Classical Architecture Monuments

Architecture History – Architecture Monuments Sketch.

Let’s sketch a couple of buildings from architecture history.

In this lesson we will be learning a bit on the history of architecture but we will also be sharpening our line drawing skills.

How come? We will be drawing this lesson in pen – drawing in pen will add more precision to your overall line drawing.

We will be drawing three different monuments: the gate of ishtar, the greek parthenon and the roman pantheon.
The trick is though… in how we will be drawing them. Generally speaking, drawing a monument is about grabbing an A4 sheet of paper and then doing an A4-sized sketch and that’s it – done and over.

We will be approaching this in a more advanced way – we will start off with A4 sketches of each monument in eye-level and aerial perspective… so that’s six drawings in total.
After that we will create a collage of these images – for each monument we will have a main image and a secondary image…

All images will be a collage, so drawing these six drawings isn’t going to be about dividing the page in six and drawing each image in a rectangle and etc etc.

No, we will create a visual hierarchy and the eye-level perspectives are going to have priority over the aerial ones.

In terms of literally doing this we will be going by the four-step formula: first fill up the page, then thicken the line drawing, then hatching and after rethickening of the lines after we’re done with hatching. For the thick lines that really need to pop off the page a decent blue marker is good enough.

This is an introduction of how to draw each of the monuments of architecture and then how to fit them in a decent layout. Obviously, these volumes are complicated, you won’t get their proportion from the first go, so you need to start sketching them just like you feel and then progressively work out the proportion, various elements, materiality and detailing.

Line Drawing

Gate Of Ishtar

This is ancient Mesopotamian architecture, it features the first attempt at drawing an arch out of stone and Loren I-sum

Eye-level perspective

WE will be drawing the gate in a one-point perspective. The horizon line will be guesstimated but will be draw so the height of the person fits several times through the gate – yes this architecture is massive, it isn’t closer to a roman arch of triumph than a ‘gate’.

Make sure to draw the symmetry of the gate with the same elements on both sides, but keep in mind that the perspective point is towards one third of the volume… in this case the left hand side third.

The front two ‘heads’ of the gate have two circular holes, reminiscent of eyes, the back heads have three of these holes and are significantly larger.

Aerial perspective

Now you see the gate in full context – so you can notice multiple structures similar to its design… we will have to make the gate stand out because of the colored brick – but this detail will come out just in the hatching phase.

Greek Parthenon

the greeks were the inventors of modern civilisation, and the architecture they c related embodies the same mindset and values.
Order, symmetry, perfection, axiality and a surprising knowledge of how to design buildings that counter the deforming effects of perspective
The parthenon is the main temple of the roman acropolae and it features a longitudinal plan – which means it has a axis of perception. But because of its position on top of the acropolae this means the temple also features colonnades on all sides, as it is meant to be seen from all sides.
The exterior columns have a doric order and the interior ones a Corinthian order.

The eye-level perspective is still a bottom up perspective, as the parthenon is located on top of a flight of stairs… so well above the standard 1.65 human height.
To draw the parthenon you got 8 columns on the short side and 17 on the long side. The orders of these columns is doric, so they will be decently easy to detail.
In theory, the parthenon is now a ruin, but we will be drawing it in its prime.
We need to detail the foreground of the Temple, and that is an area full of stones which are remnants of previous architecture elements… thus we can draw them as we would draw typical stones, but we also need to add a couple of classical order references. Hence, we need to sketch a couple of columns just as foreground elements for the large perspective.

For the aerial perspective we will be drawing the whole acropolae, so this is like drawing a flat hill with many smaller temples but with the parthenon taking front stage.

Roman pantheon

This is the roman temple dedicated to all the gods, hence the name – pantheon = all existing deities.
It features a huge dome with cosseted cast concrete structure and an oculus on top which is a stone fitting that lets in natural sunlight.
The pentheon also features a greek temple facade which means it combines axial perception with a circular plan.

Colouring And Hatching

I will be colouring the perspective in light gray marker and then add pen on top of it so as to

Difficulty: Noobie to Intermediate

Video Time: 2:43:41

In this video you will learn about how to correctly construct a detailed isometric axonometric at line-drawing level. This exercise will continue in the next lesson with adding cast and volume shadows.

• Take your time to understand each of the buildings, this study should encompass everything we learned for the past two moths – from graphics to understand architecture.
• Drawing in pen is very simple – it will clear up your line drawing and and get you that extra edge of confidence in your abilities.

• You will mess up certain lines when freehand sketching in pen, it is inevitable. Do not forget that the end result is to get a good drawing, for that you need to go through the four steps (read the post) Freehand sketch, ruler thicken, hatch, rethicken.
• You will constantly think ‘but there’s not enough room on my page’ No, there is a near infinite amount of space on your page. Do not forget that we are thinking in terms of architectural drawing – this means you need to overlap objects on top of each other… you know, the way you actually see them in real life.