High and Low on the Page
Here is another depth trick: WHERE you place objects on your paper affects how near or far they look!
Objects placed at the BOTTOM of the page look CLOSE to you. Objects placed HIGHER on the page look FARTHER AWAY. This makes sense when you think about looking at a real landscape: the ground near your feet is at the bottom of your view, and things far away are higher up.
The line where the land (or water) meets the sky is called the horizon line. Everything below the horizon is the ground. Everything above the horizon is the sky.
When you draw a landscape:
- Put close things (flowers, rocks, your feet) near the bottom
- Put middle-distance things (trees, buildings) in the middle area
- Put far things (mountains, distant towers) near the horizon line
- Put sky things (clouds, birds, sun) above the horizon
This simple placement rule instantly makes your drawings look more realistic!