Relatively simple things can be done to liven up your sketches. This article presents a number of common techniques to try.
All tagged Sketching
Visual Thinking Exercises for Engineers
Visual thinking skills enables good sketching. Good sketching facilitates rapid design iteration. Good design emerges from significant iteration. Based on this logic, visual thinking skills are foundational to good design.
Learn to Sketch: Shading and Shadowing Cylinders
Until recently, how to shade and shadow cylindrical objects has been a mystery to me. I had known there should be areas on the surface shaded lighter and others darker, but I didn’t quite know where those should be. Understanding the physics and practicing the sketches in a detailed way (a few times) helped me lock in the core concepts. Now I can sketch them quickly without trouble. This article shares the physics and provides a step-by-step process for skill building.
Learn to Sketch: Part 4
Enhance your sketches with motion arrows, annotations, and dimensions.
Learn to Sketch: Part 3
As engineers we often need to conceptualize (and sketch) specific geometry such as specific wing shapes, specific gear trains, or a new component that needs to fit in a specific spot on an existing device. In this article, I’ll share a few insights and exercises designed to help you produce sketches of specific geometry, including cross-section sketches, and exploded-view sketches.
Learn to Sketch: Part 2
Three new sketching exercises, plus a three-step sketching approach and mathematical rules that when followed produce realistic sketches.
Learn to Sketch: Part 1
Learn the basics of product sketching. Even with 10 minutes a day, you will be surprised by the progress you can make. Try it out with part 1 of this learn to sketch series.