Secrets of Perspective Drawing (Beginner/ Intermediate)

Perspective drawing can be a complicated subject, but understanding simple rules, and learning how and when to apply them, can help unlock the secrets of perspective and dispel any fears of drawing.

On Sunday, June 14, at 10 AM EDT, join VAWAA Artist, and Irish-Italian surrealist artist Colleen who has a distinctive style of creating distorted imaginary buildings floating in mid-air. She is internationally recognized for creating hundreds of illustrations of the 55 cities described by Italo Calvino, using a surrealist style.

During the 90 minutes, we will learn one point perspective drawing and how to modify things to make them look surreal and/or of visual impact. We'll start slowly, from the very basics and gradually work towards more complex structures in order to create incredibly convincing illusions of space. The session will include several short videos and 60 minutes of live drawing session.

This session is suitable for beginners with no experience, as well as for those who already know the basics of perspective and who want to work towards more advanced structures, and learn how to distort perspective for surreal purposes.

We'll reconnect 5 days later for 60 minutes, on Friday, June 19th, 12:00 PM EDT, to share our drawings, learnings, and feedback.

Joining us from a different time zone? Be sure to convert the time.

What you'll need

Drawing paper, pencil, ruler, and eraser.

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. You'll receive an email with link and details to join a few hours before it begins.

About Colleen

Colleen is a surrealist printmaker and sculptor whose work reflects her love for buildings and architecture. After learning and teaching across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, Colleen now lives in rural southern Italy, working with monotypes to get fresh images directly on a plate; woodblocks to work with several layers of color and etchings for varying textures and applying different inks. Her biggest project to-date is a twenty-year multimedia exploration of Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities. These days she's creating experimental prints using alternative materials and textures, and when she is not printing, you can find her dreaming up cityscapes by sketching, painting, or working with clay!

Visit her artist page to learn more about her in-person VAWAA.


Sessions are ticketed to support artists, makers and our small team. If you’re experiencing financial hardship, please reach out. We may have a generous participant who has paid it forward and would ask that you pay the love forward by sharing online sessions with 3 new friends.