Chapter 7
The importance of practice
The co-ordination of hand and eye is a necessary starting
point for freehand drawing. It is only through frequent
practice and by following sound principles that the
facility to draw without hesitation or uncertainty can be
attained. The fluid, confident lines of an accomplished
draughtsman are achieved as the result of much practice.
This book does not pretend to teach drawing, only to
encourage its use as part of the design process. Like the
acquisition of all skills, training and self-discipline are as
important as the possession of natural talent.
Practice does not require that you spend your time
entirely on location drawing. The home and the design
studio or workshop provide ample opportunity to develop
eye-to-hand co-ordination or to test the rules of
perspective drawing. By looking at the outline of the
subject and infilling part or all of the detail – whether it be
a drawing of a chair or cup and saucer – you will quickly
develop the basic skills necessary for sketching in the
street. The importance of spontaneous, relaxed drawing
cannot be overemphasised. While you might be
concentrating on organising the angled lines of a scene
into a sound perspective framework, the fact that you are
sketching at all is of the greatest importance. Unlike the
first notes on a piano or trumpet, the artist’s scribbles are
largely a private affair and should not disturb the
household. It is remarkable how quickly most people
graduate from producing primitive, inhibited sketches to
lifelike representations.
It is important that you approach drawing from both
ends – from the personal, idiosyncratic angle, and from
the point of view of academic skill. The latter concerns
questions of perspective, composition, shade and
shadow. By developing both a personal style and a good
grasp of basic principles, it should be possible to produce
drawings that are lively and informative. Architectural
sketching benefits from both a strong individual approach
to the subject and the necessary graphic techniques to
relay the private vision satisfactorily.7.1
Small subjects can be a useful
starting point in learning to
explore through freehand
drawing. Here a fragment of
structure from the lighthouse
at Dovercourt forms the basis
of the sketch.60 Understanding architecture through drawing