Okay, here's where things get tricky. The columns need depth to them so that they don't look wafer thin. For that, select all six columns, copy and paste-in-front and without losing the selections, hit your arrow keys up a few times so you can see them move. We'll call these six new columns 'under-columns'. Currently they're all on top of your original columns. Hit control/command+shift+[ and that will send them to the back of that layer. Now you can deselect by clicking off them somewhere empty and select the three under-columns and move them to the right slightly. To make sure you're lining them up properly, the under-colums will have to align with the bottom floor seam and the top ceiling seam just like your original columns.

Now your columns will need to have adjustments so that they show thickness. Select the nearest left under-column and bring it so that it lies atop the second and third columns of the left. To bring your under-column forward, hit control/command+] enough times for it to be on top of the second original left column. In the foreground, you'll be able to see just how funky the free distort feature works. I have the under-column of the nearest left column selected... but the nodes don't line up with the end resulting under-column lines. You'll have to make your adjustments carefully and observe what your movements translate into.

For now, we take our pen tool and hold down the tool in the pallet to select the pen tool with the little plus sign next to it. This tool allows you to add nodes to your selection. I have added 2 nodes to the bottom, 1 node to the left and will add one to the top for the thickness adjustments. See step twenty-three for highlights.

I have finished adjusting the under-columns on the left and have made sure they are in the proper order by bringing them forward in the layer. They should be just being their original column, not remain behind ALL of the original columns.

Starting on the right, you can see I have highlighted the nodes I have added to aid in adjustment. For the right, the uppermost node is on the curve. For your left column in the front, it would have been easiest to place it on the top. However, remember to scale your under-colums down so that they align properly with the ceiling. See the next step for guides...

I've turned off the 'sanity shapes' layer to show you how to keep the width of the columns equal. Make new green vanishing lines that align with the width you see at the feet. This will be a new visual guide for adjusting your under-columns. As you can see, I just eye-balled it, but if you really want to make the widths exact, you'd choose your first and line and put the diagonal orange measuring lines as you did in steps six and seven. But that's a little too many lines for this particular need, so I didn't fuss with it.

As you can see, I've finished scaling down the under-columns and put them on their proper level with their own original columns. You can be very exacting about this, but so long as most things line up within reason, I don't worry about it. ;}

Now for the checker pattern of the corridor outlines. For this, we will be doing much of the same technique as the first floor bisecting line measurements. Create a small line, copy and paste-in-font in a straight line with a space in between lines as many lines as you want boxes. I have eight shown here. Group them like before and then rotate them with the rotate tool (sixth from the top on the left of the tool pallet ...see the circle-arrow?) so that they are parallel to the green floor line. If you need to, scale them down so they fit in between the orange guides properly. Again, where the spaces are will determine where the guides from the dark blue vanishing point will be. For ease, as you make them, color them orange. This will help you distinguish them from your floor guides.

Take your pen tool and make a box between your column 'feet' and fill it white white. You can simply just use your pen tool and make little boxes aligned with your guides and then fill them whatever colors you want, but this is a tad more exact.

Copy and paste-in-front the new box you just made. Now you have another box cloned above the original.

New tool. You are now using your scissors tool. It may be hidden under the knife tool, so hold-click on the tool if you need to to get the scissors.

With the top box selected, on the second orange guide line from the left, click your scissors tool at the top and the bottom of the box. This will cut your box into two shapes, though you might not see it at first. Deselect your box and click on the very left of the box. It should select a small area. Hit control/command+j to join the ends of the box. This will complete the line around the box and you'll be able to see the box you made below.

Deselect your box and hit the right side of the large uncut box. Click your scissors tool on the third orange guide marks. Deselect your new cuts. Now click on the far right box you've been cutting. Hit control/command+j again to complete the end. The 'join' function only can complete two nodes, so if you had continued cutting without ending the box, you wouldn't be able to connect the lines properly.

You now also have two free-floating lines between your second and third orange guides that were once part of your large box. Select those and delete them. The box still showing through below will take the place of their colors.

Continue cutting and joining edges until you have run out of boxes to make or lines to delete.

I have finished my boxes, coloring the top boxes and leaving the lower big original box we make white. As you can see, the lines are in perfect perspective with your environment. This is important to keep the illustion of your drawing sound and secure.

If you need to tweak it, go into your Object pallet where it will list your free distort as part of the color and stroke color list for that shape. Double-click on the line of that pallet that says "free distort" and you will see the same window pop up as last time. Move it slightly and try again. This is going to be kinda tricky, though, as if the free distort becomes too extreme, the line showing where the nodes are will not line up where the object lines will be. Yes, I know that is confusing. Check step twenty-one and you'll see what I mean.

Following the lines of my document, I have put in walls and a back wall to complete the picture as far as this tutorial will go. These techniques will give you an excellent basis for creating perspective more easily than by hand and less easily than with a 3D program. Sure, you can use a 3D program much faster. But if you want lineart and you want to understand the principles behind perspective, I have found Illustrator 9.0 to be an excellent substitute.

Tips and tricks: if for some reason you put a vanishing point in the wrong location, don't fret! You don't have to make all those lines over again! Simply lock down the other layers and use your empty arrow selection tool. Go to the offending vanishing point location and drag an 'invisible box' over all the points at that focus. This will select every freakin point there, in which case, then use the same tool and drag them all to a new location... just make sure it's always somewhere on that horizon line.

Oh, and don't think this is all Illustrator is good for. Why, heck, with a little patience, practice and pure imagination, you can turn those shapes into just about anything... ;} hehehe. Enjoy!

(Yes, this is still all in the program. No, I'm not making a tutorial on that. You get to learn the program yourself, too, you know! ;} heheheh)

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