Introduction

Notes
This booklet has been developed as a brief, introductory guide to assit you in your first
steps in technical hand drawing technique. It is a collection of practical suggestions from
reference (that it can be easily consulted in the University Library) and from personal experience. This is not intended to be a manual, just a short guide with some hints.
It is part of 130 Representation and Communication Unit.
For further information please refer to the reference included, the unit library list and ask
your studio tutors.

Objectives in technical hand drawing

The following are some important objectives you should strive to attain:
1. Accuracy. No drawing is of maximum usefulness if it is not accurate. The habit of accuracy is very important for a designer!
2. Legibility. The drawing is a means of communication to others, and it must be clear
and legible to serve its purpose well.
3. Neatness. If a drawing is to be accurate and legible, it must also be clean. Tidy drawings are the result of careful methods and will give a good impression of your work!

Basic tools
Drawing Boards
The first piece of equipment youll need is a drawing table or board. It should have a surface that is flat and smooth and at least one edge that is straight and square, though this
is essential only if youre going to use a t-square.
Which size? .......
U can cheaply produce one by yourself from sheet composite panels like MDF... In this
case you will be able to carry it wherever you need and be ready to work on your drawings. Youll need to cover the drawing surface in some way; it is reccomended to place a
backing sheet of heavy drawing
paper between the drawing and
the table top.
If you work on a table with a true
straightendge and a hard and
smooth surface you can work
directly on it. Though a drawing
board would be best.

T-Square
The t-square enables you to
draw lines that are parallel to
each other and perpendicular
to the square edge of the drawing surface. The t-square you
buy should preferably be 42
long and not less than 36. Its
consistent parallelism depends
on the straightness of the edge
against which the t -square rides and upon the trueness (and
tightness) of the joint between
the head and the blade. Protect
them! Dont let your t -square
fall to the floor.

Fastening paper to the drawing board

1 Tracing should not be fastened directly to
the board because small imperfections in the
surface of the board will interfere with the line
work. Always fasten a larger backing sheet
of heavy drawing paper on the board first
then fasten the tracing paper over this sheet.
2 The drawing paper should be placed close
enough to the working edge of the board to
reduce to a minimum any error. The paper
should also be close enough to the upper
edge of the board to permit space at the
bottom of the sheet for using the T-square.
Drafting tape is preferred for fastening the
drawing to the board because it does not
damage the board and it will not damage the
paper if it is removed by pulling it off slowly
toward the edge of the paper.
3 - 4 To align the paper and fasten it to the
board you can help yourself with the T-square. Press the T-square head firmly against
the working edge of the drawing board with
the left hand and adjust the paper alignment
with the right hand so that the top edge of
the paper coincides with the upper edge of
the T-square. Fasten the first two top edges
on the corners.
5 Move the T-square on the bottom to fasten
the lower corners. Fasten this corners pulling
the paper out in order to have it flat.
Large sheets may require additional fastening.

Tips:

Size

Height x Width (mm)

A0
A1
A2
A3

1189 x 841 mm
841 x 594 mm
594 x 420 mm
420 x 297 mm

A4
A5
A6
A7

297 x 210 mm
210 x 148 mm
148 x 105 mm
105 x 74 mm

Paper types
Various types of papers are distinguished. It is worth mentioning here the most commonly
used for technical drawings:
Drawing paper or detail paper is a rather white, relatively opaque paper. It is used whenever a drawing is to be made in pencil but not for reproduction. For working drawings
and general use. Is available in rolls or cut sheets of standard size.
Lines stands out on it in bold contrast, which makes tracing whatever is worked out on it
onto a final drawing quite easy.
Tracing paper is a thin transparent paper on which drawing are made for the purpose of
reproducing. Tracing papers are suited to pencil or ink pen.
The transparency of it makes it very effective for overlay work, allowing the selective
drawing or tracing on one sheet and the ability to see through to an underlying drawing.
White paper is normally used for ink works and presentation drawing. Tracings can be
done in pencil and afterwards traced with ink pen. Is available in cut sheets of standard
size. 200 g/m2 paper weight, smooth finished one is particularly suitable for technical
drawings because of its strong resistance to erasers and its nice finishing.

Paper sizes
Regarding paper size standards conventions there is one widespread international ISO
standard (including A, B, C series) and a local standard used in North America (including
letter, legal, ledger, etc.).
ISO A series are the most used for architectural drawings.
ISO A paper sizes are all based on a single aspect ratio of square root of 2. The base A0
size of paper is defined to have an area of 1 m2. Rounded to millimetres, the A0 paper
size is 841 by 1,189 millimetres.
Successive paper sizes in the series A1, A2, A3, and so forth, are defined by halving the
preceding paper size along the larger dimension. The most frequently used paper size is
A4 measuring 210 by 297 millimetres.

Pencils and Leads

To make lines you will need some sort of pencils. Pencils are relatively inexpensive, quite
versatile and uniquely responsive to pressure while drawing. Here some types available:

Regular pencils dont approach drawing leads for consistency.

Drawing lead is compounded of a superfine graphite and clay mixture, smooth and free
of impurities, which would chew up the drawing paper.
Leads are graduated in numbered and lettered degrees. If a lead makes a line with light
pressure, it is called soft. If it requires a heavy touch to produce approximately the same
line, it is hard.
Use leads between F and 3H for technical drawings that would be afterwards traced over
with technical pens !

Recommended for
technical drawings

Recommended:

Use softer leads for drawing that will be completed in pencil. B up to 4B leads would be
suitable for drawing thicker lines (e.g. section lines).

For thicker lines

in pencil drawings
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Pens

Triangles

A quick way to make your drawings tidy and easy to be read with a professional looking
is to trace those with techinical pens.

The next items you will need are triangles, which are used to guide in drawing lines at any angle except parallel
to the t-square.
The most useful triangles you will need
includes angles of: 30- 60- 90 and
45- 45- 90.
You will find very useful to have two
couples of triangles: A couple (30-35
cm) for drawing borders and doing general layout and another smaller (10-15
cm) to enable you to draw faster shorter lines.

Scales
Architects and designers use special rulers called scales. With these rulers you will be
able to produce correctly proportioned drawings at reduced sizes to a consistent ratio.
No interpretation of dimensions is needed to arrive at the reduced size; the scale is divided so that you can layout drawings directly in reduced proportions. Each ruler usually
has several sets of these scale ratios, which are individually also called scales.

There are different kinds and brands of technical pens.

Rapidograph pens are probably the most known and reliable product. These are extremely accurate, precise and long lasting. A must have for those who think to use these
pens a lot and taking care of them. Unfortunately they are quite expensive though.

Both triangular and flat scales are popular. Each edge of a scale usually has two proportional scales superimposed on each other, as illustrated below.
Common metric scale include: 1:5, 1:50, 1:500, 1:10, 1:100, 1:1000, 1:20, 1:200

Fineliner are a cheaper and less accurate however still valid alternative.
A starting pen set for fineliner could include the following point sizes:
_ 0.10/0.15 mm line width
_ 0.20/0.30 mm line width
_ 0.40/0.50 mm line width
_ 0.60/0.80 mm line width
( If you decide to buy rapidographs you can choose slightly bigger pen size like:
0.18 mm; 0.25/0.35 mm; 0.50 mm; 0.80 mm)

Compass / Templates

Curves / Protractors

Erasers

Drawing lines

4. Always hold down the edge against which you are drawing. If you tuck the lead against
that edge without holding it down, it will tend to lift, so hold it down.

1. Always keep a sharpish point on your lead (if you are using a thin mechanical pencil
this should not be a problem).

HORIZONTAL LINES: Press the head of the t-square against the working edge of the
board with your left hand (a). Slide your hand to the position b so that the blade is
pressed tightly against the paper. Lean the pencil in the direction of line at an angle of
aproximately 60 with the paper and draw the line from left to right (c).

2. Always tuck the point of your lead against the t-square or triangle you are using (this
prevents the point-and line-from wandering), and always pull the lead along the edgedont push it.
For pencil:

For technical pen:

Tips:
Rulers and squares are typically bevelled.
You can use any side of the tool you want
when you are drawing with pencils.
Be careful when you use pens instead!
In this case is always a good practice to turn
the tool upside down, leaving the bevelled
gap to face the paper.

VERTICAL LINES:
Place the t-square with the vertical edge on the left. Witht the
left hand , press the head of the t-sqaure against the the board (a); then slide the hand to
push down the blade of the straightedge (b) and pull down the triangle with the fingers of
that hand (c). Lean the pencil in the direction of line at an angle of aproximately 60 with
the paper and in a vertical plane (d).

3. Rotate the lead holder or pencil as

you make lines.
This will ensure that a new lead surface is in contact with the paper at each
point along your line and will wear
away the lead evenly.
This technique will help you make
uniform lines and will keep your point
usable longer.

INCLINED LINES:
The combined use of 45 triangle and the 30x60 triangle will
allow you to draw inclined lines at all the possible angles shown below.

PERPENDICULAR LINES:
The draw a perpendicular line to a given line you just
need two squares or one t-square and one square. See the scheme below.

General tips:
Clean your hands before starting and keep checking (and eventually cleaning)now
and then while you are drawing. You wont dirty all your paper in this way!
Dont forget about your tools! they should be clean as well...

Tips for tracing with pens:

PARALLEL LINES:
The draw a parallel line to a given line you just need two squares
or one t-square and one square. See the scheme below.

When you are tracing with technical pen over your drawing in pencil you should
consider to trace thinner lines before and thicker ones later.
Paper need a bit of time to absorb thicker lines ink. Be always careful when moving
squares over the still wet lines!
To protect your drawing while still working on some parts of it, it is a good a practice to put a clean white paper over the parts you are not working on.
This will help to preserve the paper and will give you the possibility to place more
confidently your hands over the working space.

Lay Out

5. Draw vertical construction lines from the bottom upward along the edge of the triangle
through the marks at the bottom of the sheet.
6. Retrace the border and the title strip to make them heavier.

Lay out the paper

After the sheet has been attached to the board you can start to lay out. Notice that the
layout is made independently of the edges of the paper.
1. Using the T-square, draw a horizontal trim line near the lower edge of the paper and
then, using the triangle, draw a vertical trim line near the left edge of the paper. Both
should be light construction lines.
2. Place the scale along the lower trim line with the full-size scale up. Draw short and light
dashes perpendicular to the scale the required distances.

3. Place the scale along the left trim line with the full-size scale to the left, and mark the
requires distances with short and light dashes perpendicular to the scale.
4. Draw horizontal construction lines with the aid of the t-sqare through the marks at the
left of the sheet.

Conventions

The following are indicative examples of representation conventions. However consider

that there is an unlimited number of other absolutely appropriate ways to represent elements in architecture and design.

Northpoints / Graphic Scales

Symbols for Openings: Doors

Scale 1:100 / 1:200

Lines Types / Weights

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Windows
Depending on the scale of the drawing, the windows can be represented by a single line
to a series of lines able to describe even the type of opening.
1:200

1:100

1:50

1:20

Stairs

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Codes for
materials

Symbols for
furniture

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Reference
Bielefeld, B. & Skiba, I. (2007). Basics technical drawing
Ching, Francis D. K. (2003). Architectural graphics.
Ching, Francis D.K. with Juroszek, Steven P. (2010). Design drawing
Giesecke, Frederick E. (2003). Technical drawing
Patterson, T. L. (2002). Architects studio handbook
Porter, T. & Goodman, S. (1992). Design drawing techniques: for architects, graphic designers and artists
Porter, T. & Goodman, S. (1993). Manual of graphic techniques for architects, graphic
designers and artists, 4, Architectural drawing
Ratensky, Alexander (1983). Drawing and modelmaking

For further information check Unit library list:

http://lists.lib.portsmouth.ac.uk/lists/21D1542B-92A8-C6B5-87D0-DB3F585D24B5.html

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