12 Technical Architecture Drawing Tips for Aspiring Architects

Part of being an architecture student is drawing- lots and lots of drawing. That is because it helps you prepare for the eventual work that you are going to tackle when you are already a true and bonafide architect in the future.

Having said that, one of the aspects of architectural drawing that many students must face is technical drawing. This is a farfetched from freestyle drawing in that it is more of the technical and logical side of architecture.

Well, be that as it may, you still need to learn this. In fact, you should, given how useful this is whenever you are creating your mockups in the future. This is also quite useful if you are teaching your employees whenever you have your own architecture company.

In this article, I will talk about technical drawing tips to help all aspiring architects.

1. Start Looking at It as an Important Tool

Many aspiring architects would always scoff at the idea of technical drawing, but the first tip that I can give you would be to change your perspective of it.

Technical drawing is actually an important tool that can help you in your future endeavors as a bonafide architect.

That is why you should think of it as such and sink hours upon hours perfecting the craft. Trust me, you will need it in the future.

2. Keep Your Drawing Board Clean

Whenever you create your design mockups or if you want to practice technical drawing, it is important that you keep your drawing board as clean as possible.

The reason why you want to do this is because you want to prevent your sheets from smudging which will, in turn, look messy on the final product. Aside from cleaning your boards, you may also want to clean your triangles as well.

3. Reduce Smudging by Covering Your Triangles

To also reduce smudging when you are using your triangles, it would be useful if you cover them with paper scotch tape.

4. Use an HB Pencil

An HB Pencil gives your drawings more clarity, while also ensuring that you keep smudging to a minimum. Do not worry as you can use a softer pencil in the future if you want to accentuate the construction lines.

5. Don’t Lose Your Cool

Technical drawing is one aspect of architecture that not a lot of students want to tackle (even though it has many applications in actual jobs).

I advocate that you try and lengthen your patience because, believe me when I say, that it will pay off in the end.

6. Appreciate Descriptive Geometry

Descriptive Geometry is just one of the many techniques used in technical drawing. It is also one of the most hated ones. Anyway, if you change your perspective about it and practice it even more, then I guarantee that you are going to love it in the future.

7. Be Committed

Tackling technical drawings is all about having the right mindset. Once you start thinking about it in a different way, everything else will follow.

8. Get a Proper Drafting Board

The drafting board is one of the essential tools of an architect, so it is important that you get the right size. Ditch the smaller A4-A3 boards- go with the more robust A2-A1-A0 Drafting boards instead.

9. Challenge Yourself

We are more productive when we impose challenges upon ourselves. Even if you do not like technical drawing, it is best that you challenge yourself to do it (for 30 days or so).

10. Utilize Dotted Lines

To keep your work clean and tidy, using dotted lines will do the trick.

11. Know a Couple of Axonometrics

There are plenty of Axonometric drawing principles out there and it will be useful for you in the future if you know some of them.

12. Spend Time to Master Triple Projections

A triple projection mainly gives you different angles of your presentation. By using a computer program, you can easily create 3D designs that allow you to get a glimpse of the front, top, and side angles of your presentation.