Composing in Zero point perspective

In drawing class in art school, we spent many hours learning to draw in one, two, and three-point perspectives. But as I develop a graphic flat style of illustration for kids. The traditional rules of perspectives no longer apply.

I’ve developed a trick for laying out compositions for illustration in what I’ll call zero point perspective. It’s a work in progress and I’ll share updates as I develop it further.

The trick is to grid the page up like a chessboard, then place the elements of the illustration down piece by piece. The illustration is sketched or planned by laying down shape by shape until all the squares are filled up.

The idea is then to create a path for the eye to follow around the illustration. Once the main path is established, I create multiple side paths, that reconnect to the main path.

It’s like designing a theme park. Multiple attractions are connected by carefully planned paths.