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Drawing Tools and Materials

This chapter introduces the pencils and pens necessary for inscribing lines, the instruments available for guiding the eye and hand while drawing, and the surfaces suitable for receiving the drawn lines. While digital technology continues to further augment and enhance this traditional drawing toolkit, the kinesthetic act of drawing with a hand-held pencil or pen remains the most direct and versatile means of learning the language of architectural graphics.

Drawing Pencils

Pencils are relatively inexpensive, quite versatile, and uniquely responsive to pressure while drawing.

Lead Holders

  • Lead holders employ standard 2 mm leads.
  • The push-button action of a clutch mechanism allows the exposed length of the lead shaft to be adjusted or withdrawn when the pencil is not in use.
  • The lead point, which is capable of a variety of line weights, must be kept
    well sharpened with a lead pointer.

Mechanical Pencils

  • Mechanical pencils use 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, and 0.9 mm leads.
  • A push-button mechanism advances the lead automatically through a
    metal sleeve. This sleeve should be long enough to clear the edges of
    drafting triangles and straightedges.
  • The relatively thin leads of mechanical pencils do not require sharpening.

Wood-Encased Pencils

  • Wooden drawing pencils are typically used for freehand drawing and sketching. If used for drafting, the wood must be shaved back to expose 3/4" of the lead shaft so that it can be sharpened with sandpaper or a lead pointer.

All three styles of pencils are capable of producing quality line drawings. As you try each type out, you will gradually develop a preference for the characteristic feel, weight, and balance of a particular instrument as you draw.

Drawing Leads

Drawing Pens

Technical Pens

Technical pens are capable of producing precise, consistent ink lines without the application of pressure. As with lead holders and mechanical pencils, technical pens from different manufacturers vary in form and operation. The traditional technical pen uses an ink-flow-regulating wire within a tubular point, the size of which determines the width of the ink line.

There are nine point sizes available, from extremely fine
(0.13 mm) to very wide (2 mm). A starting pen set should include the four standard line widths— 0.25 mm, 0.35 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.70 mm­—specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Since digital tools have reduced the need for manual drafting, a variety of less expensive, low-maintenance technical pens have been developed. Equipped with tubular tips and waterproof, pigment-based ink, these pens are suitable for writing, freehand drawing, as well as drafting with straightedges. They are available in point sizes that range from 0.03 mm to 1.0 mm. Some are refillable and have replaceable nibs.

Fountain Pens

Fountain pens typically consist of a reservoir—either a disposable cartridge or an internal piston—containing a water-based ink that is fed to a metal nib by capillary action. While not suitable for drafting, fountain pens are ideal for writing and freehand sketching because they offer ease in drawing fluid, incisive, often expressive lines with little or no pressure.

Fountain pen nibs come in extra-fine, fine, medium, and broad sizes; flat tipped nibs are also available for italic and oblique strokes. Some nibs are flexible enough that they respond to individual stroke direction and pressure.

Other Drawing Pens

Gel pens use a thick, opaque ink consisting of pigment suspended in a water-based gel while rollerball pens use a water-based liquid ink. Both offer similar qualities to fountain pens—they are capable of a consistent ink flow and laying down lines with less pressure than that required by regular ballpoint pens.

Digital Stylus

The digital equivalent of the pen and pencil is the stylus. Used with a digitizing tablet and appropriate software, it replaces the mouse and enables the user to draw in a freehand manner. Some models and software are able to detect and respond to the amount of hand pressure to mimic more realistically the effects of traditional media.

Drawing Guides

T-Squares

T-squares are straightedges that have a short crosspiece at one end. This head slides along the edge of a drawing board as a guide in establishing and drawing straight parallel lines. T-squares are relatively low in cost and portable but require a straight and true edge against which their heads can slide.

Parallel Rules

Parallel rules are equipped with a system of cables and pulleys that allows their straightedges to move across a drawing board only in a parallel manner. Parallel rules are more expensive and less portable than T-squares but enable one to draft with greater speed and accuracy.

Triangles

Triangles are drafting aids used to guide the drawing of vertical lines and lines at specified angles. They have a right angle and either two 45° angles or one 30° and
one 60° angle.

  • 8" to 10" lengths are recommended.
  • Small triangles are useful for crosshatching small areas and as a guide in handlettering.
  • Larger triangles are useful in constructing perspectives.
  • The 45°–45° and 30°–60° triangles can be used in combination to produce angular increments of 15°.
  • Triangles are made of clear, scratch-resistant, non-yellowing acrylic to allow a transparent, undistorted view through to the work below. Fluorescent orange acrylic triangles are also available for greater visibility on the drafting surface.
  • Machined edges should be polished for precision and to facilitate drawing. Some triangles have raised edges for inking with technical pens.
  • Inner edges may be beveled to serve as finger lifts.
  • Keep triangles clean by washing with a mild soap and water.
  • Triangles should not be used as a straightedge for cutting materials.

Adjustable Triangles

Adjustable triangles have a movable leg that is held in place with a thumbscrew and a scale for measuring angles. These instruments are useful for drawing such inclined lines as the slope of a stair or the pitch of a roof.

Compasses

The compass is essential for drawing large circles as well as circles of indeterminate radii.

  • It is difficult to apply pressure when using a compass. Using too hard a grade of lead can therefore result in too light of a line. A softer grade of lead, sharpened to a chisel point, will usually produce the sharpest line without undue pressure. A chisel point dulls easily, however, and must be sharpened often.
  • An attachment allows technical pens to be used with a compass.
  • Even larger circles can be drawn by appending an extension arm or using a beam compass.

French Curves

  • A variety of French curves are manufactured to guide the drawing of irregular curves.
  • Adjustable curves are shaped by hand and held in position to draw a fair curve through a series of points.

Protractors

  • Protractors are semicircular instruments for measuring and plotting angles.

Templates

Templates have cutouts to guide the drawing of predetermined shapes.

  • Templates are available for drawing other geometric shapes, such as ellipses and polygons, as well as symbols for plumbing fixtures and furnishings at various scales.

Digital Drawing

Analogous to traditional hand-drafting tools are the software capabilities of a 2D vector-based drawing program, which define lines—the quintessential element of architectural drawing—as mathematical vectors.

Digital Guides

Drawing programs typically have commands to constrain the movement of points and lines to a precise horizontal, vertical, or diagonal direction. Grids and guidelines, along with snap-to commands, further aid the precise drawing of lines and shapes.

Digital Templates

2D drawing and computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs include digital templates of geometric shapes, furnishings, fixtures, as well as user-defined elements. Whether a template is physical or digital, its purpose remains the same—to save time when drawing repetitive elements.

Drawing Aids

Erasers

One of the advantages of drawing with a pencil is the ability to easily erase pencil marks. Always use the softest eraser compatible with the medium and the drawing surface. Avoid using abrasive ink erasers.

  • Vinyl or PVC plastic erasers are nonabrasive and will not smear or mar the drawing surface.
  • Some erasers are saturated with erasing fluid to erase ink lines from paper and drafting films.
  • Liquid erasing fluid removes pencil and ink markings from drafting film.
  • Electric erasers are very convenient for erasing large areas and ink lines. Compact, battery-operated models are especially handy.

Other Aids

  • Drafting brushes help keep the drawing surface clean of erasure fragments and other particles.
  • Soft, granular drafting powder is available that provides a temporary protective coating over drawings during drafting, picks up pencil lead dust, and keeps the drawing surface clean. If used too heavily, the powder can cause lines to skip, so use sparingly, if at all.
  • Pounce powder may be used to prepare drawing surfaces for inking.

Erasing Shields

Erasing shields have cutouts of various shapes and sizes to confine the area of a drawing to be erased. These thin, stainless-steel shields are especially effective in protecting the drawing surface while using an electric eraser. Ones that have square-cut holes allow the erasure of precise areas of a drawing.

Drawing Scales

In drawing, “scale” refers to a proportion determining the relation of a representation to the full size of that which is represented. The term also applies to any of various instruments having one or more sets of precisely graduated and numbered spaces for measuring, reading, or transferring dimensions and distances in a drawing.

Architect's Scales

An architect's scale has graduations along its edges so that scale drawings can be measured directly in feet and inches.

  • Triangular scales have 6 sides with 11 scales, a full-size scale in 1/16" increment, as well as the following architectural scales: 3/32", 3/16", 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", 3/8", 3/4", 1", 1 1/2", and 3" = 1'-0".
  • Flat-beveled scales have either 2 sides with 4 scales or 4 sides with 8 scales.
  • Both 12" and 6" lengths are available.
  • Scales should have precisely calibrated graduations and engraved, wear-resistant markings.
  • Scales should never be used as a straightedge for drawing lines.
  • The larger the scale of a drawing, the more information it can and should contain.

Engineer's Scales

An engineer's scale has one or more sets of graduated and numbered spaces, each set being divided into 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 parts to the inch.

Metric Scales

Metric scales consist of one or more sets of graduated and numbered spaces, each set establishing a proportion of one millimeter to a specified number of millimeters.

  • Common metric scales include the following: 1:5, 1:50, 1:500, 1:10, 1:100, 1:1000, 1:20, and 1:200.

Digital Scale

In traditional drawing, we think in real-world units and use scale to reduce the drawing to a manageable size. In digital drawing, we actually input information in real-world units, but we should be careful to distinguish between the size of the image viewed on a monitor, which can be reduced and enlarged independent of its real-world size, and the scale of the output from a printer or plotter.

Drawing Surfaces

The transparency of tracing papers and films makes them effective for overlay work, allowing us to copy or work on a drawing while seeing through to an underlying drawing.

Tracing Papers

Tracing papers are characterized by transparency, whiteness, and tooth or surface grain. Fine-tooth papers are generally better for inking, whereas medium-tooth papers are more suitable for pencil work.

Sketch-Grade Tracing Paper

Inexpensive, lightweight tissue is available in white, cream, and yellow or buff colors in rolls 12", 18", 24", 30", and 36" wide. Lightweight trace is used for freehand sketching, overlays, and studies. Use only soft leads or markers; hard leads can tear the thin paper easily.

Vellum

Vellum is available in rolls, pads, and individual sheets in 16, 20, and 24 lb. weights. While medium-weight 16 lb. vellum is used for general layouts and preliminary drawings, 20 lb. vellum with 100% rag content is a more stable and erasable paper used for finished drawings. Vellum is available with nonreproducible blue square grids, subdivided into 4 x 4, 5 x 5, 8 x 8, or 10 x 10 parts to the inch.

Drafting Film

Drafting film is a clear polyester film that is durable, dimensionally stable, and translucent enough for clear reproductions and overlay work. The film is 3 to 4 mil thick and available in rolls or cut sheets. One or both sides may have a nonglare, matte finish suitable for pencil or ink. Only compatible leads, inks, and erasers should be used. Ink lines are removable with erasing fluid or a vinyl eraser saturated with erasing fluid.

Digital Layers

CAD and 3D-modeling programs have the ability to organize sets of information in different layers. While these levels or categories can be thought of and used as the digital equivalent of tracing paper, they offer more possibilities for manipulating and editing the information they contain than do the physical layers of tracing paper. And once entered and stored, digital information is easier to copy, transfer, and share than traditional drawings.

Illustration Boards

Illustration boards have a paper facing laminated to a cardboard backing. Illustration boards are available in single (1/16" ) and double (3/32" ) thicknesses. 100% rag paper facings are recommended for final presentations.

Coldpress boards have a degree of texture for pencil work; hotpress boards have relatively smooth surfaces more suitable for inking.

Some brands of illustration boards have white facing papers bonded to a middle core of white stock. Cut edges are therefore consistently white in color, making them useful for constructing architectural models.