Can a book teach you to draw any space? Sketching Perspective, recently published by Crowood Press, aims to do exactly that.
The book focuses on developing an understanding of how to translate what you see in front of you onto the page as quickly as possible - and the real test of skill comes from being able to do this rapidly and repeatedly. In addition to looking with your eyes, the book covers methods that show you how to use your hands and arms, in various ways, to bring the three-dimensional world flat onto the two-dimensional paper surface.
The book’s author, Ilga Leimanis, is a London-based visual artist, educator and author. Ilga has developed effective manual drawing skills and creative process courses, teaching at leading architecture and engineering practices in London and internationally. She has been teaching drawing skills for nearly fifteen years to students, many of whom were beginners when they started. She has taught the popular Urban Sketching courses at the Building Centre for the last four years.
In her classes Ilga uses quick sketches to demonstrate a concept, drawing on the spot in front of the group or the student. Similarly, most of the images in the book are made directly and quickly from observation on location, drawn in the moment with all their imperfections, working through the problems presented. These sketches communicate an energy and directness, and the rawness of the material serves to inspire you to do it too!
Ron Macklin writes in his review of the book for the NYC Urban Sketchers E-Newsletter: “Ms. Leimanis avoids precision with rulers and exact measurements which would certainly take more time from your outing leaving you less time for exploring other fun and interesting creative aspects of drawing and painting outdoors such as explorations with colour, mood and expression. The drawing examples in the book are done in a non-fussy, loose style so that someone learning will not get bogged down with trying to achieve absolute perfection. This keeps the book and learning process flowing and interesting.”
Find out more and order your copy here.
Sign up to the next Urban Sketching course with Ilga here.
