Ann wrote:

> Hi, I am from Ontario, Canada, and have been painting acrylics for about 8 years. You have just fantastic information on your web pages. Thank you so much!  
> I struggle with ripples and waves, and your explanations really help me. What a wealth of information you are. thanks thanks thanks!!!
>  
> I couldn't find where this tool is described.
> Quote:" In the Techniques Section I describe a tool to use to get perspective perfect, it's not on the market, you have to build it yourself, but it makes life easy."
>  
> Thanks again Don, happy painting!
> Ann

On the sitetree.htm I used the search box to find "perspective tool"
http://realcolorwheel.com/perspective.htm

Scroll down to the animation drawing of the church. The first line of the animation is the horizon line. It is also the bar tool attached to the back of the painting. I can't find the original photo of the tool, I'll have to make a new one some day. From the church itself I could measure with a straight edge the churches perspective lines and mark them on the extended horizon line tool attached to the painting. From there I attach a string to find all the angles on any building that has relationships to that building, as, any building on that block or across a parallel street.

It's hard to explain without a photo of it, let me know it it makes sense.

PERSPECTIVE TOOL

A piece of equipment I made is used to plot two vanishing points of any building 90 degrees apart. It can be ten foot long or longer for larger paintings. A bar attaches to the back of the painting, level with and behind the picture's horizon line. It has two straight edge bars on pivots that clip onto the main bar and lock down on the perceived vanishing points of the top of the building. Sometimes times both vanishing points are off the page in a 60 degree wide picture. This tool will adjust for the earth's curvature.

Match up the buildings most extreme top angles with the straight edge arms and hinge clip them onto the horizon bar, matching and lining up the angles of the straight edge bar to the buildings image. I look at the building and point to the extended vanishing points on the horizon line to the left and right in my pictures view and clip the arms on at those points. That position works now for any building in my picture with those compass aligned angles, as in a row of buildings down a street. Swinging the bar down will give you the correct angles of the windows, doors, bricks, etc.