Isometric drawing shows a solid object with all three axes at the same scale. You do not need to know perspective. If you can follow a grid, you can draw convincing boxes, furniture and machine parts.
Set up
Print isometric paper with the vertical-lines orientation. A 6.35 mm (1/4 inch) or 10 mm triangle is comfortable for most pencils. Use a sharp pencil and a ruler.
Draw a cube in five steps
- Draw a vertical line three triangles long. This is the front edge of the cube.
- Go up and left, and up and right from the top of that line, three triangles each, following the sloping grid lines. This gives the top face's front corners.
- Draw the top face. From the end of each sloping line, draw another sloping line toward the back to close the diamond.
- Drop vertical lines three triangles from the left and right corners, then connect their bottoms to the base of the front edge.
- Shade. Leave the top face white, make the left face light and the right face dark. This gives the cube solid form.
Rules to remember
- Every edge of the object follows one of the three grid directions.
- Parallel edges stay parallel. They do not converge as in perspective.
- Measure along grid lines only. A diagonal across a grid face is not at true scale.
Circles and curves
A circle on an isometric face becomes an ellipse. Mark the points where the circle would touch the sides of the face's rhombus, then draw a smooth curve through them.
Dots or lines?
Lines give you something to trace. Dots give a cleaner result and look better in a scan, but you will need a ruler. Try the isometric dot paper once you are comfortable.
Next steps
- Stack cubes into stairs and towers.
- Cut a notch out of a cube to practise hidden edges.
- Design a room with a bed, a desk and a bookshelf.