Best Pens for Architectural Lettering and line weights
/Best pens for architectural lettering and line weight, plus simple tips to improve your drawings and make them look clean, clear, and professional.
Read MoreRead practical tips, creative stories & resources for students, architects & designers - from career advice to hand drawing, sketching & studio life.
Best pens for architectural lettering and line weight, plus simple tips to improve your drawings and make them look clean, clear, and professional.
Read MoreLearn how to draw a floor plan by hand step by step. A beginner-friendly guide for architecture and interior design students to create clear, professional layouts for studio and portfolio work.
Read MoreMany architecture students believe they’re bad at drawing, when in reality they were never properly taught. This post shares a clear framework for improving architectural drawing skills by focusing on foundations, perspective, and intentional practice.
Read MoreThese drawing warm-up exercises are designed for architecture students, urban sketchers and interior designers. Loosen your hand, improve line confidence, and prepare for stronger sketches in just 5–10 minutes.
Read MoreArchitectural sketching is about learning to see, not drawing perfectly. This beginner’s guide covers tools, techniques, and simple steps to start sketching buildings by hand.
Read MoreA practical guide to architectural ink rendering, sharing tools, paper choices, and step-by-step tips for creating hand-rendered interior drawings with marker pens.
Read MoreSonia Nicolson is a Chartered Architect and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, with 15+ years of international experience in Architecture, Interior Architecture & Design, and design education. She has taught and mentored over 8,000 students worldwide.
Today, Sonia helps future and current architecture, interior architecture and interior design students bridge the gap between school, university and the beginning of their creative careers - from preparing for architecture school and building strong portfolios to developing drawing and design skills, navigating studio projects and preparing for what comes next.
Through her free resources, courses, ebooks, portfolio reviews, tutorials and 1:1 mentoring, Sonia makes architecture and design education clear, practical and accessible - especially for students who feel like everyone else already knows what they're doing.
Start wherever you are in your journey on the Start Here page.
Thinking about studying architecture or design, preparing for your first year, building your portfolio or already navigating architecture school? Start with these popular guides.
Starting architecture school is exciting, overwhelming and probably unlike anything you’ve done before. As an architect and former university lecturer, here’s what I want every new architecture student to know before their first day - from studio culture and tutorials to drawing, time management, making friends and getting the most from your course.
A comprehensive guide for future architecture and design students. Learn how to choose the right course, prepare your portfolio, fund your studies, and thrive at university.
Preparing for an architecture or design university interview? This comprehensive portfolio preparation guide, written by a former university lecturer, shows you exactly what to include, how to present your work, and what interviewers are really looking for, so you can walk in feeling confident and prepared.
Architect & former University Lecturer turned Entrepreneur. I help female Entrepreneurs successfully Design & Build their Creative Businesses in Interior Design, Architecture & Urban Sketching.
Architect & former University Lecturer helping students start and succeed in architecture school.
Chartered Architect
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Senior Lecturer, Arts University Bournemouth (UK)
Academic Representative, British Council (Design Education)
Academic Director, Raffles Design Institute (India)
If you can follow a perspective tutorial while you're watching it, but struggle to recreate the drawing on your own, you're not alone.
Perspective can feel complicated when you've been shown what to draw without being taught why you're drawing it.
“...allowed it to finally click.”- Kayla, Architecture Student, USA
“Something I had struggled with felt much more manageable.” - Kshaf, BA (Hons) Architecture, UK
“The explanations are simple and easy to understand...the exercises helped me practise and understand perspective more clearly.” - Vinesh Mistry, India
This book breaks perspective down into a clear, visual, step-by-step system so you can understand the rules, practise them, and start constructing perspective drawings for yourself.
Perspective is a system you can learn.
Drawing is a skill, not a talent.
Helping future and current architecture, interior architecture and interior design students bridge the gap between school, university and the beginning of their creative careers.
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Drawing tips, architecture school advice and lessons from my years as an architect & university lecturer.
Designed to help you build your skills, find your confidence and enjoy the creative process.
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How to Draw One-Point Perspective: A Step-by-Step Guide for Architecture & Interior Design Students.