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Tutorial: Quick Sketch Technique
 

When I begin a sketching program I almost always start by drawing only in side views. The point of early sketch work is for the designer to 'find' many ideas in a short space of time. By sketching in side view (and usually reasonably small) I can generate many pages of ideas very quickly. This is mostly down to the fact that you need to think about perspective very little, and can therefore concentrate on thinking about ideas. Almost the only element of perspective visible in these drawings is the way that you can see the far side wheels. This is due to the fact that in 1-point perspective the only convergence lines that actually converge are those moving towards or away from the viewer.
 

Stage 1

You can see here that I have started by gently roughing in a ground line and two wheel positions. I have also lined in a shoulder height for the vehicle. The important thing to remember here is to keep your line work fast and light. This way you can change and move things around as the sketch progresses. A common mistake when learning to sketch is starting a new drawing when you realise something is out of place. Don't! Continue with the drawing, using the mistake as a guide to amending the problem, increasing the darkness of your lines as you refine the sketch.


 

Stage 2

Here I have lightly marked in the rough proportions of the vehicle, using a centre line and the window opening. When putting in the centre line try to avoid the temptation to shorten the overhangs too much by bringing the front and the rear very close to the wheels. Look at a photograph of a car in side view and you will see that the corner of the vehicle falls somewhere in the space you are leaving. If your vehicle has a lot of plan shape at the front or the rear then you will have to leave even more space.


Stage 3

I have now defined the top edge of the bodywork from the rear window, over the roof and down to the front bumper. Remember when drawing this line that it denotes the curvature over the roof and through the two screens (when looking directly from in front or behind the vehicle). For instance you can see that the rear screen has a little curvature, which flattens out into the roof (although not completely flat) and then as the corner surface travels into the windscreen the curvature increases. You can see that the closer the edge line is to the centre line, the less curvature is implied for the surface between.


Stage 4

Once you are happy with the general shape and proportion you can begin to firm up some of the details (remembering of course that it is only a sketch). I have added some light reflection lines in the side window and down the body side. I have also defined the front corner. Again the same rule applies here as when drawing the roof. The further the corner is from the centre line of the front end, the more curvature you are giving the front bumper in plan view (veiwing from above).


Stage 5

This is the final stage before applying colour. Here you can see I have firmed up all the details I am happy with and added some detail to the wheels. It is always worth putting a little bit of effort into getting the spacing reasonably correct on the wheel details since it will lift the look of your sketch a lot. Also important to note is that the sketch is still very loose and fast in its line work. This will only come through perseverance and practice.