Foreshortening
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| foreshortening/fɔːˈʃɔːtənɪŋ/ | The apparent shortening of a form that extends towards or away from the viewer. |
| cross-sections/krɒs ˈsekʃnz/ | The shape or surface exposed by cutting through an object along a plane. |
Pointing at the viewer
- Foreshortening 透视缩短 is perspective applied to a single form pointing toward you.
- Lengths compress dramatically: a pointing arm may appear one-third of its true length.
- Draw the apparent shape, not the length you know.
Foreshortened or not?
Sort each view by whether foreshortening dominates.
In foreshortening, overlap between parts is a key depth signal.
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Hand over forearm over upper arm.
Overlap is the signal
- Overlap tells the story: the hand overlaps the forearm, the forearm overlaps the upper arm.
- Think in cross-sections 横截面 — rings around the form, like a wireframe, feeling how it turns toward you.
- Measure the compressed lengths by sighting: memory lies, observation tells the truth.
A foreshortened pointing arm may appear about ____ of its true length.
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Compression is dramatic and varies with the angle.
Imagining rings around a form, like a wireframe, means thinking in ____.
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Cross-sections reveal how the form turns toward you.
The classic practice
- Mantegna's Dead Christ is the textbook example: a figure drawn feet-first.
- Practise with your own foot propped up, or a friend lying feet toward you.
- One convincing foreshortened form is high-value portfolio evidence.
Select all good foreshortening habits.
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Drawing known lengths is exactly the error.
Match the artwork or setup to the idea.
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Three ways into foreshortening.
Foreshortening breaks the moment you draw "what an arm is" instead of "what I see". If the drawn arm looks too short to be right — measure again; correct foreshortening always feels too extreme at first.
Point your own arm at a mirror: the upper arm nearly vanishes, the forearm is a stub, the hand looms huge with fingers overlapping everything. Draw those three overlapping shapes — the arm reads instantly.
Foreshortening compresses lengths along the view axis: trust sighting over memory, lean on overlap, think in cross-sections, and accept that correct always feels extreme.
Write from a foreshortened hand
- A hand points at the viewer.
- The fingers look shorter than they do from the side.
A hand points straight at the viewer, so the fingers look shorter than in a side view. A student draws them at their full side length. What has been missed?
An object coming toward the eye occupies less length on the page.
How should the pointing fingers be drawn?
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The view compresses the length. That compression is the drawing.