Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and Concept Drawing for Designers

"The things we learn about our environment when we draw on location help us as we imagine, draw, and design the future."
Francis D.K. Ching

While computer–aided design has changed the way designers explore and communicate their visions, freehand drawing remains an essential skill for capturing a flow of visual ideas and developing them on the spot. Freehand Drawing & Discovery takes an updated and practical approach to using hand sketching in a digital world, employing a "both/and" philosophy that shows you how to rapidly capture ideas with hand sketching that can then be further explored and refined using digital tools.

Created by an urban designer and blog correspondent for Urban Sketchers, this resource–rich, user–friendly guide provides step–by–step instruction on drawing tools and techniques. It offers practical suggestions on how to use freehand sketching skills in conjunction with digital tools on real–world projects. Freehand Drawing & Discovery:

Crosses disciplinary boundaries, from architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture to the widely diverse Urban Sketching community Covers sketching tools and techniques, location sketching, concept sketching, and digital sketching Includes nearly 300 full–color drawings, including contributions by Michael Vergason, Kevin Sloan, Christine Ten Eyck, Luis Ruiz, Gabriel Campanario, Liz Steel, Kim Perry, Bob Hopewell, and a special contribution on digital design sketching by Robert Chipman Features access to video tutorials in which the author demonstrates techniques for creating sketches from your imagination, on location, sketching on a digital tablet, and painting with watercolors

Freehand Drawing & Discovery is a must–have handbook for students and professionals in urban planning, landscape architecture, and architecture. It is also a rewarding resource for general artists, sketchers, and anyone interested in the Urban Sketching phenomenon.

Foreword by Francis D.K. Ching x

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Part 1: Learning a Language

Chapter 1: The Freehand Renaissance 2

Influences 8

Art and Technology 12

Reintegrating Work and Play 16

Drawing and Discovery with Michael Vergason 20

Chapter 2: Nine Keys to Exploratory Drawing 24

Simplify Tools 27

Simplify Message 29

Work Small 31

Simplify Technique 32

Attack the Drawing 36

Draw People First 39

Pull It Together with Darks 43

Leave It Loose 44

Annotate Everything 45

Drawing and Discovery with Kevin Sloan 46

Chapter 3: Elements and Entourage 50

People 52

Vehicles 55

Trees, Shrubs, Groundcovers 58

Rock and Landforms 62

Water 69

Furnishings 72

Sky 76

Buildings 83

Drawing and Discovery with Christine Ten Eyck 92

Chapter 4: Creating Believable Worlds 98

Perspective: What You Really Need to Know 99

Creating Depth: Foreground, Middle Ground, Background 111

Building Up Color 115

Pulling It Together 119

Drawing and Discovery with Luis Ruiz 122

Part 2: Urban Sketching

Chapter 5: Urban Sketching as Creative Fuel 130

Drawing and Discovery with Gabriel Campanario 140

Chapter 6: Capturing the Place 144

Tools 145

Subject Matter 147

Editing 150

To Color or Not to Color? 152

Working Fast 154

Drawing and Discovery with Liz Steel 162

Part 3: Concept Sketching

Chapter 7: Capturing the Idea 170

Sketching over Digital Bases 173

Sketching over Aerial Photographs 173

Concepts and Character 192

Drawing and Discovery with Kim Perry 204

Chapter 8: Digital Sketching – Drawing Without Limits 208

The Vision 210

The Reality 213

Tablet Sketching Gallery 215

Drawing and Discovery with Robert Chipman, ASLA 232

Chapter 9: What s Next? 238

Practice 240

Collect 241

Copy 242

Keep the Well Filled 243

Drawing and Discovery with Bob Hopewell 254

Endnote 261

Index 263

JAMES RICHARDS, FASLA, is cofounder and Principal of Townscape, Inc., an urban design consultancy, and an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington′s School of Architecture. He is a national award–winning designer, writer, and illustrator whose work spans landscape architecture, town planning, and urban design. Mr. Richards is a blog correspondent for Urban Sketchers (www.urbansketchers.org), an international drawing movement. He travels globally conducting drawing workshops for both students and professionals.