Very charming video on the use of “dead tech”. My father was a scientific illustrator from the mid-50s until around 1980. He used many of these tools, in particular the rapidograph pens. He used them not only for line work, but also for shading using the stipple technique, thousands upon thousands of dots to make three dimensional form, and, astonishingly, for drawing cells under the microscope. I still have his set.
I'm still doing all my drawing by hand, french curves and all. CAD has it's place but you can't beat the tactile nature of pencil and vellum. I've done a bunch in ink as shown here too. Tricky stuff indeed., but you can't beat the results if done well.
My old man was an architectural draftsman for a bespoke shop fitting firm in London, who started in the 50s and worked in pencil for most of his life until at 60, he learned autocad. I will never forget coming round a year later to see him doing his bit on a complex multilayered plan for the Hard Rock Cafe in Brussels. I went to art school, studying visual communications and also used those Rotring pens as well as their version of Graphics pens. Nasty and expensive for a student, I remember.
I used many of those instruments... and after AutoCAD and similar drawing and design programs arrived, I never used them again... although I love them. although my instruments were lost in one of the moves...
We used fibreglass pencils for electronics work too (pcb), but I actually think they were banned for safety reasons. Those shards could end up in eyes as well as fingers. Great demo. I still have my set of French curves.
I despise most architects: 99% of the buildings modern architects draw - Zaha Hadid being the exception - are horrible, inorganic, unimaginative and utterly boring. The architects of the last 50 years are responsible for the extreme lack of aestetic vision and beauty, and the direct reason our citiscapes are so unhospitable, inhuman and frankly … ugly.
Very charming video on the use of “dead tech”. My father was a scientific illustrator from the mid-50s until around 1980. He used many of these tools, in particular the rapidograph pens. He used them not only for line work, but also for shading using the stipple technique, thousands upon thousands of dots to make three dimensional form, and, astonishingly, for drawing cells under the microscope. I still have his set.
We used to put the ink on a plate and use a sable hair brush to load the pen, wiping it with a rag. No blots.
So informational for an non-architect. I do draw but now I want stencils!
I'm still doing all my drawing by hand, french curves and all. CAD has it's place but you can't beat the tactile nature of pencil and vellum. I've done a bunch in ink as shown here too. Tricky stuff indeed., but you can't beat the results if done well.
We used 409 on mylar to clean away half the drawing to make an addition. We also had electric erasers--so very modern.
You're a great presenter, really enjoyed the video.
My old man was an architectural draftsman for a bespoke shop fitting firm in London, who started in the 50s and worked in pencil for most of his life until at 60, he learned autocad. I will never forget coming round a year later to see him doing his bit on a complex multilayered plan for the Hard Rock Cafe in Brussels. I went to art school, studying visual communications and also used those Rotring pens as well as their version of Graphics pens. Nasty and expensive for a student, I remember.
thank you for this video i so appreciate it.
I used many of those instruments... and after AutoCAD and similar drawing and design programs arrived, I never used them again... although I love them. although my instruments were lost in one of the moves...
Beautiful memories. Recalling my younger years too.
Ah, the memories. Thank you.
So remember all of this
I can only imagine the number of near disasters that ink compass has been responsible for
An excellent presentation, thank you!
We used fibreglass pencils for electronics work too (pcb), but I actually think they were banned for safety reasons. Those shards could end up in eyes as well as fingers. Great demo. I still have my set of French curves.
I still have most of the same equipment,
And then computer aided design came out...
nothing of value was lost
I despise most architects: 99% of the buildings modern architects draw - Zaha Hadid being the exception - are horrible, inorganic, unimaginative and utterly boring. The architects of the last 50 years are responsible for the extreme lack of aestetic vision and beauty, and the direct reason our citiscapes are so unhospitable, inhuman and frankly … ugly.