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It’s finally time to move on from boxes…well kind of. In this lesson we learn about ellipses, how to draw cylinders in perspective and how boxes can help us draw them more accurately.
Newest
David D
22d
i, like many, am looking for help on my major axis placement.
i understand that the major axis should be perpendicular to the minor axis. Placement along the minor axis should achieve a 2D, perfect, ellipse. That is to say, the resulting ellipse with that major axis placement should have symmetry about that axis… here’s where I’m having trouble diagnosing what I am doing wrong.
in the image, I did my best to satisfy those criteria, but the major axis ended up on the “wrong side” of center to achieve the major-axis-symmetry (I.e the more distant side as viewed from the camera/eye). Does this mean my starting projected square was more of a rectangle? Some other problem?
•
6d
I think you did pretty good! This is a tricky angle because the major axis is going to be pretty close to the center, just not right on it. It feels almost isometric. I took a quick stab at it and this is what I was seeing, so still very close to the center but slightly closer to us.
Maren
29d
Like many other posts I wasn’t confident about where exactly the major axis should go, as well as finding the exact curve of the ellipse.
I did end up using a ruler for this since I kept not lining up, but intuitively I understand how to draw a cylinder in perspective.
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28d
The major axis of the ellipse should be perpendicular to the minor axis. You're getting a little distortion in your cylinders because the vanishing points are very close together which might be causing you trouble with placement due to the proportions of the rectangle being distorted. Try pushing the VPs further apart to avoid this. It's a good rule of thumb to avoid having both VP visible in the frame in a 2 Point perspective drawing to help avoid distortion.
@shaaneeq
2mo
Another task that looks and sounds simple enough in the video, but when I try to do it my brain goes ´bleh´. Had to watch the video several times and follow along. I understand how to position the minor axis. Finding the position of the major axis seems to involve some guess work. One of, if not the hardest part in all this turned out to be drawing the elipse itself. I understand making sure the edges of the elipse touch the 4 points, but how do I know the correct curve of the elipse? It’s very easy to curve it out too much or not enough. Is it just a matter of eyeballing it and learning to recognise what looks right?
samuel burgos celedon
2mo
I have a problem to draw the cylinder with the exact indications of the video. I made the cylinder by hand and then I wanted to make it in digital to better see the geometric phenomenon. However, when I wanted to add the major axis to the drawing I found that by placing it exactly perpendicular to the minor axis I could not divide the four parts of the ellipse in equal proportions. I don't know if you can help me with this. Maybe I am doing some of the steps wrong. Muchas gracias!
•
2mo
The major axis should be used to find the widest part of the ellipses. Once the ellipse is angled away in perspective, the space will become unequal.
Its weird at first, but keep practicing and you will get it.
Heres a cylinder thing I drew a while ago for another demo that might be useful here too-
J M
3mo
Ugh, the construction lines are getting hard to manage.
Ignore the papa bleeding through the page
hobodios
6mo
Question how do I know where along the minor axis do i need to place the major one (like exactly where, am I supposed to just eyeball it considering that it moves toward the viewer)
Randy P
7mo
An issue I’ve discovered with this construction method which wasn’t obvious to me when watching the video is that to get a perfect ellipse, it relies upon starting with a PERFECT SQUARE drawn in perspective.
if you don’t have the square correct and instead start with just a rectangle in perspective, then the actual inscribed oval that touches the rectangle on all sides is NOT an ellipse with perpendicular axes. Trying to derive an ellipse using an assumed minor and major axis will not produce a good result.
Try to get the square right first. There are videos on YouTube that show how to use vanishing points to derive a perfect square.
Aura
7mo
Will someone please explain to me how one figures out where the major axis crosses? I know it’s perpendicular to the minor axis (which vanishes into the vp) but I don’t know how to figure out where the heck to put it along the minor axis. I am literally having nightmares about this. 😭😭😭😭
Randy P
7mo
I was wrestling with this as well. Johannes’ animation is helpful but the critical piece I was missing is that the major axis always shifts away from the center point along the minor axis… IN THE DIRECTION TOWARD THE VIEWER!
in Stan’s video this is easy to see as the major axis is shifted toward the upper right corner of the box which is closest to the viewer.
The amount it shifts off the center point is strictly a judgement call and intuition as there’s not an accurate way to locate it without math.
Dermot
7mo
Aura
I'm sorry my posts have added to your confusion.
I too struggle with this topic.
Johannes S, posted a great circle / ellipses animation.
From the animation I my understanding is:
A circle in perspective is an ellipse.
Draw an accurate ellipse on paper and cut it out.
An ellipse has 4 equal quadrants.
An ellipse when correctly drawn it should pass the fold test along both axis.
If folded along the major axis both halves should match exactly.
If folded along the minor axis both halves should match exactly.
If folded in quarter all quadrants should match.
Observing Johannes's Animation
As the cube tilts away, the yellow circle centre line ( it becomes the Ellipse Major Axis) moves toward the viewer. As this happens the circle changes into an ellipse.
Viewed as an ellispse with repect to the moving yellow line
the yellow line moves toward the viewer, to maintain the ellispses'
major axis, minor axis and it's four equal quadrants.
Notice also, as the cube rotates 90 degrees, so does the minor axis
maintaining the conditions required by the ellipse.
When viewing the circle as a circle in perspective.
The circle centre is determined by the cube diagonals intersection.
This is observed as the front half being larger than the back half of the circle.
Remember:
A circle in Perspective, is viewed with respect to a centre line drawn through the circle diagonals (cube diagonals) intersection.
Not with respect to the ellipse major axis.
The major axis is only used to create the ellipse.
Fingers crossed Marshall Vandruff will cover Ellipses and Circles in Perspective
in his Perspective Course.
If my observations above are wrong, I'd appreciate feedback, thanks.
Johannes S, Circle / Ellipse Animation.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R4XWJ1ct1gI
@aakerhus
9mo
I know the placement of the major axis is wrong in these, but I find it hard to but it in intuitively. Sort of putting it in the x-spot now, to train my eyes and learn from my mistake.
@aakerhus
9mo
Having some fun with some freehand cylinders.
@aakerhus
9mo
@aakerhus
9mo
Gonna draw a bunch of these to get the feel for it. Still a confusing task to mix intuitive drawing with perspective without no grid or vanishing points for me. Also, kind of hard to draw straight lines freehand in Photoshop.
This cylinder was drawn around a box but my dumb ass haven't figured out how to upscale multiple layers at once yet. More to come.
•
9mo
You can select multiple layers in photoshop by holding Ctrl on PC or Command on Mac
Keep up the practice!
Osagumwenro Igiehon
11mo
This one was real tough but, I did my best!
I definitely think I copied my references too much at first and their bizarre angles threw me off. Number 6 is where I got it.
Lane Campbell
1yr
I've always had such trouble with these, could someone tell me if im doing anything wrong with the elipses because they don't look right
Josh Fiddler
1yr
The key thing for me was that the Minor Axis points at the horizontal VP. Which is the same as saying that the Minor Axis is perpendicular to the plane of the ellipse. It will also help you draw tetrahedra, cones, and pyramids.
@bumatehewok
1yr
'The Ellipse is Symmetrical in 2D' My brain is having trouble accepting this. I look at record example measure it and see that it is, but then I am immediately like 'Is it REALLY Symmetrical?'
@danaedg
1yr
I understand the placement of the minor and major axes but I don't understand how they affect how you actually draw the ellipse. I get the ellipse needs to touch the four points, but how do the axes indicate the angle of the curve of each part of the ellipse? Can anyone explain?
Robert
1yr
@stan Question: When you drew the cylinder in a box, is the box isometric? or is it 3 point perspective?
Zach Pipher
1yr
I'm watching it again after practicing. I've watched this a few times. So the major axis always splits the ellipse in half, right down the middle? So I could think of it that way when I am trying to place the major axis in the box.
Zach Pipher
1yr
how do you draw these ellipses in 2 point perspective? I'm having a hard time visualizing how do that the ellipses into a cylinder when the box only has two vanishing points. Or rather if you cant see the top plane or the bottom plane.
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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
