1. Cubes Orthographic projections One and Two-point Perspective
How to draw basic forms
Cubes
Orthographic projections
One and Two-point Perspective

2. Cubes – Orthographic projection
We’ll start with a cube with its front side directly in front of you.
You might have learned how to draw these boxes in elementary school.
This probably was following a step by step process. The sides that are parallel in real-life are drawn parallel. What you get is called an orthographic projection.

3. Start by drawing a square
Make sure it is a square: the sides need to be equal and the corners need to be 90 degrees.
When you draw make sure that your guidelines are very light (butterfly weight!)
Draw a second square lightly behind your first, slightly off-set.
It helps to put a piece of grid paper under your drawing to help you keep the lines parallel.

4. Now you draw the sides Join the corners of your two squares.
These lines will be parallel.
You can then extend the bottom of your square to create the shadow.
The edge of the shadow will also be parallel to the edge of the cube.

5. One point perspective
When you draw a box in orthographic projection the front height is drawn the same as the height at the back of the box.
This looks okay up close, but it doesn’t look as realistic as it could. In real life, things that are farther away look smaller. So this is when we use perspective techniques.
If the front of the box is facing you directly and you can just see one side of the box (and the top), then you use one-point perspective to make it look more realistic.

6. One-point perspective
Draw in a horizon line. This is usually drawn to indicate your eye height. It runs across the page, parallel to the bottom of the page. It’s essentially where the land or sea meets the sky.
Just off center, draw a dot on the horizon line.
This is your vanishing point. It can be in the center, however your drawing might be a little more interesting if it is not exactly centered.

7. Drawing a cube Draw in a square below the horizon line.
Leave enough space above the square to allow you to add the top.
Make sure the square is a little to one side of the vanishing point so that you can see the side of the cube.
It works the same way to draw something like stairs (on the right)

8. Draw the sides
You can then draw in the sides by connecting the corners of the square to the vanishing point.
The upright lines for the sides go vertically. They are parallel to the sides of your paper. It is important to make sure that they are straight up and down.
The top goes across horizontally. Make sure it is parallel to the bottom of your paper.

9. Now to draw a cube where the corner is facing you:
We will start with an orthographic projection.
Once again, with this we will draw any sides that are parallel in real-life, parallel in our drawing.
Start with a center line low enough on the page that you have room for the sides and top of the box.

10. Now draw in the sides
The next step is to draw the top angles, the red and green lines, like a wide letter Y (an obtuse angle)
Keep the angle an obtuse angle (bigger than 90 and less than 180 degrees). It should be wide so that the cube look less “squished”, or distorted.
Copy the same angles at the bottom of the vertical line to create the bottom of the box.

11. Now to get the width of the box
Now eyeball the width of the box so it looks like a cube, and draw the sides as vertical lines, one on the right, and then one on the left.
Make sure these lines go straight up and down, parallel to the sides of the paper.
It is very easy at this stage to make these lines angled, and then your box looks like it is falling over.

12. Next is the top
You now need to draw a line from the far left corner that goes to the right at an angle. This creates a line that is parallel to the top of the box on the opposite side.
Then draw a line to create the top of the box on the top, from the far right going upwards to the left. This will create the back of the box, with a line that is parallel to the front edge of your box.

13. Now you have a cube, with the corner facing you.
You can add a shadow you extending the lines of the bottom of your cube, at the same angle that you drew the sides.
The edge of the shadow will be at the same angle as the bottom of the box that is parallel in real-life.

14. To make it look more realistic
You need to use two-point perspective to do this.
Start by putting in a horizon line.
As far apart as you can put a vanishing point on the left on the horizon line and one on the right.
Draw a vertical line below this line.
Leave enough room to draw in the sides and top.
It helps to colour-code the sides.

15. Now draw in the sides
You need to take the sides of the right side to the right vanishing point. These are colour-coded green.
Draw the left sides to the left vanishing point. These are colour coded red.

16. Now we need the width of the sides
You’ll need to eye-ball the distance needed to draw in the uprights for each side. Make the cube look like a cube.
There are ways to draw these in very accurately using drafting methods, but for now this will do.

17. Now the top of the box
From the top right corner, take the top back line of the box to the left vanishing point.
From the top left corner of the front of the box, go to the right vanishing point.

18. Now, to put in the shadow:
The shadow lines need to go back to the vanishing points through the front edges of the cube.
Note the circles on the corners which should help guide you.
All parallel lines in real- life are drawn to the same vanishing point, rather than being drawn parallel as they are in orthographic projections.

19. And then to turn this box into a house:
You need to make sure any parallel lines in real-life go to the corresponding vanishing point.
There are lots of “You Tube” videos that offer tutorials if you need to watch this being done.

20. To find the center of the rectangle
If you want to find the center of a square or rectangle, you draw lines diagonally from corner to corner.
If you drop a line vertically through the center of the square or rectangle, then you have the center of the top and bottom of the square.

21. Drawing the peak of the roof.
On the front of the cube, draw the two diagonals (orange). These will cross at what we’ll call the centre point.
Draw a vertical line from the base of the front of your cube through the centre point.
From the top of this vertical line (the peak of the roof) connect lines to each top corner of your front square.

22. The top edge of your roof.
The top edge of the roof is parallel to the floor and the top of the walls, so it goes to the same vanishing point as those lines.

23. The roof line This is a little more tricky.
Draw the roof angle to match the one at the front of the building (it should be parallel to the front roof line)

24. The rows of shingles
The shingles are laid in rows, parallel to the roof and to the eaves troughs at the top of the wall.
They are parallel to the top of the wall.
Draw them to the same vanishing point as the walls

25. Now the individual shingles
The shingles are laid so that the follow the same angle as the roof. (all the short shingle lines are parallel to the two main roof lines)

26. Now to add the details
If you want to add a sidewalk you need to take the lines back to the corresponding vanishing points.
The lines parallel to the front of the house go to the left vanishing point.
The lines parallel to the side of the house go to the right vanishing point.
The lines on the curb go vertically in real life, so they need to be drawn vertically.