I'm looking for a book/course on drawing 1

[Scarecrow]

Hi Fellow engineers designers and solidworks guru's.

I find myself having to sketch on a whiteboard (in front of others) frequently. To be totally honest, my sketching skills SUCK. If I am be be competitive, keep my job, grow as a designer I need to learn how to draw. Since I have no formal drawing skills i'm more than happy to jump in as a beginner and build my foundation from there.

Can any of recommend a book or a course that I can take at home that will help me become a better sketch artist. This is my only option for now, as no local art courses are available until January.

Thanks

Gerry Bolda

 

[ctopher]

There are A LOT of books on the subject. It would be difficult to pin down a good one for you to use. I suggest going to a book store and sit down with some of them and see which fits you. Good luck to you.

 

[Heckler]

Gerry,

Their is a big difference between drawing and sketching. Sketching as far as I'm concerned is art where as drawing is somewhat more formal. To be honest, my whiteboard hand sketching skills are not that great either and it hasn't hindered my career. I wouldn't get nutted up over it.....just practice. What college did you graduate from? I come across a number of engineers that had no formal training in creating good sound drawings. A drawing is a mechanism in which we mechanical engineers communicate our design intentions. My advice to you is check out some courses that are usually taught in two year drafting programs.

 

[Scarecrow]

I graduated as a Mechanical Technologist, and we did have a few coures in drafting. What I really need to do is quickly draw illustrative drawings, more of an artist's conceptual drawing. The nitty gritty detail engineering drawings can come later.

My approach as a designer is to get the idea's flowing quickly, and not to get stuck on the details till later on.

None of us here at our company can sketch at all, and we often stare at the whiteboard thinking hey how would this look, or how would that look. It's just an area that I really lack in, and I think it would be a great asset to add to my skill set.

Thanks

Gerry Bolda

 

[SBaugh]

There is more that goes into a technical drawing then just sketching. SKetching is something you do on a napkin. I have an Industrial Drafting degree. So making technical drawing isn't the easiest if you don't understand the model and prespective of the view, then making drawings will be difficult.

Look at

http://www.amazon.com

for techincal drawing books or possibly bay.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

For all Newbie's - Welcome to the nerd herd!

faq731-376

 

[MadMango]

Search for books related to "marker rendering".

"But what... is it good for?"
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[TheTick]

Try Mark Kistler's site. This guy's a bit out there. He had a PBS show for a while.

<

http://www.draw3d.com/>

 

[Heckler]

Gerry,

What school did you attend for the MET degree?

 

[Scarecrow]

I attended this place,

http://www.camosun.bc.ca/tt/mech/

I don't recommend it either.

However, make of it what I will, I did manage to land a really awesome job (much much later), that turned into sort of an industrial design position. So really I can't complain. You can't blame school for your lack of knowledge, because you learn it on the job.

I checked out some of the books on rendering with markers ect, and that is exactly what i was looking for.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Gerry

 

[MadMango]

I haven't done a marker rendering in about 5 years, time to brush up on those skills again. But I guess now with PhotoWorks and other things out there, people missing the artistic gene can make some great presentations.

"But what... is it good for?"
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[tluxon]

I agree with you that there are occasions when we are expected to freehand our ideas on a whiteboard before proceeding to spend time modeling them up. It also seems to be true that many designers are not always the best free-handers.

I've found that the best way to reacquaint myself with my freehand skills (or lack thereof) is by practicing drawing objects when no one is looking . Put something on the desk in front of you and draw it - even a quick, sloppy sketch is good practice if it reminds you of what NOT to do. Drawing fairly common objects that you CAN see is good practice for drawing objects that are only in your imagination, which is usually what you'll be trying to represent on the whiteboard.

I don't think there are any "secrets" that will make you a better freehander. Some people are more naturally gifted than us computer "artists", but for the most part their "gift" is honed by a lot of doing (just as ours is). If you NEED to draw better for your job, practice it, but for the most part just let the skills you ARE good at carry you.

All the best,

Tim

 

[Theophilus]

I had the same difficulty when I started school. Industrial Designers need to express themselves freely so others can clearly understand what you're doing. (Also to impress the shinies.)

Two books will help a lot, but I don't recommend marker rendering books at this time. That's not what you use a white board to do. Marker renderings are for paper. You just need to draw some things on a white board--huge difference in method, even though you're using markers.

First book:
Drawing, A Creative Process
Francis D.K. Ching
Great basics book

Second book:
Perspective Drawing
Kenneth W. Auvil
Says what it is

Yes, you need to draw in perspective unless you're confined to orthographic views (which you're not on a white board). Proper perspective makes a big difference for the white board because you don't have much else going for you.

I'm not sure if those books are still in print, but I think you can find them regardless on Amazon or Half.com or whatever. Should be a piece of cake these days.

And by the way--yes, you can improve your drawing dramatically. I did. I came to ASU knowing drafting, but not freehand drawing. I can now freehand with confidence and clarity. (I'm an INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER! Of course I can draw. But I wasn't born that way.)

Jeff Mowry
Industrial Designhaus, LLC

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com