[AI Illustration Concepts] Looking from a high angle makes things look smaller | High Angle

A high angle is a viewpoint looking down from above.

Unlike a bird's-eye view from directly above, it has a slight angle. It is a perspective where you can see the subject while also seeing the surrounding environment.

🎨 What is a high angle?

It is a viewpoint where the camera is placed higher than the subject and pointed diagonally downward.

Not from directly above, but from a high angle. You can see the subject's head and back, as well as the ground and the surrounding situation. It is similar to the feeling of holding your smartphone up a little when taking photos in daily life.

In terms of prompts, writing `high angle` or `looking down` will result in an image close to this perspective.

🎨 Looking smaller and weaker

When drawn from a high angle, the subject looks smaller and weaker than they actually are.

Since the subject is being looked down upon, it creates a feeling that we are in a superior position relative to the subject. It is similar to the feeling of looking at a child from an adult's perspective.

When I tried it, I didn't intend to use it to make the subject look weak, but the dog ended up looking somewhat pitiful. It unintentionally became a condescending picture.

🎨 Things I tried

I tried drawing a "dog sitting on a rainy day" from a high angle.

It became an image where you can see the puddles on the ground and the dog's wet back.

The dog's face is barely visible. Only the head and back are visible, and the feeling of being hit by the rain came out well.

It was a picture that naturally evoked the emotion of "poor thing," which I hadn't intended, but it wasn't bad. I thought later that perhaps the high angle was what created that emotion.

🎨 Translating to prompts

These are prompts for specifying a high angle.

high angle, looking down, elevated perspective

If you want to adjust the intensity of the angle, you can use `slightly high angle` or `steep high angle` to add variation.

Adding "ground visible" makes it easier for the ground to appear in the frame. It is useful when you want to show puddles or shadows.

🎨 Unintended emotions emerged

What I realized while using high angles is that the choice of perspective determines the direction of the emotions.

It was the choice of a high-angle perspective that unintentionally created a feeling of "pity." A perspective that makes the subject look smaller automatically brings with it an impression of being "someone to protect" or "weak."

Even if you don't write the name of an emotion in the prompt, the choice of perspective can sometimes bring one out.

The unintended "pity" actually resulted in a more honest picture than one I had aimed to create.
Well, that's fine.

Afterword

Thank you for reading this far.

It's interesting how emotions appear just by changing the perspective.

Please feel free to use this.

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