Drawing in Perspective

  

                                                                                                                                    

You don't have to be an artist to be a woodworker, but a good foundation in perspective drawing can come in very helpful. I have the fortunate history of many art classes to pull from and I am often asked by clients to draw up a design that I have proposed. Being able to draw a design that will eventually resemble the piece you plan to build can make the process easier. I am a firm believer that a woodworker should always keep a journal of design ideas nearby to sketch out any ideas you can come up with. 

Perspective drawing will help immensely  when you have drawn out a shape you like and want to enlarge it to full size to be used as a blueprint. Without this you could be just guessing when it comes to production.

 The chair shown above was a miniature that was done in reverse where the full size drawing was done first and the reduction was done second. Using my sketch book I was able to make both plans using perspective drawing.
Sheraton, Chippendale, Hepplewhite all used perspective drawings to portray their furnishings in their books.

Knowing 1 point and 2 point perspective drawing is a valuable skill to have. It is used by architects and builders to draw up plans for buildings and can help alleviate the surprises that pop up when you are working out a piece of furniture. The 2 point perspective gives a view from an angle of the work.

This is a rough sketch that I did for a client of a bench I was contracted to build. It is done in the 2 point perspective and is helpful because you can see the piece in three planes at once. If you want to have three separate figures to work from try this trick to work up a blueprint.

1.  Draw up your piece from the front angle with height measurements needed.

2.  extend the horizontal lines to the right and using your depth measurements and angles draw in your side view. Above the first object draw a 45 degree angle from lower right to upper left. Take any vertical lines and carry them straight upward to the angle.

3. Now take the vertical lines drawn on the right image and extend them upward as you did with the first image. Use the intersecting lines from the 45 degree angle to deflect to the right and you can work up your overhead view.

You can use this to mark out joinery and make your patterns.

If you draw up your piece using the 2 point perspective and the blueprint view you can make a miniature or mock up of the piece to be made. Using these you can see your work from many different views and address any concerns before you have begun to use the good materials.

Using perspective drawing can make life easier.