Vanishing point activities require the capability to draw a horizon line and measure the vectors or degrees on tangential lines. The vanishing point is the line on a picture that appears as the smallest point on the horizon, beyond which the landscape cannot be seen. Draw or create lines on a computer screen from multiple vanishing points on a single line to a common point lower in the artwork. Then calculate the angles and the distance to the baseline.
Orthogonal lines activities require the ability to measure lines and angles. These lines are rays that guide the viewer's eyes from a point on the edge of the picture to a vanishing point. They are used to align walls and solid structures within the picture. Create a structure on a piece of paper by drawing several orthogonal lines with a common vanishing point. Measure the angles and distance formed to the vanishing point. If you are less artistically-inclined, use a graphing program on a computer to draw orthogonal lines and measure the result.
Apply linear perspective to create standard semi-circles on a page of art or graphing program on the computer, utilizing circle graphing capabilities. Create semi-circles by drawing a common radius or using orthogonal lines and vectors. Again, one activity is to measure the lines, vectors and angles in the semi-circle. The aggregate value of degrees will be one hundred and eighty.
Creating cones requires more advanced mathematical activities including applying and graphing formulas. One example is to start with the equation of the cone and use it to then draw the form on the page. The formula is:
au^2 + 2buv + cv^2 + eu + fv + g = 0
Utilize this formula and turn the page into a detailed graph to draw the form of the cone.