***

This may be something you have already figured out for yourself, but one of the thngs I try to impress upon young artists when asked is that perspective is all about the horizon lines on which the vanishing points are set.

These are not literal horizons, of course (tho it is important to note that, in level shots, the actual horizon is always at eye level). In the piece above, there are three main vanishing points, and so all the object oriented to those points obey the same horizons. In other words, the only way an object would not, in some way, be within a grid of perspective lines all converging on those three extablished horizons is if that object was twisted in space -- like, say, the plate Alfred is holding.

Here's a very simple illustration:

I mean honestly--who else but JB would think to put something like that in there?

***

There are three basic mistake young (and some not so young!) artists make when drawing nocturnal cityscapes.

•They draw "crossword puzzle" buildings, which don't pay any attention to the architecture involved. Usually this can be seen in the missing thickness needed for the floor/ceiling breaks between stories. Also, it turns up in the way they black out windows, often knocking out a single window in a row. That would be a very small room! (One to watch out for, too. If you are drawing a building such that you can see two adjacent sides, and you knock out a corner window, knock out the window 'round the corner next to it, too!)

•They rule the lines. Good in the pencils, but I always encourage artists (who ask!) to freehand their cityscapes as much as possible. Seen at a distance, especially at night, the windows of office and apartment towers are not sharp. Atmospheric hazing "blurs" them, and freehand lines capture this better than hard, ruled lines.