My 1st design

Sketching 101

SorS you are doing what I did before I learned the secret to becoming a good sketcher.... don't draw, scratch. When I first started, my boss told me he did not see enough erasing. He explained that to get to a compelling design it helps to pull it out of general freehand "guiding" scratches. In other words start with a haystack of rapid scratches and gradually start darkening the lines that seem to favor your ideal. After it starts to magically appear from the mess you can erase the lighter lines or use the loose graphite to shade the design. If you use a soft lead like HB it allows you to rub it into shading with you finger. Attached is a little doodle that still has some of the scratches showing. Try a simpler design with scratching and I'll follow up with some shading tips. I have found sketching is the best way to communicate design ideas especially to the yacht client. The clients often are not familiar with 2/D drawings or CAD layouts, but everyone can under stand a quick sketch.

A sport version of an SES dccd?

The chicken scratch method is one way, other ways include the gesture method (large bold sweeping curves) and a very confident solid line method which is good for something with straight lines like most buildings.

The first sketch looks like a yacht candle melting, but you have to start somewhere and my guess is that you will only get better with practice.

Keep drawing, and remember what ever drawing tool you are using that you are the only "thinking element" making the "design decisions".

Drawing is a communication tool as much as words are.

Presentation is another subject not to be confused with drawing or thinking.

Hmm, I knew I had seen this design before...

(The original was posted here by DCCD in January)

I saw that when looking for all other posts by DCCD, I just thought of it as flattery or something.

I may be wrong here but I sense SorS is of tender years. Its hard to comment on this, other than when / if it ever does get cleaned up and inputted onto a computer, give it a little less Z, more X, and I'd be interested in seeing some Y.

It is an interesting and challenging career choice. I would suggest over the next few years aquire as many books, magazines and join as many forums as possible. Then when the chance comes along go and work on the types of yachts you want to design. So that when you start producing designs for construction you will have a full and in depth understanding of what you are designing.

Most of the truely great yacht designers worked on yachts as crew or in boatyards before they became designers.

George, like you I think one of the best hull forms is a bubble of air. That doddle was a little commuter SES idea. Yes, imitation is a form of flattery, but it is a general skill of any designer to hone sketching. The younger you start the better but everyone can learn. A good book about it is "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain"

I have a copy of that book somewhere, way back from 1981-82 when I started taking architecture classes at community college. That was a big step after getting laid off from the steel mill, one I have never regretted.

I think that's the book with the electric hub car, another passion of mine.