THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE’RE FREE AT LAST

To date, we have discussed various drawing projection systems for your Transparent Drawings. We have discussed the axonometric with it’s supreme objectivity. We have discussed the one and two point perspectives with their supreme subjectivity. Choisey specific axonometrics have been broached in these pages. Other resources delve into subdivisions of the axonometric, such as the isometric, dimetric, or trimetric; I frankly think that these minor variations are irrelevant. And some discuss with great detail paraline drawings. Again, a paraline is simply a variation upon an axonometric, so I don’t see the importance of taking up more of your memory with silly distinctions,

So with all of these basic systems, how do you choose? One way to solve this is not to choose. Just start drawing. You don’t have to have your entire drawing planned out when you start.

One of the upsides of the Transparent Drawing is the unexpected potential of the result. You can easily make drawing decisions as you go. We have used the example of the Chinese boat as a starting point. You might be intrigued by the shape of the hull. And as you draw the hull, you might project vertical lines from intersections, which already is transforming the starting shape.

I can’t remember what the starting point was for the study on this page.  I selected this drawing as it really is not one projection system or another, it just sort of is.

Advising you to just start drawing is of course mildly unfair. We all want to have a sense of where our drawing is going. There is the fundamental issue of planning the drawing with sufficient foresight that it actually fits on your piece of paper. There is nothing more frustrating than having a great idea, and then simply running out of space so that you can’t complete it.

The common advice when choosing the best view is to look toward the most interesting spatial aspects. Or you are advised to plan your drawing so that the greatest interest is shown. In this line of thinking, you are supposed to not block one interesting feature with another. Or you might be advised to raise the perspective viewpoint so as to create greater drama. All of this planning of the drawing takes the life out of both the drawing and the ideas that you are developing.

But none of this matters anymore. With a Transparent Drawing, everything that is interesting is shown. Nothing is blocked. You are free to devise your own projection system for just that drawing. You don’t have to worry about the representation of the space or form. It is all there. You can see how it works. This is incredibly liberating.

“The attempt to try to show all the aspects and qualities of any designed space or object in any single view is obviously futile.” 1   This is from Lockard and certainly represents the current thinking and teaching. Until now. Now you can think about and manipulate these qualities in one drawing. Now you have that power.

1.  Lockard.  Design Drawing.  P138