An isometric might seem like a complicated mathematical system for drawing, but it's actually a very simple and fun perspective to use. Here I'm going to talk about the basics of what it is, what it can be used for and how to get started drawing using an isometric perspective.

What is an isometric perspective?

An isometric perspective is a technical perspective. It is different than other perspectives in that it does not have a vanishing point. Therefore when we draw things with an isometric perspective, they do not diminish in size the further away they are, or get bigger the closer they are to us. That's why it is used so much in technical drawings, exploded diagrams, assembly instructions and computer games, where we want objects to stay true to their original size no mater how far away they are.

When drawing in an isometric perspective, our view is from above looking down, similar to two and three point perspective, but without diminishing in size as the drawing moves towards the horizon. This makes it a great tool for drawing large cityscapes, where we don't want to draw smaller and smaller the further things move away from us.

Where in a two point perspective the diagonal lines move towards a vanishing point on the horizon, an isometric perspective has no horizon, so the diagonal lines are all parallel to one another with one set moving from left to right and the other set going from right to left to form a grid.

How to draw an isometric grid.

On your paper, start with a horizontal line at the very bottom of your page. (This will be the only horizontal line and the bottom of the page can be used as long as its perfectly horizontal), Next draw a vertical line up the center of your page. The next thing is to add the diagonals. Starting from the point where the vertical line meets the horizontal, draw a diagonal line at an angle that is 30° above the horizontal. Repeat this on the other side.

Next add in the rest of the diagonal lines going from left to right and from right to left. All lines need to be parallel to one another and be space equally apart from on another. Once this is done you have a basic isometric grid to draw from.

Once we have our grid, we can then begin to draw in our details. Start with a vertical line and then use the grid to help place the diagonals. (diagonal lines should remain parallel to the grid.)

You can see in the example of the above Christmas scene that all of the diagonal lines from the building are parallel with the lines of the grid, the vertical lines are simply vertical and there are no horizontal lines.

Resources

Isometric grids pads and paper are widely available for those who don't want to draw out the grid themselves, or who just want a pad to practice and make isometric doodles on. Here are some links for anyone interested in buying isometric grid paper.