456 Interiors Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Using another piece of tracing paper, the designer can create a clean line drawing. See Figure 13-28. To speed up the process of completing a perspective, a design practitioner may sometimes use the prepared grid method. This method can be manual or digital. For the manual perspective drawing, the designer can purchase a grid template. For the digital prepared grid method, the computer can generate the grid template from a quick computer-generated drawing. Simplisti- cally, the process begins with drawing the room in three dimensions in CAD, placing basic three-dimensional geometric forms where desired in the space to repre- sent furniture location, and then printing the drawing. Laying tracing paper over the grid, the designer has a template to use under the perspective drawing. When drawing a perspective, the interior designer may begin with four basic three-dimensional forms commonly used to depict space. They are the cube, sphere, cone, and cylinder. The designer can draw all interior furnishings inside the perspective space from these simple geomet- ric forms. For example, he or she can modify the cube to become a table or chair, and modify a sphere to appear to be a vase or table lamp. If the perspective will not include color, it is important to add more lines and textures in stra- tegic places to create shade, shadows, and interest in the interior illustration. Adding scaled people to the space, along with key accessories, generates a more realistic perspective for the client to view and understand. If a client has an existing interior that needs modifica- tion, the designer can use a second technique, known as photo tracing. A photo of the client’s interior serves as the grid template for the one- or two-point perspec- tive, and then the designer draws over the image. Interior designers often use perspectives in client presentations to increase understanding of the design. If time and budget allow, the designer will render them to indicate color and textures in the space. Quick perspective drawings are useful both for the designer to generate ideas, and to communicate a mood or feel of the space to the client. Digital Perspectives There are several software programs, such as Revit and ArchiCAD that can produce digital perspectives. After completing the floor plan in the software, it is possible to import free, three-dimensional (3D) symbols from furniture manufacturers into the computer-generated interior. The symbols are quite detailed and represent furniture currently available on the market. Once you insert symbols into the room or building, you can ■ indicate the location of the viewer ■ select that hidden lines should be invisible on the screen ■ view the perspective in one-point or two-point perspective Alesandro 14/Shutterstock.com Figure 13-28 Using the perspective grid method—either manually or digitally— can assist you as you first learn how to draw a perspective. Sherilyn (Lixue) Yin, International transfer design student, CSU, ECNU