Technical Drawing Lecture Notes

7. Lecture Pictorial Methods

In order to obtain a drawing that pictorially visualizes the object, several forms of one plane conventional
or projectional picture methods are used. In these methods, the third dimension is taken care of by
turning the object so that its 3 dimensions are visible or by using oblique projection. In these types of
drawings, only the visible edges are shown.

Mechanical or structural details that are not clear in orthographic views can be drawn pictorially or
supplemental pictorial views can be provided.

There are 3 main kinds of pictorial drawing: Axonometric, oblique and perspective. These types are
summarized in the figure below.

In this course, axonometric and oblique pictorial methods will be shown.

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 Technical Drawing Lecture Notes

Axonometric Projection: Theoretically, it is an orthographic projection in which only one plane is used,
the object is turned so that three faces show. Depending on the angles used for turning the object, these
types are named as: isometric, dimetric and trimetric axonometric projections.

To obtain an isometric projection: Assume there is a cube. (a) The cube is rotated about a vertical axis
so that two faces are visible (b). Then the cube is rotated about a profile axis so that now three faces
are visible.

How do we draw an isometric axonometric projection of an object? The steps are summarized in the
figure below:

Step1: Using a 30o triangle, 2 lines are drawn to the right and left side of vertical line and the object is
placed on the vertex.

Step 2: A cubic figure is drawn using the dimensions of the object.

Step 3: The primary lines are drawn.

Step 4: The invisible lines are drawn very lightly.

Step 5: The unnecessary lines are erased.

Step 6: The drawing is finished using a 0.5 tipped pencil.

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Technical Drawing Lecture Notes

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 Technical Drawing Lecture Notes

In isometric axonometric projections, the circles are drawn as follows:

In isometric projection, all sides of a cube

remain equal, therefore the method for
drawing a circle remains the same for all 3
sides:

1. Draw a horizontal line, and then draw a line

using a 30° triangle, where point A becomes
the vertex. After the length is marked on line
AB, draw vertical lines from point A and B.

2. Mark the length on these two lines, thus

obtain the rhombus ABCD.

3. Draw the two medians EG and HF.

4. Draw lines that connect point B to points E

and H. Similarly, draw lines that connect point
D to points F and G.

5. Line BE should be perpendicular to DC, BH

should be perpendicular to AD and so on.

6. Line DF (=DG) gives us the radius of the

large arc, where points D and B are the center
of the arc.

7. Lines EB and DF intersect at point M (lines

DG and BH intersect at point M). Line EM
(=MF) gives us the radius of the small arc and
point M is the center of the arc.

The circles drawn in this manner can be

applied to all sides of the cube.

In the third figure on the left, the larger arc is

drawn on the right corner of the T-shaped
object whereas the small arc is drawn on the
left corner.

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