Increasingly people are taking to the streets and drawing. If you’re sketching in urban environments, it is really important to have a basic understanding of how to draw architecture—or at least the first principles involved in architectural sketching. You don’t need to know the intricate details of perspective, composition or color theory; you just need to observe what’s in front of you and draw it as best you can. Most of all, enjoy the experience and your enthusiasm will be reflected in what you sketch.
If you are serious about sketching, with practice your drawings will continue to improve and, even more importantly, you will develop your own personal style. Many of the sketchers featured in this book have spent years refining their unique approach, and it’s always such a pleasure to see how someone else has tackled the same view as you—we all approach them so differently!
You don’t need to be an architect to sketch architecture confidently; simply approach it as you would any drawing, or any collection of objects—for example, a still life. It’s about understanding the principles of composition: how you position your objects (or architecture, in this case) on the page. A little understanding of perspective helps, of course, but most important of all is practice and an enthusiasm for drawing buildings and urban environments.
NINA JOHANSSON
The Gotland Runt (“Offshore Race”), Stockholm, Sweden
AHMAD HAKYM BIN AHMAD HILMY
Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
It is also good to have a basic understanding of the architecture you are sketching. We all live in different places—different towns, cities and villages—all over the world, and all places have their own unique topography and architectural style (or vernacular, as it’s called). Yet, whether it’s skyscrapers in Asia or North America, picturesque English villages or Mediterranean hill towns, the way we look at and analyze architecture is always the same. You need to understand the scale of it—for example, in relation to yourself, or another human figure. You also need to be able to identify specific characteristics: Is it modern contemporary, or ornate Gothic architecture from the Middle Ages? And, if you’re drawing a Venetian palazzo, how will you handle the elaborately intricate detail you see in front of you?
The great thing about sketching on location is the immediacy involved in capturing the view. I like to think of it as harnessing my creative energy, and I hope that my enthusiasm—indeed passion—for sketching architecture and urban environments shines through in all the images selected for presentation in this book!