#HTE

Yo! C77 Sketch: Drawing a Watch in Perspective

I’ve been noticing a lot of people sketching watches, and I thought it was worth it to work up a quick demo. Watches are challenging because they are basically a system of ellipses in space. Have you noticed how almost every demo in the last 9 videos I’ve done involves ellipses in space? It is important to practice these. There are a lot of great videos on basic ellipse construction. Make sure you are practicing them so you can believably work them into sketches.

With a watch, you have ellipses in two perpendicular planes—the plane of the watch face and body and the plane of the wrist profile. I typically start with the face plane ellipses and build up a series of concentric ellipses that represent the case, crystal outer diameter, and the face. Next I sketch in the ellipse of the wrist profile. The crown which adjusts time on the case is also in the plane of the wrist profile. From here I can start to layer in all of my details.

In this sketch I also use the technique of overlaying the sketch. Sometimes a sketch gets a little messy as you explore the design—don’t be afraid to put a clean sheet overtop and trace up a cleaner version of the sketch. Post your questions and comments below, and I’ll be sure to respond!

Yo! C77 Sketch is a video series from Core77 forum moderator and prolific designer, Michael DiTullo. In these tutorials, DiTullo walks you through step by step rapid visualization and ideation techniques to improve your everyday skills. Tired of that guy in the studio who always gets his ideas picked because of his hot sketches? Learn how to beat him at his own game, because the only thing worse than a bad idea sketched well is a great idea sketched poorly.