A wonderful art book. Although advanced but it is practical. It has slow pace from simple to difficult and it looks at a page for drawing from correct perspective. Perspective makes the image congruent and realistic. A necessary skill for master artists. It is a book that is to be cherished in library of an artist and to be read many times.

A decent reference book to help master perspective techniques. Would be great for a beginner artist.

Help With The Challenge Of Drawing Perspective
"Success in Art: Mastering Perspective. Techniques for mastering one-, two-, and three-point perspective - 25+ Professional Artist Tips and Techniques" by artist and former professor Andy Fish is part of the "Success in Art" series published by Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster that has the goal to offer more than basic step-by-step guides for subject matters that are challenging for artists. The book goes from the Essentials via One-Point Perspective, Two-Point Perspective to Three-Point Perspective. Fish challenges the artist: "We all want to get to the good stuff, and we all think we know more than we really do. Resist the temptation to skip ahead; instead, follow each lesson as written. Do them once; do them again. Do them until you are certain that you understand all the principles and rules of each chapter before you move on.
Don’t skip the basics because you think you know them. Let’s review and make sure you aren’t missing something essential in the “easy” lessons, because that will trip you up as you get further into the studies. Trust me on this one—there has never been a better case of learning how to crawl before you can walk!" (p.5). Fish explains well the vanishing points and the variable vanishing points.
This was the first book which I read about mastering perspective. It is presented with great pictures and examples and clear step-by-step instructions, it even includes tips to figure out what went wrong. The book also gives an introduction how perspective developed in art. Fish has included more than 25 professional artist tips and techniques. This book is a helpful book for artists who want to paint buildings and who use various kinds of media such as watercolor, acrylic, mix media and not only for artists who draw. It is good to be aware of the fact that it only treats perspective in regard to building. Nevertheless it makes also a great present and I highly recommend it.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#SuccessInArtMasteringPerspective #NetGalley

It is not easy to explain and teach perspective but the author did a relatively good job of it explaining it in simple terms with the basics at the start and slowly easing the reader into one-point perspective, then move on to two-point perspective and finally the three-point perspective.

If you can master perspective, your drawings or paintings will look like what they purport to be.

This book explains in detail what perspective means and how to correctly apply it to your work. It is accompanied by useful illustrations and photos to help visually understand the concept.


I received an ARC from Quatro Publishing through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

This book goes through the different types of perspectives: one-point, two-point, and three-point. It also includes shadows using perspectives, which I found especially useful and not something I expected from this book. There are so many diagrams/illustrations that show what you need to be doing along with very clear and concise steps. It really makes something that feels difficult seem easily do-able and inspires me to pick up more sketching. The book is great at teaching and I really enjoyed it.

I apologize for the delayed review of this book.

It is not easy to explain and teach perspective but the author did a relatively good job of it explaining it in simple terms with the basics at the start and slowly easing the reader into one-point perspective, then move on to two-point perspective and finally the three-point perspective.

The step by step pictures was good but sometimes it as hard to understand the explanation in them for certain pictures. I felt that if the artist can illustrate the explanation with arrows pointing to the pictures in relation to what he meant would be good.

I also realized that certain lines were drawn in the pictures but was not explained in the description of that picture. Not sure whether that was missed out. This happened to a few pictures in the book.

Overall, the book was laid out very systematically and it is definitely a book for beginners with a well-organized layout. It is hard to comprehend perspective sometimes and I don’t find many easy to understand books for beginners. This book certainly did a better job than most for those starting out as a beginner to learn perspective.

As a novice "artist" I found perspective one of the hardest things to visualize when working from a reference. Success in Art: Mastering Perspective gives great explanations and provides appropriate visuals to follow along. This is what step by step is supposed to look like. It can look repetitive at first glance (and a bit confusing with all the different lines crisscrossing) hence the importance of working from start to finish. The more advanced projects are daunting, but with this guide and plenty of practice, mastering perspective is hopefully only a matter of time.

Didn’t Help Me, But May Help You

While some reviews I've read of this book state that it can be for anyone from beginner to advanced, I disagree. I have an interest in art, and I will admit that I am not very good at it. My destiny, I think, is to be more of a writer or musician, yet visual art still fascinates me and is something I hope to do reasonably well one day. One thing that has always eluded me is perspective, making my drawings more akin to ancient cave paintings and stick figures. I had hoped this book would help, but even with all the diagrams of one-, two- and three-point perspective, I still couldn't get it. I think you have to be a better artist than me to get something from this book. I honestly believe that this is not the fault of the book, but my own shortcomings as a visual artist. If you are beyond the level of cave paintings and stick figures, you may very well benefit from this book.

Success in Art: Mastering Perspective by Andy Fish
Techniques for mastering one-, two-, and three-point perspective - 25+ Professional Artist Tips and Techniques

Filled with illustrations and simple directions this book will help all who are trying to learn about perspective and/or how to draw items with depth and make them three-dimensional. I have to admit that as I worked my way through one-point, two-point and then three-point perspective I realized that the best thing for me to do to really internalize this information would be to grab a pencil, sketchbook and the tools mentioned in the book then try my hand at creating the illustrations in the book. After that I would benefit from heading outside for some plein air drawing of buildings or find photos of buildings to draw using the techniques in this book.

Did I find this book helpful? Yes
Would I buy it for my library? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

Mastering Perspective by Andy Fish is a clear, instructive, step-by-step guide to rendering one-, two-, and three-point perspective in illustrations. It’s admirably succinct, with just the occasional glimpse of humour.

Fish briefly covers the birth of linear perspective in Renaissance painting, and provides tips on eraser type, paper surface, pencil hardness and colour, as well as how to best mark vanishing points.

The chapters progress from introductions to each teaching point to demonstrations through guided drawings. The book culminates with the development of a three-point perspective city illustration with a light source vanishing point guiding shadows over pavements and curbs.

Mastering Perspectives is logically organised, with chapters becoming progressively more complex. Readers are encouraged not to rush, but to master each point before moving on. As a complete beginner, I was especially excited by the X-division method for determining window placement!

Despite having no former knowledge of the principles of perspective, I now feel perfectly capable of describing the different rules of perspective and in producing a three-point perspective illustration of my own with accurate shadow placement. In its core objectives Andy Fish’s book is clear and successful. What it lacks however, are examples of how these principles readily apply to drawings of people, still life, or landscapes.

Economically written and clearly illustrated, this is a useful guide for those new to technical drawing, for urban sketchers wishing to add the realism of perspective to their artwork, to students and drawing teachers.

Mastering Perspectives is part of the Success in Art series, which also includes Drawing Hands and Feet by Ken Goldman.

Success in Art: Mastering Perspective is a tutorial and skill building guide with a special emphasis on perspective in rendering 3d shapes. Due out 9th June 2020 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 112 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a well laid out and accessible treatise on one-, two-, and three- point perspective by graphic artist and illustrator Andy Fish. The author has a lightly humorous and spare writing style which is down to earth ("We all want to get to the good stuff, and we all think we know more than we really do" he writes pithily). I imagine he would be a gifted teacher in a classroom setting and his instructions translate quite well to the written word.

The introductory chapter contains a very brief capsule history of perspective and its development in the context of art. The following chapters develop one point through three point perspective with specific guided tutorials. Glossary and technique terms are highlighted in bold and defined in the text. The basic tutorials are followed by more advanced alternatives which are also well illustrated and understandable.

Understanding perspective and building skills for rendering realistic looking 3D representations has relevance for many different applications and combines an understanding of art and mathematics. This is a basic guide but information dense and useful.

Five stars. This would make a superlative choice for all ages (including students who will be having units in mathematics and science on perspective drawing). These paperbound Walter Foster editions are well made and provide good basic instruction at an affordable price point.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book is a very thorough look at perspective with one, two or three viewpoints. The concepts are explained clearly, with a number of step by step exercises which take you through drawing abstract shapes through to cityscapes.

This book seems to be aimed at draftsmen or graphic designers. It would have been really useful to have photographs of landscapes, cities and houses and the one, two, three viewpoints pointed out as I am not sure I would necessarily be able to apply what I've learned to a landscape photograph.

However, this is a really useful introduction to perspective with some great tips, easily explained.

Excellent reference book. This isn't a flashy art book but a very detailed technical reference book. It has lots, LOTS of pictures going into good detail, basic enough and helpful for a beginner or early hobbyist. Great book.

Another book in the series of success in Art, this one dealing with perspectives, which again can be a difficult skill to grasp. This book starts off with a simple box and works with it in varying degrees of complexity with one, two and three points of perspective. Lots of lines and includes casting shadows in perspective. A great book if want to learn about dealing with sometimes confusing skill.

I hate perspective. I mean, not really but kind of. I understand why it is important. I am just lazy and it feels like a lot of work. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to put in to actually do all of the exercises before my advance ready copy will expire, but I did read them and study them and feel like I would not struggle with them. The steps are very easy to follow. They did a good enough job that I may just buy it when I am finally ready to put the work in,

The book is a from the ground-up tutorial on perspective. The language is very easy to understand and very straight to the point without any unnecessary fluff. I really enjoyed the fact that all lessons showed building multiple 3D objects in one frame and the included part about casting shadows with the tools that perspective provides.
The only thing that I found a bit out of place was the fact that a few pages were flipped landscape, which, while providing a bigger and more detailed illustration of the example, can be in the way if you're reading a digital edition.
All in all, I think anyone learning drawing can benefit from reading this book and following the exercises.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.*

Awesome book! It teaches you step-by-step of how to do 1, 2 or 3 points perspective. I learnt it in college a few years ago but I wanted to recap because it's been a while and this book is great! It tells you what materials to get and helps you to understand perspective. Then it teaches you basic one point perspective using basic forms step-by-step. Once you understand the idea it teaches you how to draw your first house in one point perspective. Then it starts getting more advance and it's super fun! I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

This is an instructional book that offers artists help with one, two, and three point perspective. There are tips and tricks, tools, and instructions that help mastering perspective seem much more achievable.

I am an artist reviewing this book. My background includes painting large murals in trompe l'oeil fashion (using lots of perspective technique). When I began decades ago, texts on perspective were few and I never found a great one back then. I repainted many mistakes. I later taught very simple perspective to young grade schoolers in art classes. So I was very interested in this book.

Andy Fish begins as do most drawing books with a section on tools. If a person is working flat, I think his list is adequate. If a person is working with a vertical surface, I'd add a level and a chalk-string-line set-up, and some tape measures and yardsticks if the work is more than average art paper size.

I like that he suggests a vanishing point of an "X" instead of a point. He discusses what is a vanishing point well, what are perspective lines, what is a horizon line. He does not really speak to layout concept, where should one first place that horizon line, but neither is this a book about composition or rule of thirds, so I think that is fine. Master the techniques here and layout becomes more inherent, more instinct. Follow his exercises and THEN worry about where should one place that horizon line as a beginner....because THEN one is no longer a beginner, and that question has likely vanished.

I like that he directs to begin with a flat shape and then draw the lines of perspective and THEN add the dimension to the object, super simple and clear for newbies. I like that he includes perspective on both sides of a horizon line, in the same artwork. He builds from single point perspective to 2-point perspective with ever increasing complexity, and then to 3-point with still increasing complexity, to finally rendering a cityscape in high detail advanced form. I like that he even includes shadow lines in the most advanced drawings.

If anyone is wondering about all those beautiful travel journal / urban sketching drawings some artists are doing, how to sit down somewhere in the midst of a city and accurately draw what they see, this is the perfect book to walk one fully through this. I have read many write-ups on perspective, and in my early days had only one book. This is the clearest and most detailed I've seen in one volume over 115 or so pages of precise instruction.

The big bonus is that (this style) drawing becomes incredibly easy for anyone. All that one needs to do to draw highly detailed cityscapes is draw straight lines! (One could embellish with more complex shapes of course, but certainly straight lines will wow people with the complexity rendered here.) This skillset can easily make any drawing subject matter -- even figurative, or general landscape, or still life -- become easier to acquire and much better much faster. For that reason I would suggest this even for the most beginning drawing student. With concentration, drawing is fail-safe.

Walter Foster Publishing is also putting out a book on Drawing Hands and Feet with the same publishing date of June 9 2020, so I was very interested in perusing this volume alongside the other, though they are different artists writing the text. I loved the Drawing Hands and Feet Book, so had high hopes for this book. The great news is that my expectations were met, this book is highly recommended.

5 stars, great class in perspective by Mr. Fish. Thank you to NetGalley and to Walter Foster Publishing for an advanced digital copy for review. Honest opinion given.