6 Tips For Creating The Illusion Of Distance

Creating distance in your drawings is very important because it can make everything look credible and more natural. Every beginner should know that mastering this skill and always thinking about your work as a whole will only bring progress. So, let’s take a look at some of the tips you can find useful when trying to create the illusion of distance on your 2D drawings.

Blurring the Background

If you want to concentrate on only one object in your drawing and you want to create the illusion of distance the best way to do it is by making the background blurry. The further something is from the point of view the blurrier it will be. Take a photograph for example: if you want to make one object in focus, the rest of the picture will be blurred. Go ahead and blur the background of your drawing and make sure that the intensity of blur effect becomes higher as you go further from the point of view.

Crisp Edges and Lines

The same goes with the lines. If you want to accentuate that one object is really close, then you need to make all the lines really clear and crisp. As you go further you should start making those lines softer and blurrier. The type of edges or lines you are using will greatly influence the illusion of distance in your drawings. Try using thicker lines for objects that are closer and thinner lines for the ones in the back and you will see the difference.

Overlap Objects In Your Drawing

This one is pretty simple: when you start drawing more things on your canvas you can place them where and how you like. However, if you wish for you drawing to become realistic and achieve the depth then you should pay special attention to how you are placing the objects. The ones that are nearer to the viewer will be larger and more visible.The ones that are in the back might be blocked by the object in front, and some part might not even be visible at all.

Size of Objects

When we are observing something in the distance it will visually be smaller than it really is. If you want to create the illusion of depth make sure that you make the objects in the front larger and objects in the back smaller and smaller as you are getting away from the view point. What does this mean? Well, even if we know that the mountains are bigger than people, when we are drawing the in the distance they become smaller that the person who is the focal point of our drawing.

Shadows

Don’t forget to add the shadow effect as it is really important. Sometimes if the objects you are drawing are really close to each other you can add shadow to show the viewer where the objects are placed. This will greatly help in achieving the illusion of space and make your whole drawing look credible and professional.

Color or Atmospheric Perspective

If you are using colors in your 2D work than you need to know how to use them to achieve the depth illusion. As you go back towards the background the colors will belighther. The same goes for the shading. If you are using graphite then you might want to make the objects in the back look lighter, and make the shading a bit softer. All of this will make you drawing look better and natural, as in the nature there are atmospheric particles in the air that will gradually blur our sight as we are looking at the distance.

This brings us to the very end of this list of tips for achieving the illusion of depth. Practice all of these tips, when you are drawing landscapes, portraits or anything else and you will notice immense progress in your work.