be either landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) in
layout, depending upon whether a panorama or, for
instance, a street scene is preferred. Panoramas of cities
can be dull affairs – just a collection of roofs and towers –
though vertical elements such as columnar cypress trees,
factory chimneys or masts can be used to offset the
stretching horizontality of the subject. Likewise, street
scenes may require some horizontality or shallow-angled
lines to counter the tendency towards the vertical. In both
cases you should search out shapes and lines to balance
the dominant ‘direction’ of subject or layout.
To return to the subject of the town church; if you wish
to draw the square in any detail then it is necessary to
place the church towards the top of the sheet. This will
allow you to pull the lines of the square and its paving
towards you, thereby giving the impression that you are
looking both ‘into’ the space and ‘at’ the church. This type
of drawing establishes a dialogue between object and
space, and allows you to consider how the square is used
and decorated.
Often a good sketch consists of leaving large areas of
the sheet relatively unrendered. A mere hint of lines is
usually sufficient and the openness of approach on one
part of the page can enhance the level of detail
elsewhere. A common mistake is to draw to the same
level of intensity right across the sheet, thereby removing
the opportunity for tensional conflicts. Since traditional
architecture plays on such tensions (for example, the
contrast between a decorated entrance doorway and a
plain area of wall) and modern architecture often ignores
them, a perceptive drawing should seek to exploit these
differences.
Try, if you can, to compose your drawing around
powerful lines of force within the sketch. These may be
the vertical ribs of an office block, the diagonal grid of a
steel-framed bridge, or the flowing lines of forestry
planting. The structure of a drawing should consist of
these dominating linear forces being mediated by
secondary lines or areas of shadow. If possible, seek a
balance between the primary and secondary elements, or
at least soften the harsh linearity of most architectural
subjects by drawing in surface pattern or texture.
The inclusion of such elements as people, cars or
vegetation helps to counteract the rectangular or linear
forms of buildings. The degree to which these secondary
elements soften the sharp outlines of architecture
depends upon the subject and the effect sought. You may
wish to add complexity and contradiction to the subject,
or simply accept the realities of a highly engineered
environment.
The play between horizontal and vertical lines, and
between hard and soft elements, can be developed into
triangular groupings on the sheet. By having three points
of interest the picture is more easily composed. Instead
of, say, the unresolved dominance of the towering lines of
a skyscraper, the drawing will have a repose, which may
suit certain subjects. Triangular framing does require
rather more than a simple sketch; the artist is now
moving towards a more detailed drawing, perhaps as a
prelude to easel painting.
As so much urban drawing deals with the façades of
buildings, the artist should try to add interest to the
drawing by giving the observer a sense of looking both
into the spaces of the city and at its buildings. The effect
can be achieved by pulling the lines of a street or square
towards the observer, thereby creating space that is
‘entered into’. The tension that results from the city as
‘elevation’ and the street as ‘stage’ can lead to a sketch
rich in ideas about the nature of urban design.58 Understanding architecture through drawing