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Urban Sketching

Perspective Drawing Of Chatham Synagogue Building

by Zamali 27/08/2022

I made this architectural perspective drawing of the Chatham Synagogue, during a regular art event day out with Rochester and West Kent Art Society, UK – (A great art society with regular exhibitions and events, if you are in the areas of Medway and West Kent).

I have always been fascinated by historic architecture and drawings of buildings. It’s one of my favourite topics to draw and the one subject that I’ve probably sketched the most in my artistic life.

In this post, I share with you a few pictures taken on that day while I was drawing this magnificent building. You can see more of my process and inspiration for drawing buildings here and my portfolio of Architectural Drawings

Step-by-step process of Drawing the Chatham Synagogue Building

Drawing the building of Chatham-synagogue — Stages of the drawing of Chatham Synagogue

Chatham Synagogue was built in 1869, this is a grade 2 listed building in the baroque style by Hyman Collins.

Chatham synagogue featuring drawing by Nab Zamali — Drawing featured on The Chatham Synagogue Website (August 2022)

27/08/2022 0 comment

Perspective Drawing Basics for Beginners

by Zamali 14/11/2021

To improve your Perspective drawing, The best tip I have for you is this; practice drawing perspective lines on a photo (like the one below) I’m sure at some point in life you looked at railways or at some street view. You may have noticed how rows of houses, walls, and rail tracks that you know are constructed in parallel lines, seem to converge in the distance and come together in a away. That point where all lines seem to converge is usually at your eye level that is One point perspective and is the most basic and best demonstration of perspective.

one-point perspective demo — One-point perspective practice (vanishing point)

What is Perspective Drawing?

In short, perspective is your relative point of view; but when we talk about perspective drawing, it’s more about the spatial aspect. When you start to draw perspective as a novice, you instantly recognize how important it is. It all comes down to the way the human eye views the world. Perspective drawing adds a sense of three-dimensionality to things on a two-dimensional surface.

The method of perspective drawing is used to generate an illusion of depth. Objects appear to shrink in size at a consistent pace as they move away from the viewer. Because of the use of perspective, the box in the sketch below appears solid and three-dimensional.

1 and 2 point perspective drawing — One-Point Perspective and Two-Point Perspective drawing by @asrionpractices

Terminologies used in Perspective Drawing

Linear perspective, as well as the use of colour, is used to enhance visual depth. Depth is created using lines as well as the scale and orientation of shapes. While compositions can vary in degree, the key terminology and definitions discussed below are fundamental to linear perspective drawings.

Vanishing Point

The apparent intersection of parallel lines in the distance on the horizon line.

Horizon Line

The line that connects the sky to the ground or sea below. The vanishing point(s) and the eye level of the picture are both affected by the height of the horizon.

The eye level of the observer is always at the horizon line. However, as viewers are likely to be of varying heights, the height of the horizon line changes accordingly. As a result, three separate views are distinguished: the bird’s-eye view, the typical perspective (based on ourselves), and the worm’s-eye view.

Ground Plane

The horizontal surface below the horizon is known as the ground plane. It could be either land or water.

Orthogonal Lines

Lines that are oriented to a vanishing point, such as train tracks, are examples of orthogonal lines or parallel lines. The term “orthogonal” really refers to a right angle. It indicates the right angles produced by converging lines, such as the perspective corner of a cube.

Vantage Point

The vantage point, not to be confused with the vanishing point, is the location from which a scene is observed. The location of the horizon and vanishing points influences the vantage point.

What are the 3 common types of perspective drawing?

One-Point Perspective

Consider looking at a straight road as one of the finest examples of a one-point perspective. The road will appear to converge at a single point on the horizon line, as will all of the sections within a one-point perspective composition.

All vanishing lines meet at a single point, while the horizontal and vertical lines remain parallel.

one point perspective drawing — One-Point Perspective drawing by @artistsoflabms

Two-Point Perspective

A two-point perspective, similar to a one-point perspective, introduces a second vanishing point. These two points are often placed on opposing sides of the composition, such as on the far left and far right.

Three-Point Perspective

A three-point perspective, often known as a multi-point perspective, is a type of perspective employing more than two vanishing points. This is often used when the subject becomes more complicated.

The three-point perspective is similar to a two-point perspective in that it has vanishing points on the horizon to the left and right. There is then an additional vanishing point that is either below or above the horizon.

This gives a bird’s eye view of the subject. If the third point were to be placed above the two vanishing points, it would produce an extreme upwards view.

three point perspective drawing — Three-point Perspective drawing by @reenaganesh14

Perspective Drawing in Portraits and Human Form

Althought less visible in portraits and figure but the rules of perspective in your drawings should still apply. I recommend you study this fine example by Leonardo Davinci this is a sketch of Head of a Young Woman (Study for the Angel inThe Virgin of the Rocks), 1483-1485 LEONARDO DA VINCI. Notice the perspective lines highlighted in the photo for you.

davinci-perspective-drawing-portrait — 483-1485 LEONARDO DA VINCI

Drawing Characters in Perspective

In character design and comics artists often exaggerate the perspectives to add dramas to scenes

Are you interested in more drawing tips and tutorials? Check our other posts.

For daily inspiration follow our Instagram page.

14/11/2021 0 comment

Drawing Buildings & Urban Sketches by Nab Zamali

by Zamali 05/07/2021

This is a collection of drawings by the Artist and author of this blog Nab Zamali.

Drawings buildings, architecture, sketches of monuments, and Urbansketching events.

[robo-gallery id=”130″]

Check out also our collection of classical urban sketches and drawings of buildings on Pinterest

05/07/2021 0 comment

How to Draw Buildings and Other Urban Sketching Tips

by Zamali 28/03/2020

Learning How to Draw Buildings and Architecture will improve your understanding of perspective for all other forms of drawing
Your first drawing of anything is just a sketch, so keep it spontaneous
Start your sketch by marking the highest and the lowest points (in relation to your line of sight)
Tips and instructions for drawing architecture fast and easy

By drawing buildings, urban sketching and architectural studies, you train your eye to see and perfect your perspective knowledge and techniques.

One of the most challenging topics for beginners learning to draw is Perspective. This is essential for all forms of drawings. From Portrait to Painting, you have to master the art of perspective, and the best way to improve perspective is by learning how to draw buildings and practising more urban sketching.

sketch of a victorian building — Sketch of a Victorian building.

Drawing urban architecture is easier than you think. The trick is speed. I just realised while writing this post, that some of my best drawings were actually quite rushed and on the move. You don’t need much equipment or prep for that.

I just keep a small sketchbook with me at all times with a 2B and Zebra black ink Pens, and if I’m walking or even driving around London and see an interesting building, I will often stop for just 15-30min to sketch it.

draw-buildings-church3 — Drawing of Christ Church (Turnham Green) London.

5 Tips on How to Draw Buildings Fast

Remember this; Every first drawing of anything you see is a SKETCH. This means, please keep it simple and spontaneous.

If you are outside on a walk and see something for the first time, reach for your sketchbook and do a rough sketch. Aim to scale what you see onto your sketchbook. Do the very first major lines, horizon line and vertical lines.

how to draw buildings steps — Stages of sketching a building correctly

Use a very light touch at the beginning. It’s ok to shift some lines and structures around. (see picture above)

Start by marking the top and bottom of what you want to sketch (highest point and lowest) of the building or structure.
Then measure (in comparison to the height) the width of the building and mark that also on paper.
Add the horizon line. This is the line that is perfectly horizontal to your point of view.
From there start adding the major lines, while still measuring and comparing those to the proportions of the height and width you captured at the beginning.
Start adding detail, with more emphasis on details in the shade. So if the light source is coming from above left, the lines to the right and bottom should be heavier than lines on top and on the left.

Examples of the rough first sketches of buildings on location:

Material I Use

When I don’t have much time, I use mostly a 2B or 3B pencil. This is the quickest way to draw something I find. Here are some more tips on pencils and drawing techniques

I also use a Zebra Pen (I was inspired to use this pen thanks to the Art of Dina Brodsky) when I have a bit more time and I enjoy the control the Zebra pen gives.

Sometimes I use a Micron 0.05 to 0.5 when I have plenty of time and want to my first sketch to be a final drawing. An artist that I’m a huge fan of who uses Micron pens to produce some of the most fascinating Urban Drawings is Luke Adam Hawker

For more details on Drawing Pens, I suggest you check this article on Jacksons blog

For inspiration, here is a drawings collection of Buildings and Vintage Urban sketching from 1920

More Urban Sketches and Drawing of Buildings by Nab Zamali

Drawing V&A Museum 2019
Drawing Richmond 2018
Drawing Musee des Art decoratifs
Drawing Arezzo IT 2019
Drawing Turnham Green 2020
Drawing Putney UK 2019
Drawing Brighton 2019
Richmond UK 2019
Drawing Brighton 2018
Drawing London
Greenwich Drawing 2019

28/03/2020 0 comment

USK Sketching Greenwich The Importance of the”Right” Perspective

by Zamali 08/09/2019

Today I join USK event to sketch Greenwich area.

I arrived at this USK event bit late and missed the first meet up, So I walked around to see if I can meet some artists. While walking by the river, I saw an interesting angle to the Royal Naval College

I immediately knew this was an unusual and very interesting angle of view to that building, and the reason is the Thames river at this exact spot curves in for about 15meters and this allows a bit more detail on the two-point perspective view. Still, I’ve walked around the building little more as I always do (to get to know the subject) and see if there is a better or more interesting point of view.
I didn’t find a better location to do my sketch, this spot where I first saw the building had the best angle and the least crowd.

You can see below the stages of the final artwork from the first feel light drawing (I will write a spot about this in future and the importance that I make a quick rough sketch before I start any artwork)

The final artwork took 1hr approximately and 15min of initial observation and study walk around the area.

This event in Greenwich was organised by USK London, part of the Global Urban Sketchers Community.

If you are into sketching I’m pretty sure you’ve heard or for sure have attended at least Urban Sketchers events, I’ve joined many groups and communities before, USK has to be one of the best-organised community that is run by volunteers.
So this below is my participation at the past Sunday Urban Sketchers in Greenwich event.

08/09/2019 0 comment