Sub_urban sketching: Infill Porch

Another sketch in my Sub_urban sketching series.

Another occasion when I started with the roof and didn't apply any rules of perspective - just drew the shapes of the roof as I saw them. And then projected the walls down. Once again I managed to park my car outside the most rundown house in the street…but it doesn't look as bad in my sketch!
Also I only used a triad of colours….more about this over here www. lizsteel.com

Hope my little scribbly notes make sense.
A lot of the things that I have done on this sketch will be explained in my upcoming Sketching Architecture: The Rocks classes. More details just below

Sub_urban Sketching: Draw the roof first

I have been trying all year to post to this blog more regularly… but I am determined to do so from now on….(yah! really! I hear you say!)  I have also found than now I live and work in the heart of Sydney suburbia that I have been somewhat uninspired architecturally. I thrive on being in city centres- being surrounded by big / important buildings and the pulse of the city streets. I have had great plans of posts that I want to do here on important aspects of sketching architecture… but 'planned posts' rarely seem to happen! I am a 'respond to the moment' kinda girl. So lets make some sketching architecture moments!

So anyway… a new idea this week… I am going start drawing the buildings of the exciting north western Sydney suburbs that I live in and at the same time share tips as I come across various issues. They will be fairly random and conversational… but I hope that if I do it regularly it will develop into a real series and motivate me to become a little more systematic. I am very keen to have you ask questions that I can answer the next time I am out sketching. Lets start a dialogue about what you kind hard….

Todays tip: I like to draw the roofscape first!

Getting roof angles right can be tricky so I like to draw them first and look at them as shapes as much as possible. I might apply some basic perspective (more of this on the next post!)  but just try to draw what I see. I then project the walls down from that…

(and yes, I was sketching in my car - in a parked position of course!)

Now I am sure I have not explained that fully… so fire away with questions and I will expand on it with my next post!

Sketching complicated roof forms

This was a very challenging roof to draw! But rather than stressing about getting the perspective perfect, I am starting to be confident that my loose linework and paint can sometimes hide the wonkiness. The question is how much wonkiness can you get away with?

I like to drive around suburban blocks looking for houses that catch my eye. Sketching from the comfort and security of my car!

Many hideously overscaled new houses...so this one stood out this afternoon and it also fits in with the USK AUS monthly theme of Roofscapes. Yes.... we have decided to have our own monthly theme...for more details visit our flickr or facebook.
www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Sketchers-Australia/29145153...
www.flickr.com/groups/uskaustralia/

I think I will try some more complicated roofscapes in the next few weeks.