How To: Draw and letter with lead like an architect

Take a lesson in architecture from renowned architect Doug Patt by watching this video tutorial. If you want to learn about drawing and designing, without going to school, Doug's just the teacher. Watch to see how to draw and letter with lead like an architect.

In this episode, we'll discuss the intricacies of hand lettering with a mechanical lead pencil instead of a pen. When using a pencil instead of a pen, you can control the thickness of your line. Doug is using a .7 mm mechanical Pentel drafting pencil. To get started he typically takes a plain sheet of paper and spins the pencil as he runs it across the page. This will give a point at the end of the lead. Then add guide lines to the page. Once you're ready to letter, grab the pencil as if you were going to be writing with it and scribble for a moment on a scrap piece of paper until one side is flat. This gives an edge to create a wider line.