What is the Horizon Line

The horizon line is where the visible earth meets the sky. You can see it very well when you overlook vast plains or an ocean.

The perspective of your painting will depend on your horizon line.

Normally, you'd just copy what you see - the true horizon.

But what if it's covered by forests, or shielded away with buildings on the street? How about when you're drawing the interior of a house?

You can't always rely on finding the true horizon because it's not always visible.

And that’s why, there exists the concept of an imaginary horizon line.

This imaginary line corresponds to your eye level.

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How to find the horizon line?

Because it corresponds to your eye level, you need to simply look forward. Stare straight ahead.

That’s the quickest way.

 

The important aspect is making sure that your head is not tilted. Some people will also hold up a pencil or their paintbrush in front of them.

 

Aside from that, when doing traditional painting - and painting landscapes - there is an old technique to precisely determine your line of horizon.

 

For that, you can use a clear glass of water (you may also use liquid other than water. What really matters is that the glass is transparent).

 

Pour the water into the glass. Then, raise the glass to your eye level. Lift it in such a way, that you’d see one horizontal line indicating the level of water.

 

The surface of water is meant to connect in one line.

 

And that is your horizon line.

 

In the next part we'll talk about the role of horizon line.