Quick and dirty perspective tool for the rest of us

     If I can help it, I will always try my best not to use any drawing aids for training's sake. But the last sketchwalk had me realize that there are still times I'm struggling with perspective especially if  the subject is something really up close. There are also times when I get pressure to come up with something really fast, and the view is to distracting.
     These gave me an idea to come up with some solution. What if there is a tool we can use to ease things up?
     Again,I was thinking of something portable, and if possible can be inserted between the pages of a sketchbook. So, I've made a viewfinder. Nothing new here. The internet host a lot of different versions that are easy to make. This version is just a piece illustration board cut to size.

Click to see description

      If you are always using the same sketchpad, chances are, you are working on the same aspect ratio most of the time and might want to fix the hole in the viewfinder to make things easier. Below is a pic on how to make the view finder and the sketch area proportional.

Now for the part that we could add to our age old viewfinder to make perspective drawing a little easier:

 I've bought some PVC transparencies, the one that is labeled for use with DIY notebooks. My initial thought was to use the acetate used in overhead projector, but it is too flimsy for this purpose.

The PVC film was marked with a sharpie and cut into strips. This will serve as our perspective guide lines.

A bead of blue tak at one end to make the pvc strip stick on our viewfinder for easy positioning later.

How to use. Feel free to add more guides as you need them. 4-5 should be enough..  It may be easier to note the position at which the line intersects the edge of the viewfinder(which corresponds to the edge of  your paper) instead of getting the angle of the lines.

     This is just an idea and there are still improvements to be made. Each of us has our own unique way of seeing things thus may require a different set of solution. Some materials may be explored that maybe just as practical. Other materials to consider are: acrylic plastic sheets, tin sheets, strings, magnets, rivets, fasteners rubber bands, sticks, whiteboard markers, etc. Hopefully somebody will find this useful. I hope you can share your thoughts as well.