Drawing Simple Structures

Drawing environments is not something that you can learn overnight. Drawing even simple structures take much effort. I came to learn that there are many steps to drawing structures. Something that may be as simple as a square building has many different techniques to draw them. To draw an environment it is best to start with a general idea of the finished product (Robertson, and Bertling 108). Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling states that "A great way to create a perspective grid quickly is by using a photo as an underlay." (108). For practice I started out with a simple picture of a simple square house that was clean with not much detail to it. First I found the vanishing point of the house by intersecting two guide lines at the house. From there, I could use the point to create a rough one point perspective outline of the building. I used black ink to outline the visible edges of the drawing.

To finish the drawing, I took a new sheet of paper and used the it to make a sketch of the house and added details. The details were mostly basic boxes that would defines the windows, doors and small accessories on the house. Even though my house is still quite simple in the end, the extra details I added made the house look more house-like than the underlay I used to create it. The finished product would look less appealing without the windows and doors. According to Robertson and Bertling, "Detailing a drawing is an important step to making it more successful, and being able to do that happens when you spend time improving your visual library." (107). The best way to be able to get better in drawing structures and environments would be to practice continuously.

What kind of details do you think the author means by improving your visual library?

Robertson, Scott, and Thomas Bertling. How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination. CA: Design Studio, 2013. Print.