More beautiful two point perspective houses to draw

Once you understand the basic concepts of one and two point perspective, you will be ready for new challenges.

You will find yourself automatically following the lines of perspective with your eyes on the buildings around you. 

You may find yourself idly doodling three dimensional shapes in your sketch book.

Take your camera and sketchbook on a walk and hunt for interesting houses in your neighborhood.

We don't have many castles here in New Jersey but we do have plenty of beautiful and interesting churches that could almost pass for castles. Use some of the beautiful buildings around you as inspiration and design your own two point perspective fantasy cityscape.

Just because a drawing is three dimensional doesn't mean it has to be real. Use your skills to draw the viewer into an imaginary world.

TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE
PHOTO GALLERY
 PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY

This is actually a three point perspective view. 
Note that the columns do not appear perfectly vertical. They appear  to converge slightly the higher they get. If you would like detailed directions on how  to draw this house using three point perspective, click here. For detailed directions on how to draw this house using two point perspective click here

Before you begin, please click on the following links to read my tutorials on basic one and two point perspective drawing:

Two Point Perspective

(also contains more detailed information about the history and architecture of Perth Amboy, New Jersey)

Perspective Drawing 101...Drawing a house and a hallway using one point perspective

Perspective 101 continued...one point perspective in your neighborhood

Helpful printouts. Learning how to draw in one point perspective continued...

Some ideas...

Be a detective! Learn about the history of your neighborhood:

 Click here to use the House Styles Picture Dictionary to identify the houses in your neighborhood.

Often you can figure out when a house was built or how old a neighborhood is by the architecural style of the houses.

 What can you learn about your neighborhood?

Print out or download this 'house styles' worksheet* and go for a walk.

See how many historic house styles you can identify.

HOUSE STYLES WORKSHEET*    

*The information on the 'House Styles worksheet' is copied, in it's entirety from

http://rochestercityliving.com/about-rochester/architecture/ 

Rochester NY, like Perth Amboy NJ, is a city with many fine examples of 
historic American architecture.

More 'Architecture Detective' House Styles Worksheets by The Helpful Art Teacher:

The Dutch Colonial house above is not pictured in two-point perspective. How would you draw this house from a two-point perspective point of view?

The Colonial Revival House above is not pictured in two-point perspective. How would you draw this house from a two-point perspective point of view?

The Neo-Classical house above is not pictured in two-point perspective. How would you draw this house from a two-point perspective point of view?

The Greek Revival house above is not pictured in two-point perspective. How would you draw this house from a two-point perspective point of view?

The Stick style house above is not pictured in two-point perspective. How would you draw this house from a two-point perspective point of view?

Sources:

http://www.westchicago.org/departments/HP_WCA.html

http://www.historicnewengland.org/preservation/your-older-or-historic-home/architectural-style-guide

http://www.copperbrookhomes.com/_blog/Copper_Brook_Homes_News_and_Update/post/custom-home-design-styles/

Print out all the architecture detective worksheets and go on a 'treasure hunt' with your friends. Give each friend a different style of house to look for and photograph. Be sure to make a note of the address! Create an online 'notable historic architecture' walking tour of your neighborhood complete with photographs, walking directions and a map. Share your findings with your school and community so that others may appreciate the history and beauty of your city for generations to come. 

Drawing projects:

Follow the directions in my post 'TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE' if you would like to accurately draw the buildings pictured above.

OR...

Be as creative as possible. Add imaginative details, trees and people to make your picture more interesting. 

Add a beautiful landscape to your background. Look at my post 'some landscapes'  for inspiration.

Who says you have to copy exactly what's in the picture? Use your inventiveness to come up with something new...

Most of all, have fun!

To learn more about architecture and history click on these links:

Architecture Glossary

Great Buildings and Structures

Historic American Buildings Survey-Library of Congress

 

UPDATE: I just returned from Doylestown, PA, where I found more lovely old homes to draw.

Here are some of the beautiful houses of Doylestown:

Details from Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, PA:

This is actually a three point perspective worm's eye view of Fonthill Castle. 

There is a third vanishing point somewhere in the sky above the top of the picture frame. To find it, follow the vertical lines of the building until they converge. To learn more about three point perspective click on the link below:

http://thehelpfulartteacher.blogspot.com/2011/01/three-point-perspectivethe-really.html

Spotted in Westfield, New Jersey:

Spotted in Tewksbury NJ:

The same house from a different angle:

The same house from a different angle:

This is actually a three point perspective worm's eye view. Note that the sides of the building do not appear perfectly vertical. They appear  to converge slightly the higher they get. If you would like detailed directions on how  to draw this house using three point perspective, click here. For detailed directions on how to draw this house using two point perspective click here

The Victorians of Cape May, New Jersey