The Making of a Technical Artist - Engineering Drawing

Manufacturing of any structure, product or part actually begins in the human mind. There is a way to project that image out from the intangible realms of the mind into the more mundane realms of matter. It combines art and science and is known as engineering drawing as we shall learn here.

The Combo – Engineering & Drawing
Most of us understand engineering as a sophisticated discipline where everything goes by strict rules defined by various theorems, laws, and corollaries. Drawing on the other hand is considered to be an artistic feature where there are hardly any limitations except ones placed by the mind of the artist. So how would you perceive something which consisted of these extremes of strictness and freedom? Well, that is what engineering drawing is all about and you will see in the subsequent sections
Is it an art or science?
Actually, engineering drawing refers to the art and science of representing engineering objects on paper. It is an art since drawing is involved, which is obviously an art, whilst it is science at the same time since rules and regulations have to be followed in making that drawings, much unlike a purely art work which has no such restrictions. This may seem to be a severe restriction to the more sensitive type of people but thankfully this is what keeps the engineering world going. Just imagine a bridge or a building built from a drawing which doesn’t follow any rules except imagination. The day would not be far when such a structure would remain in imagination only after being dissipated at the altar of history.
Machine Drawing
Since we are talking in context of Mechanical Engineering, the branch of engineering drawing which deals with machines is known as machine drawing or Mechanical Engineering Drawing. Similarly, we have Civil Engineering Drawing, Electrical Engineering Drawing and so on, the names of whom are self-explanatory. Of course don’t expect to learn machine drawing in this article because it may not be as difficult as imitating Picasso, it is not that simple either. Yet I will surely tell you about some basic facts of machine drawing here.
Some Basic Information
The basic information of machine drawing is really quite basic, that is to say that the instruments used in the same are not much different from what you would use when drawing a hut near a lake (that is the favourite scene of most of us). These instruments include a proper pencil, ruler, eraser, drawing paper etc. So you see that the first hurdle in the way of learning machine drawing is already over. But wait for there are some special instruments as well which may not be used in normal sketches and they are as follows

• Drawing Board: this is made of seasoned soft wood such as pine, fir or oak from several strips held together by battens and they come in different standard sizes.
• T-Square: this is in the form of a T and is made up of hard quality wood like teak or mahogany.

Of course this is not all and there are several interesting aspects of the basics of engineering drawing which we will learn in the next article lest you get lost in complexity unfit for a beginner. So just arouse your artistic self in the meantime whilst I hone your technical skills required for engineering drawing.