Drawing a Golden Rectangle

Drawing A Golden Rectangle

Drawing a golden rectangle is pretty easy using the technique I will show you here.  I used PowerPoint to draw the rectangle here, but you can use this technique to draw a golden rectangle with just about any drawing program.  If you have a compass and a protractor, then I suggest that you try to draw your rectangle on paper.

First, draw a square.  You do not need to know the dimensions of the square, just be sure that all the sides are of equal length:

Next, find the midpoint at the base of the square, and draw a line from the midpoint to the upper-right corner of the square:

Now draw a circle with the midpoint of the base as the center.  Expand the circle such that the line from the base midpoint to the upper-right corner is a radial line from the center of the circle to the circle’s edge:

Now rotate the radial line downward, keeping the edge of the line on the circle:

Continue with the rotation until the radial line is parallel to the base of the square:

Remove the circle.  What is left is the square with an extension at the base:

Draw a rectangle around the base + extension and square height:

Finally, remove the extension and square.  What is left is a perfect golden rectangle:

Very easy and neat.  Congratulations, now you can create great works of art by incorporating golden rectangles into you masterpieces!

Tags: 1.618, 1.61803399, divine proportion, golden ratio, Golden Rectangle, golden rectangle architecture, golden spiral, phi number, ratio golden, rectangle golden, spiral golden