Sketching & Drawing 2: Basic 2D Orthographic Projection (example: A Low Back Chair)

The need for an orthographic projection is a slightly more advance step into the design process. However the orthographic projection can also be very effectively used to  quickly illustrate an idea in different views. 

Using a 2-dimension approach to do that can speed up the process of drawing, yet achieve a similarly good objective. This approach to using orthographic projections at the early stage of design may be useful for students who may not be able to sketch in 3D quickly yet. 

So putting on paper in 2D views to illustrate an idea first is a good strategy. Once that is done the student may wish to work out later how a 3D presentation can be done.

To produce an orthographic projection, since you will notice it is a 2D sketch or drawing, you will require again various combination of blocks to help you establish the relationship between parts of the objects before you draw the object as a whole. The need for guidelines cannot be further emphasised. 

Many students draw without using any guidelines. These sketches were never good. If there are they will be VERY rare.

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Basic Isometric Tutorial: Using Isometric Blocks to Build and Cut: Basic 3D Forms

Isometric building blocks are essentials to create complex forms.

In the following examples you see how basic blocks can be transformed into a more complex block structure. This is imaginary of course. But there is no rules here when it comes to practicing drawing blocks. The point is to have some fun doing it.

 

Use guide points and lines to help you locate the start and end of a slope or a curve/rounded edge. This is the ONLY way you can plot an accurate slope on an isometric plane. Add a little bit of dimensions in your creation by adding in some shades. You need to know where your light is coming from. And then shade the side where the light does not fall directly on.

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Basic Isometric Tutorial: How to combine Isometric Blocks & make them Meaningful - Basic Isometric Furnitures

Isometric building blocks are essentials to create different forms.

In fact, if you can draw blocks of various sizes and proportions at ease, and in any orientation you wish, you can draw basically ANYTHING on earth. Yes. Really.

In the following examples you see how 3 basic blocks can be transformed into simple isometric furnitures you can easily find at home. 

Do not worry about the details yet. If you are a beginner, it is good enough to be able to combine blocks to make anything up. If it looks like a chair you’ve got it. Leave the details and intricacies later.

Other details which you may notice in a real world furniture like textures, joints and curves, etc. These you will be able to slowly add them in. But for now, stick with the basics first.

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Improve my SKETCH!

One of the most common problems students have: Coming up with a decent sketch of anything. 

Does that sound like you?

Have difficulty working out proportions and perspectives?

Always cannot get your sketches or drawings right?

See what can be done to SUPERCHARGE your drawing(s)

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Phone holder Isometric | Orthographic | Assembly

In this document, I show how I 

a) Draw an isometric drawing of a phone holder. Label the parts and use the references in a Material List.

b) Use an overlay over the isometric drawing drawn in (a) to draw an assembly (exploded) drawing. I roughly marked the key points on the overlay and then rule them over to finish.

c) Draw a First Angle Orthographic Projection of the Phone Holder.

Note: It is actually easier to complete the First Angle Orthographic Projection first. You can then use the dimensions to draw on an isometric surface for the top profile. Use of the grid method is another convenient alternative. In this example I drew the isometric drawing first. 

You may also use 3D softwares to help you achieve the same effect see '

Step by step guide to draw a phone holder using Google SketchUp 8.'

View PDF steps for the above examples below:

Step by step guide to draw a phone holder using Google SketchUp 8.

I am not a pro. This is my first time drawing on Google SketchUp 8. So you might find faster and a more efficient way to draw those features of this two parts phone holder. This phone holder has a top wooden part to prop a phone at 30 degrees from the vertical and an acrylic formed bottom. Two screws jointing the two materials from the bottom are not show in this tutorial.

An example of an Isometric view for Labeling of Parts and Material List references

An example of First Angle Orthographic Projection for dimensions

An example of Presentation Drawing showing only the solution and the product in use

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3D softwares like the Google Sketchup 8 is an excellent tool to produce and render drawings quickly. Very handy when it comes to creating 3D Isometric, 3D Assembly (or Exploded) Drawings and 2D Orthographic views to be included in your Presentation Boards. Not forgetting you can also use the same model together with the wealth of 3D warehouse to create your contextual presentations.

However, one must understand that using digital software for drawings are but an extension of our analogue drawing abilities. Drafting, preliminary ideas and the initial stages of refinement still require a substantial amount of quick and successive sketches with annotations. The software like the Google Sketchup 8 is good for presenting an end product after the refinement stage.

I  prefer to draw by hand if given a choice for Isometric and Orthographic Projections and whatever is necessary. It's not difficult actually.

Click below and you will find a PDF format for the steps to draw the smart phone holder.

Click below and you will find a YouTube video of the same steps to draw the smart phone holder.

Analog Drawing of the Phone Holder here: 

Phone holder Isometric | Orthographic | Assembly

How to copy complex shapes + Converting 2D shape to (flat) Isometric 3D form

Drawing is easy. You just need to know how.

Here is an example on how you can copy a complex drawing easily. Look at the object and ask yourself what shapes do you see inside it. How big is this shape compared to the other one. 

 

3-dimensional drawings, especially flat ones, are also easy to draw. You'll first need a 2D drawing to copy from. Use the grid method to mark out your reference points. Draw an isometric surface and transfer those references point for point. If you draw 1:1 scale you simply measure the distances and mark your references. Finally draw isometric projection lines of equal length from the edges and join the lines up.

 

Drawing Basics - Isometric Drawing - Practice

Drawing Basics - Isometric Drawing -

4-Parts Practice Tutorial

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Fig. 1: Types of Drawing Techniques

Introduction 

Fig. 1 shows a variety of drawing techniques you can find or use in most sketches or drawings. Everyone of them has its own role and function to play in an art work.

In this practice, we'll be concentrating only on the ISOMETRIC drawing technique.

A 'shape' is a two-dimensional (2-D) drawing. A 'shape' has an 'area'. Not a 'volume'. A triangle, a square, an oblong, a rectangle, an octagon, etc. are all examples of geometrical shapes. 

A 'shape' can also be 'organic'. An 'organic shape' cannot be described using a geometrical term like a 'square'. They are actually hybrids of many shapes joined together and sort of 'blended' using curves or lines to make up a final 'shape'. 

An example on how different geometrical shapes can be combined to form 'organic' shapes can be found here.

A three-dimensional (3-D) object is called a 'form'. A 'form' is an area with a third dimension - the thickness. Similar to 'shapes', a 'form' can both be 'geometrical' or 'organic', or a combination of both. 

A short video showing the difference between a 'shape' and a 'form' can be found here.

NOTE: The tutorial that follows assumes that the student is already able to construct an Isometric Block.

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Part 1: BASICS

Stretch / Squeeze / Add / Subtract

Fig. 2: Basic Drawing Technique (Part 1)

Fig. 2 shows the cube being transformed longer by adding more cubes or shorter by making cube 'thinner'. If you take away the lines that separate two or more cubes, you get a rectangular block! 

Steps:

1. Begin by drawing a cube, 30mm each side, in the middle of the page.
2. In the adjacent blank spaces in your sketchbook, draw another cube and make this 'longer' by adding another cube beside it. In a way it looks like you are 'stretching' the cube longer. You can add it from the front, back, on the left or the right hand side. Add more cubes in every direction (Up, Down, Left, Right) to make rectangular blocks of various lengths.
3. Next, it is time to make your cube 'thin' by 'squeezing' it. Draw in every direction thin blocks. Draw long and thin blocks by adding another thin block beside it. Draw a various lengths of thin blocks in every direction. By making a block thinner than a cube, you are in a way 'subtracting' from the original size.
4. Use your creativity to drawing more variety of blocks by stretching, squeezing, adding and subtracting a cube.

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Part 2: BASICS

Stretch / Squeeze / Add / Subtract / Enlarge / Minimize / Combine & Creative Combinations

Fig. 3: Basic Drawing Technique (Part 2)

Fig. 3 shows an extension of Part 1 by not only adding or subtracting more cubes, but by combining two or more cubes together you make larger objects in a variety of forms. Similarly, by deliberately leaving out some cubes, you create a 'hole' or a 'hollow'. 

Steps:

1. Begin by drawing a cube, 30mm each side, in the middle of the page.
2. Draw your next cube larger. You can make your cube larger by adding more cubes surrounding a smaller one. Draw a variety of larger cubes of different sizes.
3. Draw a group of cubes and deliberately 'miss out' one of them. When you created a 'space' by deliberately leaving some parts out, you just 'subtracted' a portion of it from the original mass.
4. Use your creativity to drawing more variety of blocks by enlarging, minimizing, stretching, squeezing, adding and subtracting a cube. Combine them to make more odd forms.

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Part 3: INTERMEDIATE

Pyramids / Non-Isometric 'Cut' Surfaces / Through Holes / Recessed Shapes / Creative Combinations

 Fig. 4: Intermediate Drawing Technique (Part 3): Creative Combinations

Fig. 4 shows more advanced use of the techniques shown in Parts 1 & 2 and making use of them to create more complicated forms. Shapes can be used on the surface of a block to build a new form and when they are 'pushed' into the block, they create a through hole of any shape.

Note:

Notice the surfaces that are not colored? Do you know whey they are neither colored red nor blue, or even shaded grey like the top?

Those surfaces are called non-isometric surfaces. They do not belong to the rules of an Isometric Drawing. 

These slopes can be created accurately by first drawing a cube or a block, and then  'crated' using guide lines to show where the slope should start and end. If you tried drawing those non-isometric slopes or surfaces without first using an isometric block, it will be close to impossible to get a decent looking object.

Steps:

1. Begin by drawing a cube, 30mm each side, in the middle of the page. Note: In Fig.4 I drew it at the top left hand corner.
2. To create a PYRAMID is simple. If you can draw a cube in seconds, the pyramid will be out no slower than you can draw your cube.
3. Here is how: You must locate the centre of the square at the top of the cube. That makes the 'tip' or the 'apex' of the pyramid. There are two ways you can do that. First method, you split the square into quarter smaller squares by drawing a 'cross'. Each line in the middle parallel to the edge of the square. Where the lines intersect, that is the middle point or apex of the pyramid. Second method, you draw two intersecting diagonal lines starting from the furthest four corners of the square. Where the lines intersect, that is the same middle point or apex of the pyramid.
4. Next, you locate three points at the base of the pyramid where the 'tip' or 'apex' of the pyramid will join to make the edge of the sloping pyramid. 
5. Note that since a pyramid has a square base, there must be a forth point. So yes, the fourth point is still there, but because the forth point will be at the back of the pyramid, and say we assumed the pyramid is opaque, we don't see it it from the front. So it is not necessary to show the back. However you can still use 'hidden' lines to show that it is there. But I am not going to talk about hidden lines here. 
6. You should notice by now if you move the top 'point' of the pyramid anywhere else on the paper and join the three point bases to the 'point' you can draw a variety of 'funny' pyramids that are slanted. If you place the 'point' up high, you get a really 'tall' pyramid. If you place the 'point' close to the ground, you get a 'stubby' pyramid. If you place the 'point' to the left or the right', the pyramid now looks like the "Leaning Tower of 'Pyramid' Pisa" which is kind of funny.
7. Next 'Cut Surfaces'. A very quick recap: By now you should have read about non-isometric surfaces. The side walls of the pyramid are all non-isometric. But we can draw them accurately by placing a reference point. Recall point 3. 
8. So for any 'cut-surfaces' that are non-isometric, we can do the same by drawing guidelines to show where the starting point of the 'cut' and where the 'surface-slope' will end.
9. Begin at the top of a block. Draw a line to mark out a 'triangular' shape at a corner of the block. I drew it at the corner nearest to me. Next, you can decide where the 'slope' shall end. I picked a point that is touching the ground. You can choose a point anywhere along the vertical line.
10. After you have located your 'point', you'll then locate the two ends from the first lines you drew in step 9, and join them to the 'point' at the bottom. Give it a light shade or hatch to show that there is a 'sloped' surface. And there you go. You just created a non-isometric 'cut-surface' on an isometric block! Isn't that painfully simple?
11. Finally, creating 'through holes' using various shapes. Fortunately, drawing holes of any shape through a block is also very simple.
12. Firstly, draw your isometric guide lines on the chosen surface of your block so that you can sketch your chosen shape on it. 
13. Take the cube with a square hole example at the bottom left in Fig. 4. I have chosen the vertical surface on the left. Secondly, begin by drawing four lines offsetting from the four edges of the square. You still have an isometric square shape. You may end up with a square, or a rectangle, whatever. It does not matter. Mine is a smaller isometric square shape residing somewhere on the top left of the surface. See that?
14. Finally, once you draw the shape on the surface, it is time to 'push' the shape 'inwards' INTO the block to create a 'hole'. Exciting isn't it? But how do we do it? Which line should we draw to create that illusion of a square hole? 
15. You are just ONE line behind. Yes. Just ONE.
16. If you use the example I show you, you'll notice there is only ONE more line to complete the 'through hole'. But how do you know which 'point' to pick to draw that final line?
17. You'll need a little imagination here. Imagine, if there really was a square hole, and you've already drawn the 'square' on the vertical surface. And you are now looking at it from where you are. Where would the visible line that represents the edge of an internal square be? It should be at the back of the square. Once you locate the point, draw the final line 'in' the square to complete your very first 'through (square) hole'!
18. Other variations of 'through holes' are 'recesses'. That means the 'holes' do not go through the block from one end to the other. Well they have flat 'bases' or 'bottoms'. 
19. The example on the bottom right in Fig. 4 shows a pretty complex combo of randomly modified collection of blocks. Two of the 'holes' are examples of recesses. Can you spot them? Clue: They are rectangular 'recesses'.
20. Make use of all possible combination you learned above to create beautiful block forms.

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Part 4: Advanced

Elipse (Isometric Circles), Cones, Application of Circles and Arcs on Isometric Surfaces and Edges

Fig. 5: Advanced Drawing Technique (Part 3): Creative Combinations

Most products or objects that we see in our everyday lives are not simply made up of blocks. Otherwise it will be a very boring world. 

We learned from Parts 1-4 , starting from the very basic isometric cubes and blocks to more complicated modifications, to create complex forms like combining blocks, and subtracting parts from them. 

Part 4 serves to complete what we have learned so far and to bring us another step closer to drawing real world objects as they are. Round objects and curved surfaces makes up a great deal of all the shapes and forms around us. Not every thing are block and triangles. 

However, sketching the curves and circles right and accurately in isometric requires some knowledge in how those lines work. A circle is not a 'circle' when you need to draw them isometric. The circle becomes an 'elipse'. In Fig. 5, you'll find a tutorial on how to draw an 'elipse' using a pair of compass.

In step 4, you'll first need to learn how to draw Isometric 'Circles' from all surfaces off a cube. Then you'll learn how to draw curved edges along the corner of a block, hence introducing round edges. Its a very important drawing skill to learn since most of the products you design and make will have 'rounded' edges for added aesthetics value. And here you learn to draw them.

Steps:

1. Begin by drawing a CUBE, 50mm each side, in the middle of the page.
2. Practice drawing 'circles' (elipses) on each of the surface of the cube. A step-by-step example on how they can be done can be found at the bottom left of Fig. 5.
3. Now that you are able to draw elipses efficiently on all sides of a block, you are ready to draw either a vertical or a horizontal cylinder.
4. To draw a VERTICAL CYLINDER, duplicate the elipse on both ends, top and bottom, on the surface of a tall block.
5. After that you'll join the two outer most edges of the circle from top to bottom with vertical lines to form the edge of the cylinder. And you have a vertical cylinder.
6. Note: To do steps 4 & 5, you need to construct the guidelines (see point 2) for drawing an elipse two times on the bottom surfacea and the top surface before you draw in the elipse.
7. Do the same for a HORIZONTAL CYLINDER.
8. To draw a CONEis extremely simple. First you draw an elipse at the base of a cube, or at the base of a tall square-based block. At the top of the square surface, split it in to square quarters. You will find a 'spot' in the middle of the square where the lines intercept.
9. Next you join the lines from the 'apex' (the tip of the cone), downwards to the outermost left and right edges of the elipse at the bottom.
10. Slightly more advance, you can draw a 'FLAT-TOPPED' CONE. The principle is the same as drawing a cylinder. When you draw a cylinder, say, your toilet roll, the top and bottom diameter is the same. However a 'Flat-topped' cone is like your regular cylinder, just that the top elipse is smaller. Once you draw the top elipse smaller than the one at the bottom and join them up like drawing a cylinder, you have a 'Flat-Topped' cone. Simple. You can now draw an inverted 'Flat-Topped' cone if you want. This time the base is the smaller elipse.

With all these skills you have learnt this far, you can create cylinders or cones, or simply blocks on top of a block or a cylinder and cylinders and blocks at the side of the blocks all over place. Draw them big and small. Combine shapes to make weird looking ones. 

You can also draw 'internal' holes of different shapes. Those 'internal' holes can be through holes, i.e. the hole goes through the block. Or the 'internal' holes can be a 'recess'. That means they stop at a certain distance from the surface creating a 'flat' hole, of whatever shape you can draw.

Make use your ability to draw elipses efficiently to introduce curves to the edges and corners of a block to make them look 'rounder'.

Use your creative licence to create objects you see around you by 'combining' or 'subtracting' different shapes and forms into bigger and more complicated shapes and forms. In this way you are also 'modifying' and 'morphing' shapes and forms to create your final art work. This is how things are drawn.

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Finally, practice and practice and practice. Make mistakes and figure out why your drawing looks funny. Work it out and learn from mistakes. Draw loads of stuffs. And soon with enough perseverance your drawing will start to turn out more like what you wanted them to look like.

Without practice and determination and loving it, even the best techniques and tutorials available could not help you come close to producing a decent drawing. So start sketching now. Do them in a sketchbook. Do lots of them. Have FUN.

Presentation Board | Presentation Drawing | Working Drawing Overall (Planning) Starter Kit (2012)

 Once again it is the time of the year when you need to tidy up and present your ideas in the form of Presentation Boards. I won't write too much about the components you need here because those information can be found in your coursework instructions and your teacher would have reminded you enough of what is required.

I have a similar Presentation Boards Draft Layout post last year, this year I demonstrated in class again how I would draft and plan the layout of my stuffs in the three A2 sized presentation boards. The difference between last year's example and this is an additional draft step before the actual drawings are being placed according to the initial layout.

Note that the drafts below are all sketched on A4 sized paper.

How to read the rest of this post: 

All the 'Fig. _ a's are the first-cut draft

All the 'Fig. _b's are the second-cut draft (that shows more details and information)

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Fig. 1a: Draft for First Board - 

Design Need, Design Brief, Design Specifications, Presentation Drawing.

The Design Need, Brief and Specifications should be a direct extraction from your Design Journal. So not much needed to be said here. On how to write and ensure a good design need/situation, click "here".

Please make sure you grammer is checked.

In Fig. 1a you see a draft layout on where I want to place the informtion.

Fig. 1b: Fine-Tuned Draft for First Board - 

Presentation Drawing

 Fig. 1b shows a draft layout of the contextual presentation drawing. So when it is time for me to put things together, I will use this draft as a guide. The end product may look slightly different as you twitch or modify the details but at least I have a starter and that sort of forced me to think through what I wanted. It is not a good thing to be thinking from scratch when you are actually working on the final piece. That is no planning and do not expect a good piece of work for that kind of effort.

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Fig. 2a: Draft for Second Board - 

Working Drawing Components

Fig. 2b: Fine-Tuned Draft for Second Board - 

Working Drawing Components

Fig. 2a shows a draft layout for all my working drawing components. Note that it is cricitcally important that you KNOW exactly what type and what number of drawings you have related to working drawing that you want to show in your Presentation Board. Otherwise there is no way you can plan a layout like in Fig. 2. You will find yourself adding parts of drawings which you did not plan for (or vice versa) and you end up with lack of space, or too much white space. Know what you have and intended to present also helps you to plan the size of each drawings to be place within the A2 (or A3) space.

In the end, all working drawing components must look balance relative to each other. i.e. you do not want to end up with a humongous Isometric Presentation of the product with a tiny Orthographic Presentation in a little corner, or a GIANT sized Material List in the mist of tightly packed and tiny Part Drawings, etc. In order to avoid this situaton, you got to plan.

That is what the drafts are for. Do it.

Fig. 2b shows a slightly more detailed presentation where I begin drawing very quicky (doodling if you may like) the product, the parts and components as it is on a new paper. This level of details enable me to gauge the relative sizes of each drawings to the others. And if I need to resize or rearrange some of them, I will continue to draw drafts on a new piece of paper or I may choose to modify directly on this second draft until I get the balance and arrangement right.

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Fig. 3a: Draft for Third Board - 

Remainder of Working and Presentation Drawing Components

  



Fig. 3b: Fine-Tuned Draft for Third Board - 

Remainder of Working and Presentation Drawing Components

This last draft as shown in Fig. 3a contains notes about what to include for the remaining of the working and presentation drawings. This final bit will ensure I present my project as comprehensive as possible by maximizing what space was available. But that does not mean you take up every white space. (Note: It is not necessary to cover up every inch of space. Rather it is better to be able to 'plan' space in your presentation boards so that it does not look cluttered).

In Fig. 3b (the last board), I have selectively planned to show different views or perspectives of my product, show the product in other contextual usages, show the product rendered in different colors or tones, or even show the product in different usage stages, etc. You may also choose to show some steps and proceduces when the product is being used or before and after use, etc.

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Conclusion

It might be timely to note now that there is no right or wrong or standard way to present your ideas in your Presentation Drawings or the Presentation Board as a whole. 

Your Presentation Board should be fine as long as the components are presented neatly, clearly and correctly (eps. the drawings, and for example drawings standards adhered to in working drawings), the information presented is clear and easy to understand and does not invite questions due to vagueness in presentation. Finally, do not forget to refer back to the criterion for submission and make sure you have all the components in and well done.

How to Draw Objects with Sloped Edges

To be more precise,

How to draw ORGANIC-SHAPED OBJECTS with SLOPED EDGES?

Fig. 1: Secondary TWO Pencil Holder Project - Student's Work

It all began as a simple lower secondary pencil holder project (Fig. 1 above). A fish-shaped pencil holder with basic curved profile. The holder project is not yet compete as you can see there is no tail yet. Students learned how read a working drawing, moved on to mark out the fish profile, shape it using a Scroll Saw, Sand to smooth and to finish with ether Spray Paint or Lacquer.

But when I finish my demo piece, I went a step further to experiment on sloped-edges to create additional volume to the form (Fig. 2 below) to add aestherical value to the original form.

It turned out pretty nice actually.

Fig. 2: Pencil Holder with Modified Sloped-Edges

As I was completing my 'slope-edge' experiment, a question came to my mind. I thought to myself, 'It is easy to draw an organic shape in 3D as long as the edges are square to the surface. But now the edges are sloped and no longer along a simple plane. How do I illustrate that?'.

Fig 3: Figuring Out How to Plot the Slope (Draft)

That question began my journey to find out a way to map out the slope profile. Fig. 3 above shows my initial attempt in trying to figure out the various ways I can accurately plot the curves. The drawing on the lower right-hand corner attempts to illustrate a simply-sloped edge round the fish profile.

The drawing on the upper left-hand corner is another simple shape which I use to figure out how to plot guidelines in order to place the slope edge.

After a little while, I concluded the steps mentally and penned down the steps as I recalled what I did to produce the sloped edges. See Fig. 4 below. HINT: Lines highlighted in RED represents a new step.

I've tried to present it in as little steps, as little instructins and as simply as I could. Follow the arrows for a FIVE-STEP process to draw your very own Irregular or Organic Forms with Sloped Edges.

Fig. 4: How to Map out Organic Shape Objects with Sloped Edges

Cheers and have fun drawing your Organic Slope-Edge Objects!!!

Oblique Drawing to One-Point Perspective + Isometric

First lesson for 2N1 and we are left with 15 minutes. So I did a little bit of introduction to Isometric Drawing with everyone starting to draw. Last year, I taught the same group of students how to draw in Oblique Drawing so that they can use the same technique to present their final product for submission. This year I will be introducing them the Isometric Drawing Technique. A slightly more realistic drawing technique compared to the Oblique Drawing Technique.

Next, the relation between the Oblique Drawing and the One-Point Perspective.

The interesting thing is this, a One-Point Perspective Drawing is derived from a slight deviation from an Oblique Drawing. Both still have the same full 2-D front view of the object. The only difference in a One-Point Perspective is that its 3rd dimensions are drawn aligned to a POINT (wherever the artist wish it to be). The 3rd dimensions of the Oblique Drawing are simply projected at 45 degress parallel to each other. In the One-Point Perspective Drawing, when the 3rd dimension lines are drawn towards a POINT, what you have created is an illusion that objects further away looks smaller! Therefore it looks more realistic than the Oblique Drawing.

Which is better?

For the sake of comparison, as mentioned before in class the Isometric Drawing is a better option in drawing than an Oblique Drawing because the Isometric Drawing represents the real world better. Instead of parallel 3rd dimension projections, the isometric is 30 degrees off the horizontal for its 2nd and 3rd dimension. If that is the case, so it seems like the One-Point Perspective drawing is a good competition to the Isometric Drawing as far as 'realistic' representation of an object is concerned.

Well yes and no. though the One-Point Perspective does presents objects in a more realistic 3D manner (like the Isometric Drawing), a straight-forward 2-D front view to begin with still does not represent the real world very well. Take a look at objects around you, do they all appear perfectly 2-D in the front? However, the One-Point Perspective Drawing is still widely used in Interior Designs and Architecture presentations of the designed environment because they do look good if well drawn.

An even more realistic drawing technique will be the extension of the One-Point Perspective - also a slight deviation from an Isometric Drawing - It is called a Two-Point Perspective Drawing. The Two-Point Perspective Drawing is not shown in the example above but you may find it in many of my previous posts within my blog.


Alternatively you can also watch a video showing the 4 main types of drawing techniques I talked about in this post.

Just in case you are very keen, the final type of drawing technique makes use of three points and you call that a Three-Point Perspective Drawing. Ever watched Spiderman on TV or read any Marvel Spiderman Comic Book with 'Spidey' swinging from the top of the skyscrapers and the camera view showing all the actions from the sky down? Did you notice how the buildings looked like? That is a combintion of One, Two and Three Point Perspective. Cool isn' it?

The more types of drawings you learn, the better you will be in selective the best presentation style. All drawing techniques ranging from Oblique to Isometric, extending to One-Point and Two-Point Perspectives (and even Three-Point Perspectives) can be used equallly effectively in your idea presentation. But you need to know each of their differences, their limitations and their strengths so that you can apply them meaningfully to capture the idea you want to present.

Here is a FIVE-POINT Perspective tutorial link if you are REALLY REALLY keen. It is pretty easy to understand what is going on in the tutorial. Below is my very first attempt at 5-Point Perspective Drawing much later during my free time.

5-Point Perspective (Fictional) Commercial Area Sketch

Let me know if you have questions.