<p>You are assuming that most paintings use this certain perspective, which is not the case. A subset of paintings do and those are <em>landscape paintings</em> which all of your examples consist of. This style typically uses two point perspective with the horizon parallel to the top and bottom of the frame. This could be considered <strong>landscape perspective</strong>. </p>

<p>The common sense explanation is that this is how we normally see the world, and many artists are simply seeking to capture what they see, especially naive and/or traditional landscape painters as in the pictures above. Plus by selecting a specific genre of painting they by definition have the same perspective.</p>

<p>However there are plenty of examples of "landscape" paintings that do not limit themselves to that POV, including landscapes painted from the birds-eye POV as in the last image. I would say in this day and age, with abstract, pop-art, cubism, and all the other genres there are probably as many if not more paintings that do not use traditional landscape perspective than those that do. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T07:10:01.987Z
There are seperate names for perspectives as someone smaller ([worms-eye view](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm%27s-eye_view)) or taller than an average human would see the world ([bird's-eye view](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s-eye_view)), but there doesn't seem to be a seperate name for a "humans-eye view". The pictures OP shows as examples are " humans-eye views", wheras the last one is a bird's-eye view with the horizon moved out of the view.
Elmy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T09:46:16.703Z
I have never heard of the term 'landscape perspective', nor does Google give me any noticeable hits. Can you provide any references?
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T16:25:32.293Z
@Joachim Google does hit, I checked... there is even a [book with that title.](https://www.google.com/search?q=Landscape+Perspective+Drawing+Nicholas+T+Dines&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgecSYxy3w8sc9YanUSWtOXmOM5-IKzsgvd80rySypFNLhYoOylLgEpHj00_UNjZKKzVIsU5I1GKT4uFBElJSN-HddmnaOjVNwV9OLEgWtQIdHqztXsTIZMDTtW3GIjYWDUYCBZxGrnk9iXkpxcmJBqkJAalFxQWpySWZZqoJLUWJ5Zl66gl9mckZ-TmKxQoiCS2ZeajEA-PiLQKQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq7LvZ9ZvkAhUkxVkKHaIvDUIQ6RMwOXoECBwQBA) I don't know that it is a convention but it is more than nothing.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T16:54:34.693Z
I noticed that title, but it's a book that simply adresses "a new technique of drawing landscapes in perspective". It's about drawing landscape in perspective, not drawing in landscape perspective.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-23T04:04:09.727Z
2019-08-26T21:50:02.733Z
2019-08-26T21:50:02.733Z
rebusB
<p>There are, arguably, three distinct viewpoints in linear perspective, all having to do with the viewing angle in relation to the ground plane:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PiUis.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PiUis.gif" alt="Thibault - three distinct viewing points"></a><br>
<sup>J.T. Thibault, "Application of Linear Perspective in the Graphic Arts" (c.1860), via <a href="https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">handprint.com</a></sup></p>

<p>All three are symbolized by the figure on the left, taking on three different positions in every picture. These viewpoints are very arbitrary, as they only serve a symbolic function, being relative to our daily experience (below, level with, and above our 'common sense' perspective of standing on the ground plane). All three take place on a relatively small arch in relation to the ground plane.<br>
(Notice that these viewpoints have nothing to do with the position of the (true) horizon in the picture, as this can shift up and down on the artist's whim, without him/her having to adjust his/her viewpoint.)</p>

<p>Respectively, these viewpoints may be referred to as </p>

<ul>
<li>A low viewpoint: (on-the-)<em>ground perspective</em> or, using a term more commonly used in the world of photography and cinematography, the <em>low-angle shot</em>. (More specific and extreme examples are <em>ant's view</em> perspective, <em>worm's eye view</em>, or, at least in Dutch, <em>frog's perspective</em>);  </li>
<li><strong>A 'normal' viewpoint. Set at the 'default' viewing height, i.e. the height of the eyes of an average person standing on the (virtual) ground plane. The pictures you provide in your question seem to be of this category. As I mentioned in the comments, it is the most commonly used viewpoint, because it is the perspective "we see in" - it is the most natural and acceptable of perspectives.</strong> And; </li>
<li>A high viewpoint, also known as <em>bird's eye view</em>, or <em>high-angle shot</em> (or, in French, a '<em>vue plongeante</em>', or 'plunging view').</li>
</ul>

<p>You can find the relative height of the viewpoint by looking at the objects that cross the horizon line, because </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>objects at the same height as the viewpoint are intersected by the true horizon line.<sup>*</sup></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Looking at the pictures you posted, this overlapping object is a palm tree or a sign post.<br>
For example, the third picture on the second row seems to have a higher viewpoint than the second picture on the first row. It is still quite hard to judge the height of the observer (of us), though, because the palm tree could hang lower in the first picture I mentioned.<br>
For a real assessment of the observer's (or artist's or photographer's) viewing height, there has to be something identifiable in the picture of which we can estimate the height, like a person, or even a brick wall or staircase, since these have commonly used dimensions.</p>

<hr>

<p>Also note that <strong>aerial perspective</strong> is an ambiguous term, as it is, as far as I know, more commonly used as a synonym of <em>atmospheric perspective</em> (which is the clearer term), which is the effect the atmosphere has on objects - more obvious at larger distances - where they gradually take on the colour (often blue) of the sky, an effect caused by scattering of the light rays. This effect is often enhanced by fog, but they're not really the same. As far as I know, it was introduced in painting by Leonardo da Vinci.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jxGic.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jxGic.jpg" alt="Caspar David Friedrich, Nordische Landschaft (Frühling), ca. 1825"></a><br>
<sup>Caspar David Friedrich, "Nordische Landschaft (Frühling)", ca. 1825</sup></p>

<p><sup>
* <a href="https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon</a>
</sup></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T16:32:32.003Z
Aerial perspective is ambiguous... birds-eye is definitely the better term for "looking from above."
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T16:34:55.127Z
It is interesting that the most common POV we have a humans appears to have no conventional name in art making.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T17:05:12.197Z
Yes, that's quite ironic. But that says something about the way we interpret things, as well, I think. And, of course, both high and low angle shots have a relatively large arch in which they can be recognized, whereas the default POV is more of an intuitive interpretation.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T09:43:58.320Z
2019-08-24T09:49:02.163Z
2019-08-24T09:49:02.163Z
Joachim
<p>Most people paint at a perspective that is like a couple of degrees below the horizontal.<br>
Is there a word for this?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Ox91F.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Ox91F.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PuirY.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PuirY.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-22T14:41:29.310Z
Want to warn you that the question as it stands is asking for an opinion and will likely be closed. I would take away the why do people make art this way ( I would say its because its the closest to the way people see the world they are capturing. ) and focus on what kind of perspective it is. This site is more about the techniques of arts and crafts than the philosophy of it.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-22T18:18:41.507Z
The images you show are not from a perspective point that is a couple of degrees below the horizon, however (which is a very vague description anyway, because in linear perspective, the horizon is on the same level as the observer's viewpoint). Why did you post those images?
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-23T03:47:49.087Z
@Joachim. The OP did not use the word horizon, that was from your edit. The views actually are a few degrees below horizontal, at least where the horizon is above the midline of the image. I think it is pretty clear what the OP is asking, and is not technically trained regarding perspective so provided a visual aid. Unfortunately the question as phrased is a off topic for this site. Imma answer anyway though even though I expect it will be closed. its nice to be helpful.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-23T08:28:57.547Z
@rebusB You think changing the obviously grammatically misused word "horizontal" for the more (grammatically) appropriate word 'horizon', is a strech? I'm asking the OP to clarify the question - the reason I posted it as a comment. You can't position something "below horizontal", that makes no sense.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-23T08:34:20.713Z
I think you answered your own question: it is the most commonly used viewpoint because it's the perspective "we see in" - it is the most natural and acceptable of perspectives.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-23T08:46:10.563Z
I'm just looking for the terminology for this perspective, which no one seems to know! Even though I have heard the word for this view before, I cannot remember!
Conso
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T00:12:31.023Z
@Joachim - Absolutely! Horizontal and horizon, though they have the same root, are totally different things! In this case it completely changes the conditions of the question. You can __look__ below the horizontal, the vector your eyes are pointed in would be a few degrees below the horizontal line parallel to the ground.  It may seem a strange way to word it, but it makes sense with the images shown. It doesn't make sense when the word is changed to horizon. You assumed it was a grammatical error, and then curtly accused the OP of making no sense after you "corrected" it.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-24T00:17:43.657Z
@Conso: that is why I recommended an edit to clarify your question. I suggest it is Landscape Perspective, maybe you are thinking Panoramic? but the images are not wide enough to suggest that. Two point perspective may be a general way of describing the images... I will add that to my answer.
rebusB
<linear-perspective>
Does anybody know the name of the perspective most people paint in?
Conso
# Does anybody know the name of the perspective most people paint in?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-22)

Most people paint at a perspective that is like a couple of degrees below the horizontal.  
Is there a word for this?

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Ox91F.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Ox91F.jpg)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/PuirY.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/PuirY.jpg)

**Tags:** linear-perspective

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Want to warn you that the question as it stands is asking for an opinion and will likely be closed. I would take away the why do people make art this way ( I would say its because its the closest to the way people see the world they are capturing. ) and focus on what kind of perspective it is. This site is more about the techniques of arts and crafts than the philosophy of it.  
> **username_2**: The images you show are not from a perspective point that is a couple of degrees below the horizon, however (which is a very vague description anyway, because in linear perspective, the horizon is on the same level as the observer's viewpoint). Why did you post those images?  
> **username_1**: @username_2. The OP did not use the word horizon, that was from your edit. The views actually are a few degrees below horizontal, at least where the horizon is above the midline of the image. I think it is pretty clear what the OP is asking, and is not technically trained regarding perspective so provided a visual aid. Unfortunately the question as phrased is a off topic for this site. Imma answer anyway though even though I expect it will be closed. its nice to be helpful.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 You think changing the obviously grammatically misused word "horizontal" for the more (grammatically) appropriate word 'horizon', is a strech? I'm asking the OP to clarify the question - the reason I posted it as a comment. You can't position something "below horizontal", that makes no sense.  
> **username_2**: I think you answered your own question: it is the most commonly used viewpoint because it's the perspective "we see in" - it is the most natural and acceptable of perspectives.  
> **username_0**: I'm just looking for the terminology for this perspective, which no one seems to know! Even though I have heard the word for this view before, I cannot remember!  
> **username_1**: @username_2 - Absolutely! Horizontal and horizon, though they have the same root, are totally different things! In this case it completely changes the conditions of the question. You can __look__ below the horizontal, the vector your eyes are pointed in would be a few degrees below the horizontal line parallel to the ground.  It may seem a strange way to word it, but it makes sense with the images shown. It doesn't make sense when the word is changed to horizon. You assumed it was a grammatical error, and then curtly accused the OP of making no sense after you "corrected" it.  
> **username_1**: @username_0: that is why I recommended an edit to clarify your question. I suggest it is Landscape Perspective, maybe you are thinking Panoramic? but the images are not wide enough to suggest that. Two point perspective may be a general way of describing the images... I will add that to my answer.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-08-23. Score: 2

You are assuming that most paintings use this certain perspective, which is not the case. A subset of paintings do and those are *landscape paintings* which all of your examples consist of. This style typically uses two point perspective with the horizon parallel to the top and bottom of the frame. This could be considered **landscape perspective**.

The common sense explanation is that this is how we normally see the world, and many artists are simply seeking to capture what they see, especially naive and/or traditional landscape painters as in the pictures above. Plus by selecting a specific genre of painting they by definition have the same perspective.

However there are plenty of examples of "landscape" paintings that do not limit themselves to that POV, including landscapes painted from the birds-eye POV as in the last image. I would say in this day and age, with abstract, pop-art, cubism, and all the other genres there are probably as many if not more paintings that do not use traditional landscape perspective than those that do.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: There are seperate names for perspectives as someone smaller ([worms-eye view](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm%27s-eye_view)) or taller than an average human would see the world ([bird's-eye view](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s-eye_view)), but there doesn't seem to be a seperate name for a "humans-eye view". The pictures OP shows as examples are " humans-eye views", wheras the last one is a bird's-eye view with the horizon moved out of the view.  
> **username_2**: I have never heard of the term 'landscape perspective', nor does Google give me any noticeable hits. Can you provide any references?  
> **username_1**: @username_2 Google does hit, I checked... there is even a [book with that title.](https://www.google.com/search?q=Landscape+Perspective+Drawing+Nicholas+T+Dines&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgecSYxy3w8sc9YanUSWtOXmOM5-IKzsgvd80rySypFNLhYoOylLgEpHj00_UNjZKKzVIsU5I1GKT4uFBElJSN-HddmnaOjVNwV9OLEgWtQIdHqztXsTIZMDTtW3GIjYWDUYCBZxGrnk9iXkpxcmJBqkJAalFxQWpySWZZqoJLUWJ5Zl66gl9mckZ-TmKxQoiCS2ZeajEA-PiLQKQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq7LvZ9ZvkAhUkxVkKHaIvDUIQ6RMwOXoECBwQBA) I don't know that it is a convention but it is more than nothing.  
> **username_2**: I noticed that title, but it's a book that simply adresses "a new technique of drawing landscapes in perspective". It's about drawing landscape in perspective, not drawing in landscape perspective.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-08-24. Score: 2

There are, arguably, three distinct viewpoints in linear perspective, all having to do with the viewing angle in relation to the ground plane:

[![Thibault - three distinct viewing points](https://i.sstatic.net/PiUis.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/PiUis.gif)  
J.T. Thibault, "Application of Linear Perspective in the Graphic Arts" (c.1860), via [handprint.com](https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon)

All three are symbolized by the figure on the left, taking on three different positions in every picture. These viewpoints are very arbitrary, as they only serve a symbolic function, being relative to our daily experience (below, level with, and above our 'common sense' perspective of standing on the ground plane). All three take place on a relatively small arch in relation to the ground plane.  
(Notice that these viewpoints have nothing to do with the position of the (true) horizon in the picture, as this can shift up and down on the artist's whim, without him/her having to adjust his/her viewpoint.)

Respectively, these viewpoints may be referred to as

* A low viewpoint: (on-the-)*ground perspective* or, using a term more commonly used in the world of photography and cinematography, the *low-angle shot*. (More specific and extreme examples are *ant's view* perspective, *worm's eye view*, or, at least in Dutch, *frog's perspective*);
* **A 'normal' viewpoint. Set at the 'default' viewing height, i.e. the height of the eyes of an average person standing on the (virtual) ground plane. The pictures you provide in your question seem to be of this category. As I mentioned in the comments, it is the most commonly used viewpoint, because it is the perspective "we see in" - it is the most natural and acceptable of perspectives.** And;
* A high viewpoint, also known as *bird's eye view*, or *high-angle shot* (or, in French, a '*vue plongeante*', or 'plunging view').

You can find the relative height of the viewpoint by looking at the objects that cross the horizon line, because

> objects at the same height as the viewpoint are intersected by the true horizon line.\*

Looking at the pictures you posted, this overlapping object is a palm tree or a sign post.  
For example, the third picture on the second row seems to have a higher viewpoint than the second picture on the first row. It is still quite hard to judge the height of the observer (of us), though, because the palm tree could hang lower in the first picture I mentioned.  
For a real assessment of the observer's (or artist's or photographer's) viewing height, there has to be something identifiable in the picture of which we can estimate the height, like a person, or even a brick wall or staircase, since these have commonly used dimensions.

---

Also note that **aerial perspective** is an ambiguous term, as it is, as far as I know, more commonly used as a synonym of *atmospheric perspective* (which is the clearer term), which is the effect the atmosphere has on objects - more obvious at larger distances - where they gradually take on the colour (often blue) of the sky, an effect caused by scattering of the light rays. This effect is often enhanced by fog, but they're not really the same. As far as I know, it was introduced in painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

[![Caspar David Friedrich, Nordische Landschaft (Frühling), ca. 1825](https://i.sstatic.net/jxGic.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jxGic.jpg)  
Caspar David Friedrich, "Nordische Landschaft (Frühling)", ca. 1825

\* <https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/perspect1.html#horizon>

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Aerial perspective is ambiguous... birds-eye is definitely the better term for "looking from above."  
> **username_1**: It is interesting that the most common POV we have a humans appears to have no conventional name in art making.  
> **username_2**: Yes, that's quite ironic. But that says something about the way we interpret things, as well, I think. And, of course, both high and low angle shots have a relatively large arch in which they can be recognized, whereas the default POV is more of an intuitive interpretation.  

---

