Lewis Timber Mouldings Melbourne – Last week my good sketching friends Suhita Shirodkar and Paul Wang invited me to be their guest at their SketchingPlayLab block party. It was so much fun!
The theme of the block party was travel sketches and I gave a short presentation about my approach. I have outlined three important aspects of travel sketching that stem from my early work – decades ago. They are:
Lewis Timber Mouldings Melbourne
In 2000, I traveled through England for the first time with my sister, and part of the preparation for this trip was doing a lot of research on the history of architecture in England. I don’t want to go as far as possible to identify all the different periods of English Gothic – talk about setting a high standard for me! And I’m very interested in Palladio’s influence on English architecture. Well, I’ve been a Palladian fan for decades!
E 14 52 20 Hi Res Stock Photography And Images
I want to sketch while traveling but can only manage a few pages. So after returning home I spent about a year researching all the buildings I saw and then summarized my findings in several sketches. Creating annotated images is the best way to record my findings! At that time I wanted to add freehand drawings to my work and I thought this would be a good way to do it.
I filled two A5 cartridge sketchbooks with floor plan, elevation (direct view) and section (cutaway view) drawings. I also made some axonometric diagrams!
Axonometry is a 3-dimensional drawing created by rotating a plan and projecting the elevation vertically. This results in a funny aerial view, so it looks more like a picture than it actually is. But the best thing about him is that he accurately describes the plan and form of the building. I made an axonometric view of all the cathedrals I visited and some of the great houses. It’s a good challenge! To make it easier for me, I drew the floor plan at an angle to use as a basis for the axonometry on the page at the top.
I’ve shared some of these ‘UK2K’ sketches before here and here . But I thought it was time to scan and share some more.
Rexington Home 160cm Lewis Desk
I am a huge fan of the works of Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor and absolutely love Blenheim Palace. BTW I did a lot of pictures for Castle Howard (also from Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor) which you can see here.
In 2000 I became really interested in English Gothic architecture and went to various cathedrals during my trip. In fact, we visited 4 cathedral cities in one day. Here are some sketches I made of them.
Ely Cathedral. This drawing is very important because it shows the basics of my current approach to drawing buildings – finding the basic volume and drawing the structure first.
Axonometric of Lincoln Cathedral (probably my favorite English cathedral…even though the facade is a little flat, the setting is spectacular and the interior is certainly beautiful!).
The World You Want’. With A Sense
Wells Cathedral – Again a common theme is how the front facade relates to the previous building plan.
Elevation of Salisbury Cathedral. Among the books used for research is Cathedrals of England by Alec Clifton-Taylor. This is a great book with strong opinions that I really appreciate!
The ambitious axonometrics of King’s College Chapel itself show the plan, interior and exterior structure. Good! I love this building.
A comparison of some Elizabethan palaces. Little did I think that 10 years later I would be painting Hardwick Hall on the spot.
At Home With Designer Kelly Wearstler
It’s really fun to see those pictures again – both in terms of content and technique. I think they are all the same with the 0.4 artline fineliner and there is no variation in the weight of the line. I also didn’t know much about cross hatching at the time. So if I do the same thing nowadays, it’s two different things. I can still be neat but I’m rarely like that.
Yes already! I can tidy up when I’m in the mood. In fact, I have made many accurate and detailed pictures of groups walking through my building courses over the years which can be viewed here. And a few years ago, I made a nice sketch of Chiswick House and commented that carefully detailing some small detail, even if it wasn’t a major part of the building, was a big part of the process. I like to focus on the most interesting part of the building design, and this rarely involves documenting all the details.
I know detailed pictures always look impressive but I find it a bit tame. Balancing the details, line weight and hatching etc takes skill but I know I can easily produce this style of drawing if I just slow down and take each step carefully. But working quickly and slowly, working directly with watercolors is still very difficult to achieve that level of precision! It has a high level of risk and exploration.
Today’s style of architectural drawing (very simple watercolors) relies on architectural studies and detail work but I don’t need to draw like this. However, I wanted to capture the essence of the building with minimal strokes so that the end result tells a more personal story – what I think about the building. An example of this is my epic day in Venice from 2019.
Years Ago: Plans, Elevations, Sections And Axonometrics
I could write more about the importance of these images, but I will leave them for another article. And just for the record, these are just a few examples… I have some other important architectural pictures of London to share!
I’m very happy to have a prompt to revisit some of my early work. So thanks again Paul and Suhita! It was great to hang out with you as part of the SketchingPlayLab session. I did a few private sessions with him doing some SketchingPlayLab exercises and he gave me great advice. Find out more here. The Miles Lewis Heritage Collection of Building Materials contains over 300 items, from nails to roofing sheets, collected by Professor Miles Lewis during his career.
Used by the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in their teaching programs for many years, the collection provides an insight into the materials and construction techniques common in nineteenth and early twentieth century Australia.
Scanning 3D objects enables the exploration of their size and texture (for example, observing thumbprints on bricks) and traces the European influence on Australian architectural methods.
Skirting Boards, Architraves, Accessories And Custom Doors
Learn more about the people involved in the project. Each person brings a different expertise to the project. Explore their stories and learn about the challenges the project faced, their motivations and what they hope for the future of the collection.
In addition to 3D scanning, the project process includes cataloging the collection to understand its scope, creating metadata, and creating a video and website. These activities provide a better understanding of meaning, context and object.
The project is defined by three characteristics: curiosity, innovation and accessibility. Being trapped in a cabinet, people can now interact with and manipulate 3D objects and learn more about their historical origins and meanings.
