sketchbook is a personal library; it needs to be built up so
that it can become a basis for later, undreamt of, designs.
Many architects’ drawings leave out a great deal of
detail. Whether a sketch is of a design proposal or an
existing reality, the element of removal or abstraction is
one of the characteristics of such drawings. It is better to
capture the essence rather than seek an exhaustive
realism. Designers need to know what to leave
suggested rather than explicitly recorded. The principles
and truth that such drawings seek to communicate can be
hidden by too much detail or graphic bombardment. A
good drawing is one that leaves room for imaginative
interpretation. These principles apply equally to a page in
the sketchbook or a drawing prepared to highlight a
design proposal.
Sketching and freehand drawing have for too long
been seen as the point of entry into painting, as against
the essential starting point for design. Art colleges have,
of course, always maintained a sketchbook tradition
among artists and designers alike, but in sixth-form
colleges, and even schools of architecture, the
sketchbook has been usurped by the computer simulation
or verbal description.
What this book seeks to revive is the sketch and
analytical drawing as means of understanding form and
construction. Only through the study of existing examples- not laboriously drawn but critically examined – can we
cultivate a nation of people sensitive to design and its
application to our everyday environment. This willingness
to learn from past examples should apply across the
1.
The sculptural massing is
evident in this disused colliery
at Chislet in Kent.The benefits of drawing 3