Generally figures were depicted with the head, legs and feet in profile and the shoulders and torso shown frontally. They are normally shown the same size although the commander of the troops on the Royal Standard of Ur is shown taller than the others and overlaps the frame. The Assyrian king is also taller in some battle scenes. Often scenes in a story are depicted in rows, or registers. On both sides of the Royal Standard of Ur, for instance, the story starts on the bottom register and continues onto the middle register, in both cases moving from left to right. The direction is then reversed on the top register which shows, on the War side, the ruler in the centre, with his chariot and attendants behind him facing right, and the prisoners being brought before him facing left; on the Peace side, however, the ruler is seated near the left end of the scene, facing right, and everyone, except for two attendants, facing him.

Sometimes the Mesopotamian way of depicting things can seem rather bizarre. Objects are often shown as if flattened so that the parts that would be hidden in normal perspective are actually depicted. The huge human-headed lions and bulls that guarded the entrances to the Assyrian palaces and towns are shown with five legs, so that they can protect the palace properly and have the right number of legs if seen from the front (two) and if seen from the side (four). Because it was unlucky to have the arrow or bowstring cutting across an Assyrian archer's face (particularly the king), he is shown with the arrow below his line of vision and the bow-string disappears behind his head so that it looks as though he might decapitate himself if he shot the arrow. Men swimming or wading in a river are shown on top of the water because their bodies might otherwise seem to be incomplete.

There is some indication that Assyrian relief sculpture was painted, although very few traces survive. Red and black was used for the sandals and bows of some figures, hair was picked out in black, the eyes were high-lighted with white and jewellery was sometimes painted yellow to indicate gold. Eyebrows of sculptures in the round were often inlaid with black bitumen which was also used to outline the eyes which were inlaid with white shell or limestone, and often inset with lapis-lazuli discs.

There were conventions for depicting scenery. A scale pattern was used for showing mountains and hilly country. Sometimes a river would be shown with the hills and plants along one bank the right way up but with those along the other bank upside down.