Arts

The horizon is where the sea seems to meet the sky. Even if it is blocked from sight it is still there and used as a reference for perspective drawing.

The horizon is at the height of our eyes. It does not matter if we are sitting or standing. The height of our eyes is what is important.

Our eye level is found by looking straight ahead with an imaginary line at the height of our eyes.

To figure out where the horizon line is we have to figure out where our eye level is.

One of the ways to find out where our eye level is, is to look past a straight object held in front of our eyes.

What you draw on the paper or canvas represents what you would see if you were looking straight ahead at the scene or object through a sheet of glass in a frame.

If you imagine placing a dot at your eye level on the glass and then drawing a horizontal line across the glass at the dot you will have the line of the horizon. Shown in red

What is inside the frame and where the glass would be marked is what you are interested in representing on your piece of paper

This is what you would draw on your paper.
The horizontal line in the same place on the paper as it is on the glass in the frame

In this picture of a kitchen the boy is standing with his feet on the floor.

His eye level (the horizon line) is drawn in red on the imaginary glass.

*note that because the viewer is standing with his feet on the floor of the kitchen, the counter tops are below his eyelevel and below the horizon line

* note that the top of the refrigerator and tops of the windows are above the eye level and so above the horizon line

In this picture the viewer is sitting on the floor of the kitchen.

*Note that his eye level is lower than the previous picture when he was standing.

Note that the tops of the chairs, the counter and the window are above the horizon line (the eye level of
the viewer)

* the bottom of the closets, and the seats of the chairs are below the horizon line