Sketching Techniques - Graphic Products

FREEHAND SKETCHES - When you don't use any drawing equipment apart from a pencil or pen. It's the quickest method of drawing and is good for initial ideas. You can combine 2D and 3D sketches to show different details. Notes can be aded to explain details. 

The ladder technique can be used to draw straight lines - a series of short lines extending to a longer line.

3D freehand sketches often show how the whole object would look, whereas 2D freehand sketches tend to show the details of an object. 

A SKETCH - is a quick, informal image that can communicate the inportant features.

Pictorial drawings involve using a ruler to make the drawing look more professional. It shows size and proportion more clearly. 

3D - A sketch or drawing which shows all 3 dimensions; length, width and thickness.

2D - A sketch or drawing only showing 2 dimensions - a 'flat' drawing. 

Crating or 'wire framing' - Sketching which involves starting off with a 3D 'box' or crate and drawing inside it to develop the drawing.

When drawing/sketching more accurately, drawing can be done in isometric (NO STRAIGHT HORIZONTAL LINES - ONLY STRAIGHT VERTICAL LINES)

GRID - A boxed framework to help draw shapes.

UNDERLAY - A ruled pattern that assists when drawing 3D shapes.

SHADING can be added to a shape to make it look 3D. Shading to show depth, light and shade or texture is called RENDERING. You have to think about where the light is coming from; the surface nearest the light is lightest and the surface furthest away is darkest. A soft lead pencil (B or HB) can be used. 

THICK-THIN LINES - If you can see both surfaces that form a line, draw it THIN. If you can only see one surface, draw it THICK. THIS GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF SOLIDITY.

Use HIGHLIGHTS to suggest a reflective surface. Add them by leaving white areas. 

Shading using LINES - Lines at different spacings on each side can represent darker and lighter shades. 

WOOD - Can be drawn using coloured pencils to represent the COLOUR and the GRAIN. WOOD GRAIN can be added using a darker pencil and by creating different patterns just like wood. 

PENCILS - Available in a range of GRADES from very hard 7H ('H' means HARD) to very soft 7B ('B' means BLACK).

FORMAL DRAWINGS (with rulers) - 2H or 3H. SKETCHING - HB or B

PAPER - Weight is expressed in grams per square metre (gsm). Standard A4 paper is 80gsm. Paper sizes follow the 'A' series, where A0 is 1m square. MICRONS are used to measure paper thickness. 

MARKER PENS - 1. WATER BASED are cheap, easy to use and ten to be strong colours. 2. Spirit based are often more expensive, and have standard colours and tones. The tip of the pen can be BULLET shaped (for a liner line) or CHISEL shaped (for a wider line). The colour pigment is in a liquid 'VEHICLE'. Both types can 'bleed' on normal paper so bleed-proof paper is used.

GRAPHIC LINER PENS (fine liners) - used for general and 'lining-in' work. They are inexpensive and disposable. The fibre tip gives a line of constant width and density. Widths; 0.3, 0.5 or 0.7mm.

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (CAD) - Programmes where the mouse is used as a pen. 

PRIMARY COLOURS - red, blue and yellow. Can be mixed together to produce other colours.

SECONDARY COLOURS - orange, purple and green. Are mixed from the primary colours.

Colour can be represented on a COLOUR WHEEL - the secondary colours are made by mixing the primary colours on either side of them. 

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS - Are found opposite each other on the colour wheel - GREEN + RED, PURPLE + YELLOW, ORANGE + BLUE. These create contrast when together. Colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel create harmony. 

HUE - The depth of a colour (the particular colour).

TONE - How dark or light a colour is (changed by adding different amounts of black or white to it).

MOOD - Heavy mood = dark solid colour. Lighter mood = paler colour. RED and ORANGE = fire and the sun (WARM COLOURS). BLUE = cold. BLUE and PURPLE = water and the sky (COOL AND CALMING COLOURS). Colours in nature - BROWNS, GREYS AND GREENS = neutral colours (calm and relaxation). RED = Anger, conflict and danger.