Serious question, who actually drafts by hand anymore?

I had a chat with an old-timer last week at a supply shop in Portland who swore his hand-drawn sketches catch details CAD misses every time, but I can't see giving up the speed of digital for anything anyone else run into this split?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_chen62mo ago

My buddy at a print shop in Denver still does all his concept sketches on yellow tracing paper with a 2H pencil. He says the friction of the paper helps him think. I watched him work once and he drew like six versions of a chair leg before he got it right. Took him 45 minutes. I could have modeled that leg in 10 minutes on a tablet. But his final version had this weird curve that looked better than anything I've ever seen come out of CAD. I still won't switch though. Too used to undo buttons.

skyler_adams2mo ago

Ngl that "friction of the paper helps him think" thing is real, I sketch on napkins all the time for the same reason.

graym491mo ago

Six versions of a chair leg by hand? That's insane. I would have lost my mind by version three and thrown the whole sketchbook across the room. The fact that he didn't just give up and switch to a tablet halfway through blows my mind. I get the "friction helps you think" thing but that's some next level patience right there. Honestly I don't have the attention span for that kind of repetition on paper. I'd need at least three coffee breaks and a walk around the block just to get through two versions.