What is the focus of the sketch?

St Bartholomew NYC I never uploaded every single page from my 11 week trip of 2010... And this was a quick scribble sketch I did in between destinations when I was in NYC. What I love about traveling sketching is the experience of walking down the street and suddenly seeing something that compels me to get my sketchbook out – a lot of the time when I am traveling on my own I have the option to give in to this impulse. This sketch is a record of what I saw... sketching and painting as I looked at it but without too much thought of what I was doing I have been thinking lately that I often include too much detail in my architectural sketches(as per above) and that I really should spend more time thinking what is the most important aspect of the building – what should be the focus of my sketch. This is a quick sketch I did last night from a photo of St Barts. As the sun (between the surrounding skyscrapers) was hitting the building on the dome area - I decided this should be the focus. Using my rapid reinstated line technique (my design working sketch style) I added more detail at this area and was looser in the other parts of the building. I am finding that if I focus on one part of the building, there is less pressure to get the perspective perfect on the remaining parts. Looking forward to the next time I can get out and do some sketching and test out some of my recent experimental sketching I have been doing from photos... Hasn’t been many opportunities recently. While thinking of NYC... If you missed this elsewhere... I am booked to go back to NYC in July and am doing a bit of research. These are quick sketches (inkless!!!) I did while reading last week.... what I wrote elsewhere at the time Friday night and reading a very good book on Contemporary Architecture in NYC. Yes, I have booked to have a week in NYC in July and am determined to be a little more prepared than I was in 2010 (my first visit as part of my mega 11 week long service leave trip) Although I intended to spend this evening reading, I ended up sketching as well! I don't draw very much contemporary architecture, I know... older stuff IS definitely more fun to draw! However I did enjoy doing these although I did want to do more looser versions. (I hope my beloved Lamy pen doesn't dry up with this recent neglect!)I also tried out some of those grey mixes I was playing with the other day.) I hope to explore and share some strategies for drawing skyscrapers in the coming weeks. I really like the Copper Union building and was shocked to realise that I forgot all about trying to visit it in 2010. Has anyone been inside???? I am very interested in any non-obvious suggestions of things to do and place to visit. I have been a little overwhelmed by the number of good sounding tearooms I have been finding lately. Last time I went to Pearl Art last time - any other art stores I should visit.

Loose linework

A few weeks ago I was experimenting with different types of linework when sketching architectural subjects (or anything for that matter) Well this evening I was practicing these on a photo of a building that I am very keen to sketch in real life... Sometimes it is hard to have the opportunity or the energy to get out to different parts of Sydney. Traditionally I use #1 or #4 when I have a complicated building in front of me and I am either too tired, ratty, my bag is too heavy, or running out of time (or all of the above) All four are great ways to loosen up as well.

How loose can I go?

On Saturday I went into the city (downtown) for a bit of sketching. I felt the urge to do some architecture sketching and that is what I ended up doing! This was how I started.... A very complicated building in Martin Place.

After a good cup of tea and some yummy scones I decided to sketch this little gem on George St in the Rocks. I have sketched it before but never had the sun on it like this. It is only a small building but delightfully complicated
I tried to draw the line work as loose as I possibly could – without any regard (well, without much regard) to accuracy. As I have sketched this building before I already have a relationship with it so didn’t really need to study it much before I started scribbling. I was rather pleased with how it turned out

I then splashed on colour. I am trying to get lively washes – particularly in the shadow areas- trying to capture the warm glow that occurs in the shaded areas of the Sydney sandstone. Although I am a little happy with the effect in the archway- overall I wasn’t that keen with the end result... Maybe I added too much watercolour and the excitement of the linework is lost.

Anyway... The process got me thinking and I am going to experiment a bit more..... Stay turned!