Draw like an Architect – Essential Tips
Hey Eric here with 30X40 Design Workshop in this video, I m going to walk through a few essential tips. You can use it to improve your architectural drawing technique.
We’ll start with what I think is the most important one line.
Weight Line weight is simply how thick or thin the lines on the page are Line.
Weight in drawing exploits a natural phenomenon, known as atmospheric perspective, where objects which are closer to us are rendered in higher contrast and appear darker to our eyes.
The farther something is from you, the more atmosphere between you and the object, which reduces contrast, color saturation, and detail, all of which have the combined effect of lightening things.
In the background, Architectural drawings, which are primarily two-dimensional, look more natural when we exploit this effect and use a variety of line weights mimics, it pretty convincingly Considers for a moment how you react to a lecture delivered in a monotone voice.
It’s boring, right?
You stop listening because there’s, no texture or color or interest no emotion Line weights are like inflection.
In speaking, they create depth, hierarchy, and clarity in our drawings.
They signal what s important, tell the viewer where to look and they organize the information on the page, And this applies to both sketches and technical drawings alike. So how can you use them Well thick lines in a drawing carry a lot of weight?
They show what s most important, typically, what the drawing is cutting through, what s closest to the viewer in the foreground silhouettes we want to call attention to, and they can also signify heavy materials like stone or concrete.
For example, Thin lines by contrast, are fainter and appear farther away in the background, Use thin line weights to render textures lighter materials and generally highlight less important objects or supporting information In between the two are medium line weights which make up the middle ground of the Drawing If we simply distill drawings into foreground middle ground and background, this is a good basic starting point for selecting line weights For sketches.
I use three weights at a minimum: a lead pencil, an ultra fine point Sharpie, and a Sign pen, So a fine light grey.
A medium black and a thick heavy black Each of these can be further varied by using thicker or double strokes or by varying the pressure applied in the case of the pencil Or you might also use a harder or softer lead To add even more variety.
We use dashed or dotted lines to represent hidden objects or to suggest special centerings things like that.
Now, a couple of quick tips Pay attention to how you move your pen or pencil.
You always want to pull the pen or pencil along the page, not push it Larger.
More fluid motions are preferable to small ones, Move your arm in a fluid motion, don t just pivot at the wrist Lock the wrist to your arm and move the pen or pencil with your entire arm.
The best thing you can do is to be confident in the stroke on the page. You can even add a little waver in it, which gives it that imperfect, sketchy quality.
I recommend intentionally longer strokes.
Over short dashes, Corners are important to get you.
The look of architectural sketches right corner lines should overlap, just a bit Be careful not to cut them short.
As that, just sort of looks sloppy.
Just a little overlap lends it a crisp, intentional feel, And one last thing for sketching media.
I prefer tracing to almost anything else unless I m traveling or hiking. Then I’ll use a sketchbook Architects use tracing paper, because the design is naturally an iterative process.
If you make a mistake on the base layer, simply roll out another sheet and sketch over it, Layer upon layer will help.
You refine your ideas and your sketching style, and it should remind you that sketches don t have to be perfect.
You want to optimize for results rather than perfection. Now I like to begin with the lightest line, work in graphite and block everything in the drawing out.
First, define the composition and major shapes The lightest lines serve as your layout lines and background information.
You can use these to set grid lines.
Draw perimeter outlines anything in the background and places you may want to fill in with more detail later.
Keep these loose but intentional Once the light line, work is done, begin layering on your medium line weights.
These will make up most of the drawing and are closer to you than the background information you just sketched.
This is everything in the middle ground of the drawing.
I’ll usually outline the major window openings shown in elevation, then the cuts through doors or windows, Maybe floor planes or stairs, and railings in the distance figures, in section sight lines the trees outside vegetation.
When that s complete, I move on to the thickest lines Thick line weights outline the perimeter of whatever the drawing is cutting through.
I also use them for building outlines and anything I want to emphasize In a plan sketch. This would be the outer perimeter of the walls in a section the cut line of the walls, floors, ceiling, and roof planes, and a site plan of the overall building outline or a silhouette in a perspective Once it s, looking like something, you can come back and Add in textures I ll do this using the lead pencil for finer detail and light accents, indicating fasteners or vegetation indications or furniture too, and the ultra fine point Sharpie, I ll use for concrete or heavier materials When you re done squint your eyes.
If you’re able to see different information, that is darker lines jump out, and you know you’re on the right track Now, ask yourself, Is it the correct information? Is it saying the things I want it to say It should make sense to you and add clarity to the drawing not be confusing Do materials have renderings and similar line weights? Ultimately, you’ll have to experiment to develop your style, but the goal is to begin.
Adding depth to your drawing and line weights are a real shortcut for doing this.
Now, when we transition to digital drawing on the computer, these techniques still apply.
I use a rudimentary form of AutoCAD, but it does t matter if you’re using REVIT, ArchiCAD, Draftsight, or SketchUp, or whether they’re never printed and only viewed on screen.
Your drawings need to utilize different line weights.
If every line on the page has the same value and weight, you’re doing it wrong, A drawing that looks good will, communicate your ideas better Begin by subdividing each drawing into foreground middle ground, and background, and use at a minimum three-line weight to communicate depth.
Next up is shade and shadow.
I use shading on nearly every drawing to indicate the layering of systems, glazing, and changes in surfaces or materials.
Shading and two-dimensional drawings can aid. In someone s understanding of the relationships between elements On floor plans, the shading that fills wall assemblies.
We refer to it as a pouch and it doesn’t always have to be black.
I use a gray tone which not only conserves ink, but I think, is easier on the eyes.
I’ll use different values of gray in all my CAD drawings, generally, ten percent for light toning, twenty percent for medium backgrounds, sixty percent for medium tones, and eighty percent for the darkest for things like filling in the walls on floor plans, Shading works in conjunction with Varying line weights to add depth When you re sketching, I find the best way to shade is with a set of gray markers, either warm or cool gray.
I’ve put the ones I use in the info card above In CAD.
You’ll use, hatches or built-in rendering effects like ambient shadows to create shade and shadow, or you can fake them in Photoshop, using adjustment layers and masks, Scale, and entourage.
Setting the building in proper context helps the viewer understand the overall size of your work about something else of known size For scale.
We all understand the human proportion, so people in silhouettes are an easy first choice.
Vehicles are good too, especially if you’re designing for them in let s say a boat house or a garage or site plan Entourage is anything you add to your drawing to give it life to set the stage or introduce the action.
Furniture equipment, vegetation skies, animals, birds, foreground objects, and backgrounds For me, an entourage can even help incite ideas about how to move a design-forward Backgrounds and foregrounds add depth to the drawing. Now I’ve put a few links to the entourage, and resources that I like in the description below Now.
Let s look at a few of my architectural drawings to show you these techniques.
In practice, The layout of the page is organized to correlate the elevation views with the floor plan views So at the top.
I have the elevation views and you’ll notice that the line weights and types have all been selected to highlight what s important The silhouette and the ground cut line, get the darkest weights.
Then there s a shadow on the wood storage area and eaves and the projections like the barn doors.
The windows are all shaded too, and I like doing this as it accurately simulates the real-world experience of architecture in the daytime where we perceive windows as dark planes.
Layered behind the elevations I m, using the atmospheric perspective technique, to indicate the wooded context of the structure which helps to set the building in three-dimensional space Notice.
The line weight at the roof for a second The front edge is thick and then at the rake end, it tapers from being thick at the front eave edge to thin at the ridge.
Note too, the use of dashed lines for sliding doors or pivot points on the awning window or the hidden foundation.
The base flashing is shaded a different tone than the glass and I’ve added a scale Corbusier Modulor man too. Together, these effects make the building silhouettes stand out.
Moving over to the plans, we see that the outer wall edge, which is the extent of what we’re cutting through, is assigned the thickest line weight From there.
I’ll use lighter line weights to indicate the thicknesses of wall materials like framing and finishes, as well as windows and doors On floor plans and elevations.
I’ll usually assign materials like wall shingles floorboards, tile, and decking very light line weights.
Usually, a ten percent screened gray tone on a hatch layer And furniture gets a place in most of my plans as it indicates, use and scale, but I’ll use a lighter line weight for it.
Shading on the floor plan here indicates the concrete finish and helps set off the furniture layout a little bit.
You’ll see that I like to separate the notation on my drawings from the line work using red as it s another way of creating clarity and hierarchy.
In a drawing, This could also be done using shades of gray.
If you d, like to, I vary the line weight of the notations to see the detail indicators.
They have thicker lines in places, as do the door and window tags It s a slight difference, but it feeds into the overall hierarchy of the drawing. Does it pass the squint test Now I think it does but see what you think.
What do you think could be improved In the end? It s not about copying my drawing style or anyone else s It s about developing your own and the best way to do that is by seeking out the architectural drawings you like and trying and replicate their results Study their commonalities.
How do they differ from the way you draw? Some of my favorites are found in the Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture books or Detail magazines.
All the German stuff See the info card above.
If you found this video helpful, please tap the thumbs up below it helps me grow the channel and lets me know I m making the things you’re interested in Cheers.
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