Sketching Techniques

Purposes of Sketching• Think through a design – look at it instead of

just thinking about it• Communicate your ideas – let others look at

what you are thinking• Uses lines and symbols to describe a

design – it takes a lot of words to describe even a simple shape Draw a 3” horizontal line

Draw a 3” line extending from one end of the horizontal line at 45 degreesConnect the ends of the two lines with a third line

Common Uses of Sketching

• Brainstorming ideas– Piggy backing on variations

• Communicate– Pass on information

• Document Dimensions– Size of surfaces and features

Advantages of Sketching

• Convenient

• Inexpensive

How many words would it take you to describe this pair of pulleys?

There would be a lot of assumptions and prior knowledge necessary for someone to be able to draw this from a verbal description

Sketching Techniques #1

Sketching a Line

1)

2)

3)

Sketching Techniques #1

Lines (if you didn’t have graph paper)

Ver

tica

l L

ine

Horizontal LineInclined Line

Run

Ris

e

Sketching Techniques #1Sketching a Circle in 5 steps

The lines in steps 1 – 5 should be thin and light

(barely visible) “Construction Lines”

1) Set up the diameter

2) Square in the diameter

3) Sketch diagonals

Sketching Techniques #1Sketching a Circle

The lines in steps 1 – 5 should be thin and light

(barely visible) “Construction Lines”

4) Identify triangle centers

5) Sketch arcs

Alphabet of Lines #2

Construction

Object

Hidden

Center

Alphabet of Lines

Construction Line

Alphabet of LinesObject Line

Alphabet of Lines

Hidden Line

Alphabet of Lines

Center Line

Image Resources

Microsoft, Inc. (2008). Clip Art. Retrieved October 20, 2008, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx