Near and far in a drawing

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 30 minutes

Read together

Artists make a flat page look deep. Things that are far away look smaller and higher on the page.

Things that overlap look closer. The one in front hides part of the one behind.

The horizon is the line where the sky meets the land or sea.

Do it

1. Draw a horizontal line across the middle of a page: the horizon.
2. Draw a big tree near the bottom. Draw a smaller tree higher up and a tiny tree near the horizon.
3. Overlap shapes: put a house partly behind the big tree.
4. Colour it. Make the far things paler and the near things stronger.

Talk about it

• Which tree looks closest?
• How did you show distance?

For the grown-up

Size, overlap and position on the page are simple ways to show depth. Real perspective drawing, with vanishing points, can come in later years. Praise the child's ideas about space.

Mark as done

Next lesson →

Where this comes from

• Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, definitive 4th ed. (TarcherPerigee, 2012)
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, education resources on space and perspective in art

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.