Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 9.

5
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 59.5
Drawspace Curriculum 4.1.R7 4 Pages and 8 Illustrations

Creating Depth
with Overlapping
Exploring overlapping as an invaluable tool to
create or enhance the illusion of a three
dimensional reality in artworks

Imagine yourself sitting in an airplane looking

out the window when a bunch of faces begin
oating toward you.
Naturally, as an artist, your rst thought is to
capture this scene in a drawing (Figure 1).
Figure 1

ArtSpeak
Overlapping: A component of
perspective and composition used to
create or enhance the illusion of a threedimensional reality on a two-dimensional
surface by rendering a subject so it
visually appears to be in front of another.

Three elements of perspective

helped create the illusion of a threedimensional reality in this ironically
unrealistic drawing:
Overlapping: many faces
overlap others.
Size differences: faces that
are farther away appear to be
smaller.
Atmospheric Perspective:
faces that are farther away are
lighter in value.

ISBN: 978-1-927365-40-3
Copyright 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

Drawspace Curriculum 4.1.R7

When one object is behind

another, it is obviously farther
away from the viewer.
A noticeable clue is provided
when a section of the object
seems to be missing. Of course,
its not really missing the object
in front of it is merely blocking
your line of vision.
Three spheres of different sizes
appear to be sitting on a level
surface along the same point in
space (Figure 2).

As an Aside
The horizon line is not visible in the drawing in Figure 1.
Even so, perspective (4.1.R4 Above, Below, and On the
Horizon Line) suggests that it may be located above the
faces.
Those faces that are closest to you are not only larger,
but also appear closer to the bottom of the drawing
space.
Those that are in the upper section of the drawing space
seem farther away because they appear to be closer to
the vanishing point (which is located on a horizon line).

When the two smaller

spheres are moved
a little higher in the
drawing space, a
viewer has to decide if
they are farther away
than the large one or if
they are simply oating
in the air beside the
large one (Figure 3).

Figure 2

Figure 3

Without further clues,

the viewer cant really
tell with any degree of
certainty.
An ideal way to show
viewers that the two
small spheres are
behind the large one is
to use overlapping.
When sections of the
two smaller spheres
are placed behind the
large one, viewers
know that the small
spheres are behind the
large one (Figure 4).

ISBN: 978-1-927365-40-3
Copyright 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

Drawspace Curriculum 4.1.R7

The magic of overlapping!

Figure 4

At this point, viewers may

even consider all three
spheres to be the same
size.
After all, objects that are
closer to a vanishing point
only appear to be smaller
an illusion created by
perspective.
Still-life subjects are
good practice for using
overlapping in drawings.
In Figure 5, a drawing of
three wooden objects uses
overlapping to enhance
the illusion of depth.
In Figure 6, each of the three objects is outlined in black. The knick-knack case in the front
(1) overlaps both the pencil case (2) and the bell (3). The bell appears to be farther back
in space than the other two objects. Its base is slightly higher and therefore closer to the
vanishing point.
Figure 5

Figure 6

Overlapping also works well to enhance

the illusion of depth when different types
of subjects are grouped closely together.

ISBN: 978-1-927365-40-3
Copyright 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

Drawspace Curriculum 4.1.R7

Figure 7

Check out the drawing of a

kitten in Figure 7.
To create the illusion of
depth, four points in space
were identied during the
planning stage (Figure 8).
The owers and foliage in
the foreground (1) overlap
everything else in the
drawing.
The kitten (2) is in front
of the owers on the right
and the log on which she is
perched (3).
And, of course, the
background (4) is farther
away than everything else.
By drawing some subjects
behind others, the illusion
of depth is successfully
achieved.
Figure 8

Overlapping is a natural part of seeing.

We know that we cannot see through solid
(opaque) objects, but we can see through
transparent ones. So our brains assume
that if part of an object is out of sight, it
might be behind an opaque object.
Look around you and see how easily
your eye decodes these overlapping
messages!

ISBN: 978-1-927365-40-3
Copyright 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.