Line Field / frame

Choose a Horizon for a Table Scene

Eye level changes how much tabletop you can see.

The small question

Eye level changes how much tabletop you can see. This exercise asks you to check a visible relation rather than judge whether the whole sketch is good.

Try it in front of the subject

Sit, then stand, while looking at the same bowl on a table. The rim and visible tabletop change noticeably. Pick one eye height before drawing and put a faint horizontal reference on the page. Keep the first marks light enough that you can revise them after another look.

What this exercise cannot prove

The horizon need not appear as an actual line behind the bowl. It represents eye level; do not add a false background line solely because the worksheet names one. An example can suggest where to look, but the scene in front of you is the evidence for your drawing.

A second pass

Make two two-minute thumbnails from the two heights. Record where the rim ellipse changes. Keep the first attempt beside the revision so you can see which choice changed.

A field-note challenge

Use the bowl’s rim as a check: from higher up, more of its inside becomes visible. Draw two rim ellipses on the same page and label the seated and standing views. Do not make the tabletop edge stand in for eye level unless the two genuinely coincide from your position.