Perspective Drawing Handbook

by Joseph D'Amelio

This handy guide provides numerous insights and shortcuts to drawing and sketching effectively. Describing mandatory skills for beginning and advanced students, the text covers such subjects as diminution, foreshortening, convergence, shade and shadow, and other visual principles of perspective drawing.
Accompanying a concise and thoughtfully written text are more than 150 simply drawn illustrations that depict a sense of space and depth, demonstrate vanishing points and eye level, and explain such concepts as appearance versus reality; perspective distortion; determining heights, depths, and widths; and the use of circles, cylinders, and cones.
Artists, architects, designers, and engineers will find this book invaluable in creating works with convincing perspective.

Bibliographical Note for this edition
This Dover edition, first published in 2004, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by Tudor Publishing Company, New York, in 1964.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Architecture, Nonfiction, Crafts

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Anastasia Peacefull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finished it! This is the best and true to life instructions for perspective drawing.

[Christina Dymova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been struggling with perspective for sooo long. I considered it to be super difficult, like some scientific subject.

As it turned out it is kind of science, especially in the way it is presented in this book (with sometimes almost mathematical ways to find the right measurements).

It was helpful in a lot of ways, though I skimmed the last 20% of the book. Why? It just so happened I got my hands on a wonderful tool called Sketchup which has made me wonder why people need to study perspective AT ALL if they have this sort of software at their disposal. Seriously, even if you a total dummy at that, use this program (or other 3D software tool - I just mention the one I've personally tried out).

But in any case, this book helped me understand the main principles of perspective, which was huge, considering I was convinced I'd never be able to get this.

[Krotpong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple instructions. An invaluable reference.

[thuys]

Many "whys" are answered in this handy books filled with fundamentals, useful shortcuts for freehand drawing but not enough for technical drawing. Some points in the shade and shadow part are quite confusing thou.

As an aside, just looking at the beret man in the illustrations is enough to know where the author is coming from.

[nicolette · Rating 4 out of 5]

a concise and practical book covering important concepts for perspective drawing. some are a little vague (or maybe it's due to my lack of knowledge)... but overall it's a good read and provides some useful ways to remember the concepts.

[PandoramicView · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and practical. Covers pretty much all of the logic you care about when trying to think in terms of perspective, but it's old so it doesn't necessarily have all the tricks. Very good intro to the subject, though.

[Vicente Adolfo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic.

I recommend. Wonderful. Super complete. Simple explanations and practical examples. If the objective is to understand the prespective , this is your book.

[K McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting ... oh to have the time to practice!!!

[Jennie Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really well written book on perspective. My Mom even took a look - she is a career fine artist - and really liked the way the author explained perspective.

[E.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

第一本英文原版书，啃了近一年。其实单词并不难，就是有惰性啊。虽然单词不难，但不敢说完全读懂了。但光是读懂了的部分都感觉学到很多。

[Yung · Rating 5 out of 5]

exactly what I like.

[Jeff Bobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent look at how to draw with perspective.

[Daniel Mendes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perspective is not easy, but I find it way easier with this book. Even though it was published originally in 1964, it's still a great book and a lot more useful than Youtube tutorials (and quite easier too). It covers a lot of things and doesn’t oversimplify things, as these simplifications might fall apart when faced with reality (and D'Amelio explain why this happens).
One thing that I love is that he does not only explain how certain thing should appear at a certain perspective, but why they look that way and why the methods he teaches work. But I gotta be honest, you’ll probably won’t grasp everything at your first read, especially as a beginner, but after getting more experience, the more advanced concepts might be really useful. If you’re not a beginner, then it’s a great way to improve your perspective drawing skills.
I first read it in 2019, when I was a beginner, and, even not being able to grasp everything, it was extremely useful. Now I reread and it was super useful to answer some questions that appeared over the years. So, I highly recommend it, whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced artist.

[Helsean K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a typical professional and confusing book on the subject, and it is very helpful for a beginner in perspective IMO. It explains everything in simple terms, with lots of clearly drawn references.
I think even the professionals can get something from this book, because it can work as a reminder of the rules that one might’ve forgotten.

[Laura Ann Tull · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK did not exactly finish it, but it is incorrect when it comes to perspective. I am using it for refernce but my teacher is doing a better job of explaining perspective. SO... oh well. It did help me a bit though...