Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach, 5th Edition

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PERSPECTIVE DRAWING AND THE COMPUTER

The computer has had an enormous impact on drawing and design, just as it has had on most other areas of modern life. It is not possible in this space to deal with this field in any real depth; besides, new and improved hardware and software are constantly appearing, accompanied by their own vast literature of instruction manuals and tutorials. However, in the context of this introduction to perspective drawing, it is important to present a general overview of how computer perspective drawing is done and how it relates to the traditional methods of drawing presented here.

Use of the computer for generating perspectives can be roughly divided into two categories:

• Computer used as a traditional drawing tool
• Computer used to create and display 3-D models

COMPUTER USED AS VERSION OF TRADITIONAL METHODS

All traditional methods of manipulating a 2-D surface are possible in a computer version. Even some of the most inexpensive software packages offer a wide range of tools, from pens to airbrushes, from drafting tools to texture maps. Additionally, the computer screen provides a versatile drawing surface that can be edited, saved, copied, resized, colored, and manipulated in a host of other ways, as illustrated here.

Some software packages even ...