Lamp views
Draw a lamp from home in seven views: top, bottom, side 1, side 2, front, back, and a perspective view. Pick the lamp that looks most like yours, adjust its proportions, then follow the step-by-step guide for each view.
The brief
Draw a lamp from home
- Six orthographic views: top, bottom, side 1, side 2, front and back.
- One perspective view: one-point perspective, looking down at the lamp from about 45°.
How the views work
- Orthographic views look straight at one side, with no perspective: verticals stay vertical, nothing shrinks with distance, circles stay circles.
- Every view uses the same measurements: the front, back and sides are all the same height, and the top and bottom are the same width as the front.
- The perspective view shows depth: the front face stays flat, and lines going back meet at one vanishing point.
1. Choose a lamp
Five simple lamps made from easy shapes. Pick the one closest to yours.
2. Draw the seven views
Click any view to draw it step by step. Start with the front: the other views take their measurements from it.
Tips
- Measure your lampMeasure its total height, the shade’s width and height, and the base’s width with a ruler or tape. Set the sliders to match.
- Choose a scaleDivide your box size by the lamp’s height. A 45 cm lamp in a 9 cm box is drawn at 1 : 5, so every 5 cm on the lamp is 1 cm on paper.
- Light construction firstDraw the bounding box and centre line with a 2H or H pencil. You’ll rub them out at the end.
- Line up the viewsFront, back and both sides share the same top and bottom lines. Rule light lines across from one to the next so the heights match.
- Hidden partsFrom the top you can’t see the stem under the shade, so don’t draw it. Draw only what you would really see from that side.
- One light directionShade every view with the light from the same side (here, the left) so the set looks consistent.
An A3 landscape sheet with all seven views laid out as a technical drawing: the top view above the front, the bottom view below it, the sides on either side, the back on the far right, and the perspective view in the corner. Print at 100%.