How to Draft a Checkerboard Floor in Perspective

Tape the drawing sheet to the drafting table with drafting tape. Near the top of the drawing sheet draft a horizontal line to represent the plan picture plane. Draft or tape the plan of the checkerboard floor room at a 30-degree angle relative to the picture plane. The front corner of the rotated plan must touch the line of the plan picture plane. Draw the square tiles of the floor into the plan.

Draft a horizontal line below the plan and picture plane to create the horizon line, which is considered to be an infinite distance from the perspective. Draw a second line below the horizon line to represent the ground plane at the vertical cut of the picture plane.

Place a point vertically aligned and below the plan corner at the plan picture plane; this is your station point. Draw two diagonal lines parallel to both of the front walls of the room plan from the station point to the picture plane, then draw vertical lines from the intersections of the diagonal station point lines at the picture plane down to the horizon line. The intersections of the vertical lines at the horizon line are the two vanishing points for the two-point perspective. Mark both of these vanishing points and label the left vanishing point "VPL," for vanishing point left, and the right vanishing point "VPR," for vanishing point right.

Pull a vertical line from the room plan intersection with the picture plane to the ground line. Draw a diagonal line from the intersection of the ground line and vertical line to "VPR" and "VPL."

Draw a diagonal line from the station point to each of the remaining plan corners. Where the diagonal lines intersect the picture plane, draw a vertical line down to the diagonal lines between the ground line intersection and the vanishing points. Draw lines from these new intersections to the two vanishing points to delimit the boundaries of the room.

Draw diagonal lines from the station point to the intersection of the checkerboard tile edges with the front walls, in the plan. Where the diagonals intersect the picture plane, draw vertical lines down to the front edges of the constructed room boundary, above the ground line. From the intersections of the vertical lines and the front edges, draw diagonal lines to the vanishing points. The resulting figure will be the checkerboard floor in perspective. Shade every other floor tile to complete the checkerboard pattern. Erase the excess horizontal, vertical and diagonal construction lines, as well as the plan and picture plane, with an eraser and eraser shield to complete the drawing.