Vanishing Point and Horizon Line in Paintings - How to Determine Them

The vanishing point and horizon line in paintings create realistic artistry, especially in landscape painting. A vanishing point is a point in perspective drawing in which parallel lines are not parallel to the image being converged.

It was first used by many renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Masaccio, and Donatello. Afterwards, it became so popular that many painters would want to use this technique in painting.

The horizon line, on the other hand, is where the sky and sea meet. So in painting, vanishing point and horizon line always come together.

There are a lot of perspectives in using vanishing point and horizon line in paintings. These are linear perspective, which is a drawing with three vanishing points; the curvilinear perspective, which has either 4 or 5 vanishing points. In 5 point perspective, the vanishing points are mapped into a circle. The reverse perspective is another drawing with vanishing points that are placed outside of the painting.

In a particular landscape painting, you can find a lot of horizon line in a perspective. Just look at how the water and land meet. The sky at the eye level is the horizon line. Seeing that, we can say that the vanishing point and horizon line in paintings are the principal elements in painting, especially when depicting spaces in drawing.

It is very significant to place vanishing and horizon line in a painting because it establishes the view point. These two also point out the perspective that the viewer is seeing on the painting, particularly with the subject. Whether an actual line or imaginary, the vanishing points can determine the depth of the scene.

To make a painting look realistic, using a low horizon line is ideal because it presents an elevated vantage point. A horizon line, on the other hand, emphasizes on subject in the foreground.

A horizon line that is centered slightly above the middle of the drawing leads to an elevated horizon. This is why it is important to divide the picture to create a static symmetry of the painting.

The vanishing point and horizon line in paintings play a big role in most landscape painting. Without them, an image to draw and paint can be quite difficult to capture. It is not that hard to use them in painting. You can get oil painting lessons if you want to but be sure to practice in applying them in painting.