Perspective Made Easy (Paperback)

by Ernest R. Norling (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Perspective is easy; yet surprisingly few artists know the simple rules that make it so. Now they can remedy that situation with this step-by-step book, the first devoted entirely to clarifying the laws of perspective. Using over 250 simple line drawings, the author leads the reader through every important concept, from horizon to vanishing point to the crucial relationship of eye level to perspective drawing. 256 illus.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (January 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486404730
• ISBN-13: 978-0486404738
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,158 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one book on perspective you'll ever need., January 11, 2004

By	M. E. Volmar (Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews

For a book first published in 1939, Norling's "Perspective Made Easy" is still the authority on perspective. This concise book contains in roughly 200 pages and 256 illustrations all you'll ever need to know about perspective drawing. In twenty masterfully organized chapters, from simple to complex, the author explains the basics and not so basics of perspective drawing. He includes suggestions on how to make your drawings a lot simpler, drawing methods for observation and space division, a Remember section at the end of each chapter in which he summarizes the most important information and principles presented in that chapter, and a Problems section with exercises that will help you apply what you just learned. One of the best rewards of this book comes in its last chapters where the author covers perspective drawing for a great number of regular and irregular figures like a sphere, a cone, ovals, circles, lamps, cars, etc. With this the author goes many steps beyond all those other books out there that only teach you how to draw cubes and square buildings.
The book may be a bit repetitive at times, but this is not annoying at all, it just makes the author sound as if he was teaching a class in school or college, and it helps you to easily remember the most important information presented. After reading this book my understanding of perspective and the perspective in my drawings have improved 100%. If you follow his teachings and exercises you will learn how to determine the perspective you need to apply to your drawing, whether you are drawing in the field or using photographs as a model, and you will soon start making your drawings look solid, deep and proportionate.
If you are only getting one book on perspective, get this one.
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction for beginning artists!, March 12, 2003

By	Carlo R. Montoya "Toy photographer" (Cebu City, Cebu Philippines) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book because Andrew Loomis (Figure Drawing For All Its Worth) recommended it. I'm glad I followed his advice. If you are going to own only one perspective book, then this is it. However, if you're an interior designer, architect, engineer or draftsman then looks elsewhere since this book's primary audiences are freehand artists.

This is one of the few books out in the market that exactly delivers what it says on the back cover. And it's a reprint from 1939!

I'd give this book a rating of more than 5.

64 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EZ to Understand, Priceless Improvement in my Drawings, December 12, 2001

By	Bryan E. Leed "Jesus says, 'Go and Sin No More!" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can highly recommend this handbook to anybody who likes to draw. Through small, easy to follow steps, with illustrations for each step(!), this classic author makes this highly misunderstood topic become CRYSTAL CLEAR!

You can follow along, drawing each step, or just read through the book, (like I did), and you will still find yourself applying these techniques that make your drawings much more realistic and accurate looking.

In the introduction, the author says that we should not FORCE our drawings to fit into any rigid rules of perspective, but after reading this book, I find that I don't have to force the perspective rules, I can just subtly apply them as I go about my drawings.

The author has very nice, cute, and simple illustrations of his own, to show what he's talking about in each step of the process of understanding perspective correctly. This makes the book feel very user-friendly.

This book covers a lot of ground and information, but if you take your time and start at the beginning, you will reap big results with your own improved drawings.

Comparing price to benefit, this is easily the best value of any art technique book that I have ever purchased. Buy with confidence, this book amazing!