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Yesterday was the first day of the sketching course that I am taking and the Professor, Hugh Thompson, said something that I had been thinking about for a while. We were discussing sketching building in some sort of landscape and two people came up; Bonington and Railton, both of who are accomplished Draughtsmen and artists.
While looking at some of their work, Hugh mentioned the preference for lowering the horizon to bring the view point more of a human scale. It is that which started me thinking. When creating a perspective, be it a sketch or a finished drawing, from where should it be taken? I understand the decision to create sketches from a human position, it makes sense. You draw what you see before you. It makes the drawing more believable to the human eye. This seems to hold true to what I have observed in previous drawings. Viewing the building so that there is some relationship between what is being viewed and what the viewer can relate to, the objects they see on a daily basis. It lends familiarity to the subject being drawn, and as a result, the drawer can be less accurate or less realistic in the actual representation. The drawing can be simpler if the viewer is presented with spacial relationships they already unsterstand.
Of course that doesn't mean that you shouldn't add the detail or make it less realistic. It just means that when creating a drawing, use how people understand space and buildings to your advantage.
The Perspective:
"I wonder, and have for some time now, where is the best place to take a perspective from? Eye height seems to make the most sense, but it doesn't always show the building as I would like it to. Maybe more from above...
...I close my eyes and try and picture the perspective in my mind.
I just went and scanned through some collections of architectural drawings in the library. All were different in regards to the viewing angle, but this does lead me to an answer of sorts: My perspective has to demonstrate something that the other drawings don't. In this project, I am trying to gain additional "dwelling" space. Therefore, my perspective should show that.
A lower angle, looking through the extended exterior space into the interior.
Also, picking a scene/scenery. It needs to have a location, so it doesn't sit all by itself in a blank field."
"I think I have figured out what the perspective is going to look like. It seems that setting up the fore, middle and back-ground gives the drawing depth and character.
The perspective is now roughed out in pencil. It looks okay, but there is something slightly off about it. I think the perspective of the background might be a bit wrong. I can't quite seem to figure it out."
