January 2011

There were 34 posts published in January 2011 (this is page 1 of 1).

Notes and sketches of MVRDV’s Porter’s Lodges in Otterlo, The Netherlands. (I know these look like poorly drawn houses, but they’re actually well-observed! They really look that way 🙂

Quick sketch of the Château de Fontainebleau. Didn’t have much time for this one because I was instructing others. Still happy with the result though!

Cathedral and church facades from across Spain and France (and London!). Here we have the Cathedral of Avila, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia (Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, Barcelona), Notre Dame, Laon Cathedral, Basilica of St Denis (Paris), Reims Cathedral, Abbey of Saint-Remi (Reims), and Westminster Abbey (London).

Another little tutorial page. This time, for 2 point perspective tricks. Basically, the idea is to draw lightly, and try to avoid the “diamond drawing”.

Last year, I taught sketching on the Knowlton School of Architecture’s European study abroad tour. This is a little how-to for 1 point perspective that I doodled up to help teach people the tricks of converting 3D objects to the 2D plane of the paper. A lot of people were having trouble with the technique; most often their drawings looked too “floaty”. This came in handy when I was explaining things.

A dramatic interior space of Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. The floor was littered with thousands of cast-iron faces. In order to cross the room, you had to walk on the faces. With every step, they clang and bang together as if crying out.

Sketches and notes from Schloss Belvedere in Vienna, Austria. It was so hot outside, so I tried to stay as long as possible in the air conditioned foyer, which was held up by these atlas columns.

I was supposed to be sketching the interior of the Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun, but I was having a hard time at it, so I started drawing the orchestra. I’ve had a long time obsession with cellos…