When I first saw this recent New Yorker cover by Chicago cartoonist Ivan Brunetti, its perspective just looked WRONG to me- a random jumble of elements seen from a variety of inconsistent viewpoints. However, on second look it all fell into place and I realized that a subtle and (mostly) consistent scheme is at work. This becomes clearer when we divide the picture in two:
Brunetti has drawn the top area as an elevation, a type of parallel line drawing corresponding to a view facing one wall directly from an infinite distance away. This method is standard in architectural rendering but is also used from time in time in fine art and illustration.
David Chelsea is reading:
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
by David Foster Wallace
Continue reading Perspective Police!: Brunetti