Sketching Architecture Week 3: Perspective

This week was the big week!

Yes, I was teaching perspective in my Sketching Architecture classes in the Rocks. (this is a little doodle sketch I did during the class to show the main setup for our subject)

Based once again in our wonderful classroom in the Tea Cosy, we started doing some line exercises - looking at ways to draw some typical patterns that we see in buildings out on location. Some of these are tricks I have picked up from one drawing lesson I had in 2nd year of my architecture course. Some of these are included in James Richard's wonderful book "Freehand Drawing and Discovery".



We then did a paper exercise with a photo before hitting the streets to draw a beautiful crisp sandstone warehouse. Both days we had very strong wind gusts to cope with as well and 'perspective lines'.

It is hard to find good examples of simple buildings on corners with good light and with shade on the other side of the street…so you can imagine how excited I was to find this! Everyone in the class learnt lots during the process of sketching this building and I think the results are amazing both days are. Many of the techniques were tested by trial and error!



It would require a number of very long blog posts to explain everything I shared this week but in essence I see perspective as a tool to set out the main framework for a sketch. Getting too technical, getting caught up in positioning all the lines perfectly, doing too much measuring and/or using a ruler kills the JOY of sketching for me. There are many wonderful artists out there who can achieve perfect perspective - but I am not one of them and am not trying to be.



So here are a few of my ideas:
(I am not sure how much of it will make sense in bullet point- but hopefully you might be able to glean some things from it.)

- perspective guidelines are used for setting the main elements - but you need to be able to first work out what the main elements of the building are!
- Use perspective to constrain out of whack or wonky lines but don't stress about wavy lines  (ie. small variations in the details are ok - they add life to the sketch - but try to keep the overall as 'right' as possible)
- eyeline (or horizon) is king! Everything is horizontal on the eyeline. This is a very powerful tool for sketching whether using perspective or not. It is the datum point that I use to locate all elements in my page. 'Hang' people off the eyeline.
- Develop the ability to be able to draw evenly converging lines. This is one of the most important drawing skills to have...as well as being able to review what is on the page and see if it is consistent.
- Don't need vanishing points! See this old post for my vanishing point-less approach to perspective and an amazing discussion on flickr . I still use Vanishing points, but don't stress if they are off the page.
- The importance of the VIP - my term for the Very Important Perpendicular. This is the vertical leading edge that anchors and sets out for the whole sketch. I use it to measure the number storeys or major horizontal lines.

Ah - there was a lot more that we went through but I think this list is long enough for starters.

Doing homework....

It is really great to see that some of the class went home and finished off their sketches… and don't they look great!

When sketching on location it is easy to start to beat yourself up about how wonky it is, how wrong the proportions or perspective is but if you keep going with the it and add all the details and then add strong tones and colours to it… you will end up with a great looking sketching.

A few people also did another version once they go home. While their originals were god sometimes you do learn a lot by revisiting a sketch - I always learn a lot by having anohter go!

I have included the photos of the works as they were at the end of the class (this was a 45 minute exercise… although I did a quick intro and demo in that tie as well)

Really looking forward to Week 2 (Thursday and Friday)

A reminder that I am doing a 1 day Sketching Architecture workshop as well - condensed version of this material - on Saturday 30 Nov. There are still a few spots available so please email me if you are interested.

Sketching Architecture in the Rocks:Week 1

Well, this week was the first in my Sketching Architecture course of 4 weeks, based in the Rocks, Sydney. I am running the class on a Thursday and a Friday morning. It was really fun to do the same class back to back like this and I am especially excited about the opportunity to put together 4 consecutive lessons - each building on the previous.



Each week we start inside doing some 'theory' and paper exercises and I am very happy to be using the upstairs room of the wonderful Tea Cosy tearoom as our classroom. It is very strange to be in there and NOT to draw my cup of tea, cosied pot and scones… but we have architecture on our minds!

This first week I laid the foundation. Just for the record, I only mentioned perspective in passing… I also was not concerned about perfect proportion either  - both of these will be addressed in future classes! Instead we looked at a way to see buildings forms better  in order to give us confidence to have a go at a complicated building - starting with the big picture (the main volumes) and not allowing ourselves to get sidetracked by the details.

In the classroom we drew Notre Dame in 5 minutes -  ok it was more like 10 minutes and I think everyone found this fun ...it certainly was very achievable!

What was a little more daunting was the building I choose for them to draw once we got out on location… one of the most complicated buildings in the Rocks!? The Australasian Steam Navigation Building located on the corner of Hickson Road and George Street.  Warehouse and office building  designed by William Wardell in the Federation Anglo-Dutch style and completed in 1884.



Starting the the overall forms, everyone was able to produce a sketch that really captures the essence of the building and we shared lots of tricky bits along the way. The use of  coloured pencil setups is a 'week 1 specialty' that enables us all to see the process that everyone went through while they were sketching. Both groups did amazing jobs and as usual, I love the way we all learn so much from each other!

Next week we will become more accurate …but still have a lot of fun!

Sketching Architecture Classes: The Rocks Sydney

I was planning on posting this before I went down to Melbourne for my workshops… but anyway… now I can say ….

Following on from the great fun we all had at my Sketching Architecture workshop at Melbourne University, I am very excited to announced that I will be running a 

Sketching Architecture 4 week course - on location sketching in the Rocks area  Sydney. 
Thursday or Friday mornings   06 - 29 Nov. 10.00am - 1.30pm.
Cost: $150.00 for the 4 weeks.
and also a one day workshop
Saturday30 November 9.30am- 4.30pm (covering the smae content in the one day!)
Cost; $100.00

You don’t need perfect perspective to draw buildings but you do need to understand what you are looking at. This 4 week Friday course will help you grasp the fundamentals of drawing architecture and have fun doing it! I will share with you my system for drawing architecture which involves seeing forms and structure and detail, describing edges and using simple strategies for perspective.

Working with ink and watercolour wash, we will also explore ways to sketch architecture with lively lines and loose and colourful watercolour washes. A series of exercises has been developed to help all levels of participants progress from simple buildings to more elaborate architecture.. and I will also be doing demonstrations each week to show how it all fits together.



The Rocks area has a wealth of varied architecture from which to find our subjects…and I am really excited to be running this class.



Please email me if you are interested as spaces will be limited.

And although not in the Rocks ... I can't resist adding a SOH sketch to this post - it is seen from the Rocks area though!