Perspective (visual)

Perspective, in the context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes, or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects.

For example, the parallel lines of a railway track are perceived by a standing human being as meeting at a distant point at the horizon. A person standing at the corner of a building at ground level sees each of the walls recede to an imaginary point on the horizon. The horizon itself is at the level of the viewer&rsquo;s eye. The eyelevel determines what a person is able to see and what not. A person standing on the seashore sees the horizon with a lesser amount of sea visible than a person standing on top of a multistoried building.

As objects become more distant, they begin to appear smaller. This phenomenon is caused by perspective. The relationship between distance and apparent height of objects is not a linear pattern. If an object were actually touching the eye, thus being no distance away, it would appear infinitely tall.

In graphic representation, an artist uses intuitive, artistic, scientific, or technical skills to represent the phenomenon of the visual perception of perspective. (See Perspective (graphical)).

External

 * Harold Olejarz's Drawing in One-Point Perspective Educational Resource