Are you struggling in learning perspective? Is it something that is hard for you to wrap your mind around?
There’s a lot of information about drawing perspective that can make it overwhelming and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Learning how to draw perspective can be fun and easy.
Being able to draw scenes with people, cars, and other objects without struggling with how to get the perspective correct is something anyone can do.
Whether you’re an illustrator, animator, interior designer, painter, or architect here are 13 books that’ll help you getter a stronger grasp of drawing perspective.
1. The Art of Perspective
The best drawing perspective book that you must get if you want to get a detailed analysis of the subject is “the Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide for Artists in Every Medium.” Written by Phil Metzger, it is a simple book with several lessons and exercises that may help you get a basic to a detailed understanding of perspective. Starting with a simple concept, the text further takes you to the challenging concepts, for example, determining perspective while drawing reflections, staircases, or curves. The author explained some easy techniques by which you can learn perspective with the relation of depth and distance.
So, whether you are a beginner or have been in the field of art for many years, the Art of Perspective is a drawing book that you must get this year.
2. Perspective Made Easy
The next best drawing perspective book on my list is “Perspective Made Easy.” A lot of artists who want to master the field of perspective prefer to read this book. It is an easy-to-read book with the simple rules and fundamentals of drawing based on perspective. It is written by Ernest R. Norling. In this book, the author has beautifully explained the general theory and practice work, along with simple drawing lines to describe each concept.
Another plus point? This book is available at quite an affordable rate. If you are a beginner artist and have no idea how to learn perspective, you must get this book right away!
3. Drawing Perspective: How to See It and How to Apply It?
One of the recent yet the best drawing perspective books in the market is “Drawing Perspective: How to See It and How to Apply It.” Written by Matthew Brehm, the book is not only based on the dry theory, but a lot of examples are shown from the outdoor sketching. So, for artists who are interested in outdoor sketching, Drawing Perspective is a great book as it can demonstrate every concept of perspective in detail with the help of outdoor sketching.
There are step-by-step diagrams, fun quizzes, and workbook exercises at the end of each lesson. The fun exercises may motivate you to play with them while learning such a complex topic of perspective. Hence, it is not only an ideal book for expert artists but also for beginners.
4. How to Draw
If you are searching for a book that explains different concepts of perspective, I highly recommend reading the book: “How to Draw.” From the basic concepts of perspective to the advanced topics, you can find it all here. The book is written by Scott Robertson. He is one of the most famous authors whose teaching style has always been unique when it comes to concept art. Well, you can get to know his teaching style by reading a few lessons from this book. The book “How to Draw” may allow the readers to practice perspective while drawing from imagination.
I highly recommend this book, especially for the people who know the basics of perspective and want to enhance their skills through advanced concepts of perspective.
5. Perspective Drawing Handbook
The next best drawing perspective book is Perspective Drawing Handbook, which is written by Joseph D’Amelio and Sanford Hohouser. The starting chapters of this book cover the basic concepts, but as you scroll the pages and read on the next chapters, you will get to know how each concept of perspective is related to another. You can find everything here with more than 150 illustrations, written concepts, and visual representations using diagrams. In short, this is a great drawing perspective book that you should keep by your side while drawing!
6. Perspective for Interior Designers
If you are an interior designer and are looking for simple to advanced techniques for freehand or geometric drawing using perspective, “Perspective for Interior Designers” is a great book for you. The author of this book is John Pile, and it is specifically written for the artists who want to practice perspective in interior sketching. There are written as well as visual instructions on the topics, including reflection, staircases, ellipses, etc. Plus, there are step-by-step methods and plans by which you can practice perspective in your drawings.
7. Perspective! For Comic Book Artists
One of the best drawing perspective books you can buy this year is “Perspective! For Comic Book Artists”. As the name implies, this book is specifically written for comic book artists who want to apply different techniques of perspective in their artwork. This book is written by David Chelsea and is considered one of the best books for those who want to learn perspective drawing.
The realistic concepts of perspective are explained very beautifully in this drawing perspective book. It was first published in 1997, but it is still widely used by many modern comic book artists.
8. Perspective for Artists
With more than 472 illustrations, Perspective for Artists is an amazing book that explains the concept of perspective in art. The book does not only contain the written text, but there are several diagrams and illustrations that you may find with each concept. The chapters are written in detail, covering diverse areas of perspective. It is not only suitable for expert artists but intermediate artists as well.
9. Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design
The next biggest drawing perspective book of this year is “Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design.” This book is the best example of a perspective book that not only contains written concepts but also includes illustrations, diagrams, how-to steps, as well as step-by-step drawing exercises. The book is based on three topics: the first one is furniture and lighting, the second is interiors, and the last portion of the book is based on architecture.
The Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design explains the concept of perspective that you can use in interior designing and architecture. By following a simple and easy approach, it is one of the best drawing books to date.
10. Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators
So, here comes another drawing perspective book, and that is “Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators.” Written by Ernest W. Watson, this book is based on advanced topics of perspective. Yeah, it is right! If you have a basic foundation of perspective, you must read this book as it may help you to brush up your artistic skills based on the rules of perspective drawing.
11. Perspective Without Pain
Do you want to create a sense of depth in your paintings and drawings? Why not read the book “Perspective Without Pain”? Perspective Without Pain is one of the best books written by Phil Metzger. As an artist, you might know that perspective is a complicated concept in the field of art. But trust me, once you learn the rules of perspective, it will become quite easy for you to put the concept onto paper.
This book is all about the art of applying perspective when you are drawing the objects in a painting. Believe me, by reading Perspective Without Pain; you will appreciate the teaching style of Phil Metzger as the concepts are so finely explained.
12. How to Draw What You See
One of the practical yet easy-to-follow drawing perspective books is “How to Draw What You See.” It is based on key drawing techniques as well as the basic and advanced topics of perspective drawing.
13. The Sketch. Interior Design Drawing
If you want to learn the concept of perspective used in art or want to master in interior sketching, one of the drawing perspective books that I recommend is “The Sketch. Interior Design Drawing”. With freehand sketching lessons and detailed exercises, this book will surely help you learn the art of perspective using various techniques.
14. Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach
Written by John Montague, “Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach” is one of the comprehensive books that are based on perspective drawing. It covers a wide range of lessons, fun exercises, step-by-step procedures, and illustrations suitable for artists at all skill levels.
15. Theory and Practice of Perspective
If you want to learn about perspective drawing or freehand sketching, theory and Practice of Perspective is one of the best books that you must get right away. As it is based on the theories of perspective on all angles, so it becomes a good book to read no matter if you are a beginner or an expert artist.
Drawing Perspective Books Product Details
| Perspective Book | Amount of Pages | Weight | Dimensions |
| The Art of Perspective | 208 | 1.85 pounds | 8.56 x 0.57 x 10.09” |
| Perspective Made Easy | 224 | 8 ounces | 5.4 x 0.6 x 8.3” |
| How to Draw | 208 | 2.5 pounds | 9 x 11” |
| Perspective Drawing Handbook | 96 | 9.6 ounces | 8.2 x 0.3 x 10.7” |
| Perspective for Interior Designers | 160 | 15.9 ounces | 9 x 0.5 x 9.1” |
| Perspective for Interior Designers | 160 | 15.9 ounces | 9 x 0.5 x 9.1” |
| Perspective for Comic Artists | 176 | 15.2 ounces | 6.98 x 0.52 x 9.98” |
| Perspective for Artists | 288 | 10.5 ounces | 5.38 x 0.56 x 8.58” |
| Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design | 128 | 14.4 ounces | 8.75 x 0.5 x 8.75” |
| Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators | 160 | 12.2 ounces | 8.29 x 0.41 x 11” |
| Perspective Without Pain | 144 | 1.25 pounds | 8.5 x 0.47 x 11” |
| How to Draw What You See | 178 | 15.2 ounces | 7.05 x 0.57 x 10” |
| The Sketch. Interior Design Drawing | 122 | 7.5 ounces | 5.5 x 0.28 x 8.5” |
| Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach | 288 | 1.75 pounds | 10.8 x 0.6 x 8.4” |
Conclusion
So, this is the list of the best drawing perspective books. There are several fundamental concepts in art that an artist must learn. One such concept is perspective that may define how your artwork may look from a certain point of view. As an artist, you must consider the perspective of whether you are drawing an animal, a house, or a landscape.
Although the perspective is a very detailed concept, if you have the right learning resource, you can have a good understanding of it. All the books mentioned above are the best perspective books that may help you learn perspective from a beginner to an advanced level. It is always fun and enjoyable to practice your drawing using perspective.
Trust me; all these books must be in your library if you want to master them as an artist! Have you read any of the above drawing perspective books? If yes, do tell me your experience in the comments section! Happy Drawing!
Emily Taft
Thursday 1st of December 2022
These books are amazing. I got the pleasure of reading one when I took an art class in college and it helped me understand perspective drawing.