Three Point Perspective Snowplow constructed in Aluminum

Client: Allegheny College Art Department Chairperson
Deadline: September 2005

Project Description:

This is the finished snowplow laying on the lattice wooden table. The snowplow weighed roughly 150 to 200 pounds so posing it differently was out of the question. (Click on the image to enlarge)

This project served as an extension of my summer internship, Read between the Signs project. The project director assigned me to the design tasks of Allegheny College’s Bentley Hall and a Penn DOT vehicle, both requiring a strong sense of three point perspective and rendering skill.

After the successful design and fabrication of these structures, I was commissioned to create an additional Penn DOT vehicle, with a snowplow, that would be placed down in the winter section of the fence mural. To determine the correct perspective of the truck in relation to its environment, some preliminary sketches and further design of the fence would be necessary.

Project Solution:

I began by sketching out a portion of the winter section of the fence to determine proper perspective and placement. I designed the winter scene with a sense of community portraying children engaged in various winter activities in a snow covered meadow. I designed a stretch of road where I thought the snowplow should appear. The snow plow would be seen cresting a snow covered road on a hill.

With the design and placement figured fleshed out, I rendered the truck on the desired hill as a three inch replica. From this tiny replica, I scaled the image using the existing gridlines on the graph paper and created a template out of tar paper. The tar paper template reflected the true size of the snowplow as it would be viewed on the fence. The total area of the scaled up truck would be 5’0” x 8’2”.

The next step involved fabricating the various shapes out of aluminum signs and assembling the shapes for the snowplow. The first step involved gathering the various sign colors that I needed for each portion of the truck and tracing out the appropriate shapes. The silver shapes that would comprise the windows and grill of the truck were obtained by polishing the backs of signs with an angle grinder and a wire brush attachment. Each shape was cut, by using a jigsaw, leaving a certain amount of overlap necessary to give the pieces enough shared surface area to bolt them together. Most of the shapes were held together with bolts, however I needed to use rivets to fasten the smaller more intricate shapes together. To achieve some additional depth and shadow, I choose to use spacers in between certain layers.

I had enough time to add some extra features to the snowplow as suggested by my client. These included a Penn DOT logo for the truck’s door and some snow on the blade of the plow. My client was very pleased and I was able to complete the project by August 29, 2005, meeting my deadline. This was my last freelance project for Allegheny College and the completed snowplow was officially added to the mural in the summer of 2007, when the winter section of the mural was completed.

I am took the opportunity to document the entire process of creating the three point perspective snowplow with photos. I elaborate on the steps that were briefly addressed above and take you through the whole process. This decision to explain the process came after receiving several emails asking what kind of effort goes into such a project and how it is accomplished. Any interested viewers are invited to view my public art section.