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Drawing and Recording Skills
Quick questions on Perspective and proportion - Edexcel A-Level Art and Design
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is depth cues beyond construction?Show answer
These cues are especially useful in landscape and atmospheric work where rigid construction lines would feel wrong.
What is foreshortening?Show answer
Foreshortening is the apparent compression of a form that points towards or away from the viewer: an outstretched arm, a reclining figure seen from the feet. It is hard to draw because your knowledge of the true length fights your observation of the shortened shape. The cure is to measure by sighting and trust the observed, overlapping shapes rather than the remembered length.
What is proportion?Show answer
Proportion is the relationship of one size to another. For the figure, artists use systems such as measuring height in head-lengths (an adult is often drawn around seven to eight heads tall) and checking landmarks (the midpoint of the body is near the hips, the elbows near the waist). For objects, proportion is checked by sighting relative widths and heights. Proportional systems are starting guides; observation always overrides them.
What is q1?Show answer
Produce a drawing of a built environment in two-point perspective, showing the horizon line and vanishing points, and annotate how the construction creates convincing space. [12 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Define foreshortening and explain why it is hard to draw. [4 marks]
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