
Drawing For Makers | M. Fortune

Meet Your Instructor
Michael Fortune
VIRTUAL ZOOM CLASSROOM
Drawing for Furniture Makers with Michael Fortune
This real-time online class taught by master furniture maker Michael Fortune will help you evolve your furniture design ideas from rough doodles to true pictorial drawings.
Michael spent many early years drawing still-lifes but converting those skills to furniture drawings proved difficult until he started using the Lawson perspective charts. It was a real “eureka” moment for him and he found he was able to draw pictures of his furniture ideas that really looked like what he had in mind. All the parts were to the same scale and even the table legs all appeared to rest on the floor, a detail that had previously escaped him.
Elevation drawings—where the top, side, and front of a piece of furniture are shown separately—are a common design tool, but they have two serious flaws: They isolate the three views from one another, and they don’t show perspective. That makes it difficult to visualize what the completed piece will look like. A perspective drawing of the same piece done with the aid of the charts shows exactly how it will look, allowing you to catch design problems before you begin to make it. With some practice using the charts, drawing in 3D becomes second nature.
Perspective drawings are also a great tool when you’re building for someone else. A client, spouse, or friend is more likely to understand a perspective drawing than a set of elevations, and won’t be surprised when the piece is delivered. He has also found that using these perspective charts have become a quick way to create several variations of your original design.
You will learn, practice, and hone this invaluable and timeless skill of perspective drawing in an exploratory and fun way.
Class Times
February 27th
Saturday 9:30 am – 12:30pm
Saturday 2:00 – 3:00pm – Optional practice time
Times are shown in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)
Tools Needed:
- Laptop with a camera or PC with webcam & wifi
- Pencil, ruler, eraser
- Small box (bigger than a coke can and smaller than shoebox)
- 2-3 sheets of Tracing Paper 14″ x 17″
- Surface to work on
- Perspective chart (included in the cost of the class)
- 18-24″ T Square (LINK to an example)
- French Curve (LINK to an example)
- Clothes Peg (LINK to an example)
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- If you feel like you’d like to make these last three items, here are some perspective drawings you can use! perspective drawing tools
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Tuition & Fees
Tuition: $75
Materials Included Are: Set of Vellum Perspective Charts plus shipping
Book: An optional book for reference is: Perspective Drawing Hand Book by Joseph D’Amilio