Shadow, Scale and Composition in a Bus-Stop Sketch
A candidate is making a two-point perspective sketch of a bus stop on a straight north–south road. The eye level is 1.60 m. The shelter is 3.0 m high and 5.0 m long; a tree behind it is 6.0 m high. The sun is in the south-west at 40° altitude. In the sketch, the shelter's shadow runs parallel to the road, all three waiting passengers are drawn the same height, and the shelter is centred exactly on the horizon line with its roof edge touching the tree trunk. The brief asks for a convincing sense of scale, a clear foreground, and correct shadows. The road runs from foreground to background, and the shelter sits on the east side.
1. Correct the shadow direction and length for the shelter and tree. Show the ratio.
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Sun in the south-west means rays travel from SW to NE, so shadows fall to the north-east. On a north–south road, the shadow is at 45° to the road, not parallel to it. Shadow length L = h / tan 40° = h / 0.839 = 1.19h. Shelter: 3.0 × 1.19 = 3.57 m. Tree: 6.0 × 1.19 = 7.15 m. In the sketch, draw both shadows as parallel ground-plane lines running NE, with the tree shadow extending well beyond the shelter, and make the shelter shadow start at the base of the posts, not at the roof edge on the ground.
2. Explain how to correct the figures' heights relative to the 1.60 m horizon and why the current drawing looks wrong.
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The horizon is the eye level at 1.60 m. On level ground, every standing adult's eye line lies on the horizon, whatever the distance. An adult 1.75 m tall has a head 0.15 m above the horizon; a 1.30 m child has a head 0.30 m below it. Drawing all three passengers the same height destroys this relationship and makes the shelter look like a toy. Put a near adult with the head clearly above the horizon, a child with the head below it, and a distant figure smaller but still with eyes on the horizon. Keep feet on the ground plane, not floating.
3. Diagnose the composition problem of centring the shelter and touching the tree, and propose a stronger arrangement.
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Centring the shelter on the horizon is static and splits the composition into equal halves; touching the roof edge to the tree trunk creates a tangent that flattens depth and makes the tree look attached to the shelter. Move the shelter to the right third, let the tree sit behind and overlap the roof rather than touch it, and place a foreground figure or bicycle at the left edge to frame the scene. Use the road edge and kerb as leading lines toward the shelter. Leave more sky above the tree than below the shelter to avoid a cramped top.