If you lower the bowl a little, you will find that you can no longer hide the top with a horizontal pencil. The top looks more natural in this position. You have often drawn a narrow ellipse for the appearance of a circular shape seen slightly below the eye.
If the bowl is lowered still more, the ellipse will appear wider from front to back.
Make sketches from a bowl, in these three positions.
The Foreshortened Circle.
When a surface, because of its position, appears less wide than it really is, we say that it is foreshortened. The circular top of the bowl appears in three positions on [page 59]. In the first picture it is foreshortened to such an extent that its width from back to front has disappeared altogether. In the second, the foreshortened circle appears as a narrow ellipse. In the third, the ellipse is wider, because the bowl is seen further below the eyes.
On this page are some sketches of a half-orange and a half-apple. Can you tell the positions in which they were held? Notice the foreshortened circle in Sketch 2. The sections of the orange are changed in appearance very much as the petals of the daisy are foreshortened, in the middle sketch on [page 22].
Read again the lesson on [page 48]. Then decide which sketch of the half-orange is most pleasing. Which picture of the half-apple do you like best?
Draw a half-lemon in a position showing a foreshortened circle of pleasing proportions.