Review by Tina Koyama, Seattle
Filled with many different styles of urban sketching, Archisketcher – Drawing Buildings, Cities and Urban Landscapes by Simone Ridyard has very little to do with drawing like an architect
and everything to do with helping you make buildings come alive in your
sketchbook. Its goal is not to teach you how to draw but to show a variety of
approaches so that you can find and express your own.
The list of contributors reads like a who’s-who of
contemporary urban sketching – Shari Blaukopf, Nina Johansson, Ch’ng Kiah
Kiean, Suhita Shirodkar and Liz Steel are among the more than 40 artists
worldwide – but my guess is that at least half are not architects, which I found inspiring in and of itself. “You
don’t need to be an architect to sketch architecture confidently,” says the
author in the introduction, and a quick scan of the book would tell you that’s
true.
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| Sketches by Esther Semmens and Liz Steel are among those in the section Sketching an Icon: Sydney Opera House |
Focusing on composition, color, viewpoint and other aspects
of architectural sketching, Archisketcher
expands on each aspect by showing multiple examples. Each of the book’s five
main sections ends with “Sketching an Icon,” in which sketches by several
artists of the same well-known structure (such as Notre Dame or the Brooklyn
Bridge) are shown together. I found it fascinating to see how sketchers take on
the same subject in such varied ways. In addition, each section highlights two
urban sketchers showing their home towns in “My Neighborhood.” Both of these
unique selections of sketches are especially inspiring and enjoyable to savor
again and again.
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| Kumi Matsukawa shows several sketches of Tokyo in her "My Neighborhood" section. |
One other unique feature of Archisketcher is the author’s particular viewpoint as an architect,
which is apparent in brief but illuminating sidebars to many sketches. Ridyard
might comment on the historical significance of a Moorish tower appearing in
Alvarao Carnicero’s sketch, for example, or how the roofline of a city becomes
its signature. As someone who has never studied architecture, even casually, I
really appreciate this context and the opportunity to view a sketch the way an
architect might.
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| Ch'ng Kiah Kiean's work is an example of a sketch with a low horizon and effective use of the compositional "rule of thirds." Ridyard's sidebar explains three types of architectural columns. |
Other than brief lessons on one-point and two-point
perspective, the book contains no how-to instructions or basics found in most
urban sketching books (such as suggested art materials or portability tips).
For those reasons, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to a novice.
Instead, I’d say its audience is sketchers who have a few years of sketching
under their belts and are now looking for ways to step-up their architectural
sketching level. Perhaps that group includes sketchers who are comfortable with
most subjects, but architecture still intimidates them. I could also see
experienced sketchers who are comfortable with architecture nonetheless being
inspired by the wide variety of approaches shown that could get them out of a
potential sketching rut. There’s something here for almost everyone – and
definitely eye candy for all.
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