Using Perspective in Tangle Drawings

There are many, many great online resources for learning how to draw objects in perspective so that they look 3-D. I think it's really helpful to know even a little bit about perspective drawing. It can be fun to have parts of your tangle that seem to fade into the distance or seem to be drawn on folds of fabric, for example. If you just want quick results, find a few tangles that look convincing and try to do something similar. Look for which lines in the grid are parallel to each other and which are converging to a point.

Most of the resources for drawing in perspective are way too complicated for a beginner and do not give practical help for someone quickly wanting to apply those techniques into a tangle. My skills with creating perspective drawings is rudimentary, but I decided to create an example that would help new tanglers a place to start.

Grid Pattern Fading Into the Distance

Below is a simple grid pattern that looks like a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. I chose to make the horizontal lines blue and the vertical lines red to make it easier to see how each type of line changes in subsequent examples. Many tangle patterns are based on grid patterns, so these basic steps can be used for a variety of different patterns.

Simple tic-tac-toe grid pattern.

Each "O" shape touches the grid square halfway on each side. Similarly, each X shape touches the corners of each grid square that it is in. No matter how the grid is distorted BOTH OF THOSE MUST STILL BE TRUE.




If you want the tic-tac-toe pattern to fade off into the distance, you need to pick a "vanishing point." For practical purposes in a tangle drawing, just draw a point (in pencil) somewhere on your paper that represents a location at which the pattern has faded so far into the distance that it just looks like a point. This point can be inside or outside the section that contains the tic-tac-toe pattern.

The horizontal lines (blue in this example) get closer together as they get closer to the vanishing point.

Draw the modified grid. In my drawing, the red lines point to the vanishing point, but the blue lines remain horizontal.

A grid that points to a vanishing point in the distance.

It is helpful to mark (in pencil) places in which your original pattern touches each grid square before trying to draw the pattern on the modified grid.

Pattern added to grid.

Draw the tie-tac-toe pattern in the grid. You can erase any part of the grid that you want to be hidden by other objects. Ideally the thickness of the lines of the pattern will get smaller closer to the vanishing point and the lines may fade into less vibrant colors.

Try this technique with a few different patterns such as the "Cadent" pattern.

The basic "Cadent" pattern (left) and a variation (right).

This pattern starts with a grid of circles (or squares, in some variations). This pattern of circles is like the corners of each grid of the tic-tac-toe example above. Notice that the circles get smaller and closer together as the pattern fades into the distance.

A grid for a "Cadent" pattern that fades into the distance.

Use the grid of circles as the basis for each instance of the pattern. Notice that the lines of the pattern get more narrow as the pattern fades into the distance.

I will do additional examples of perspective drawing for tangle patterns if there is interest.

Whenever you get stuck trying to do a perspective drawing, try copying the pattern you want onto a blank piece of paper. Then bend, tilt, or curl the paper to match what you want the pattern to do in your tangle, and try to sketch the result.