (yard stick and one foot)
• Crayons
• Black Sharpie Marker – Sharpie Permanent Marker, Fine Point, Black, Pack of 5
• 9×12 Watercolor paper – Canson (100510941) XL Series Watercolor Pad, 9″ x 12″, Fold-Over Cover, 30 Sheets
• Brushes – Acrylic Paint Brush Set, 1 Packs / 10 pcs Nylon Hair Brushes for All Purpose Oil Watercolor Painting Artist Professional Kits
• Liquid Water Colors – Sargent Art 22-6010 10-Count 8-Ounce Watercolor Magic Set
  • Or this mini version for homeschooling – Sargent Art 22-6210 10-Count 4-Ounce Watercolor Magic
• Kleenex for blotting paint

Inspiration/Artist

I got the idea for this project from this site – Click Here 

Instruction with Questions

Day 1

Watch videos and discuss concepts of how to create perspective.

Brain Games: “What do you see?” – Click Here

Brain Games: “Perspective Cues, Linear Perspective, and Size Contrast” – Click Here

Ways to Create the Illusion of Space – Click Here

One Point Perspective – Click Here

Discuss with students:

• Which direction are the lines facing in all of the examples? (vertical, horizontal, perspective (diagonal))
• Horizontal, vertical, perspective, parallel vocabulary.  Have students use their arms to show you which is which.
• Are they consistent?  Do you see any lines that do not follow the rule of these lines?  (pst…the answer is no)

I actually project a photo in one-point perspective onto the white board.  Using a yard stick, I literally trace the lines onto the white board.  When I turn off the projector, the students can see that the “science” behind this technique truly works.  The horizontal lines remain horizontal.  The vertical lines are exactly that.  Even though our brain wants to make the vertical lines “lean,” they actually remain vertical.

Day 2-4

I literally used the steps found on this website smART Class: Click Here

Students practice by following step by step teacher led directions.  I even put her lesson up on my overhead projector and we followed the steps.

Main points:  Lines are either parallel vertical, parallel horizontal, or they are on the perspective line.  Students use 9×12 watercolor paper, and use their ruler to draw lines with pencil from each corner through the center of the paper (X).  I recommend using a yard stick for this step.

We traced the lines with Sharpie Markers.

Finally, we colored small areas with crayons before using watercolor paints.

Here are some finished One Point Perspective City pieces!

Common Core Standards

5th Grade – Math – Geometry

Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems. (1-2)

6th Grade – Math – Geometry

Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area, and volume. (1-4)

7th Grade – Math – Geometry

Draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them. (1-2)

Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume. (5)

8th Grade – Math – Geometry

Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software. (1-4)