Sequence viewing > Aesthetics Index - Resource - © Lloyd Godman

Overlapping Form - Perspective

Overlapping - when objects partially overlap other objects, we perceive them as closer than the covered objects. Overlapping "overrules" the other indicators of depth - we know that the smaller pyramids are closer because they overlap the larger pyramids. Overlapping most clearly establishes proximity.

In pre-Renaissance perspective there were no overlapping shapes. All people and objects were placed on the same horizontal base line, important figures on the bottom row. People or things of lesser importance were drawn towards the top and made smaller. The narrative or story was often arranged in bands from the bottom to the top, so that people reading the narrative read across and then up. This type of composition creates a flat space. The Egyptian wall paintings, a good example of early flat art, show the figures drawn from a side view but with the eyes looking forward, not sideways. You may want to encourage the students to use this horizontal band drawing to tell a story. Then when you introduce Renaissance perspective they can compare the two.

Overlapping shapes create a sense of space and depth in a drawing. By placing one form behind another, the artist translates the space of three dimensions to the flat two-dimensional space of the paper. We strengthen the illusion of objects going back in space by placing them one behind another up the page.

To represent the objects moving back in space, they are drawn from the bottom of the paper to the top. The base of each object is placed behind another and further up the page. The front of the table is the space at the bottom of the drawing page and the back of the table is the space closer to the top of the page.

You can demonstrate this paper-to-table relationship with a china marker and a piece of clear Plexiglas. Hold the Plexiglas in front of a still life and keeping your head in one place, draw the objects as you see them through the Plexiglas. Draw the location of the top and the bottom of each form as accurately as possible.

To draw, students should be arranged around a table with a still life set up. Each student should be able to see six to eight objects, placed from the front of the table to the back. Easy-to-draw objects would include eggplants, oranges, grapefruits, vases, bottles, cookie jars, onions, and items without handles or spouts. If you want to include handles, first do the exercise at the end of the cylinder lesson.