Today’s study looked at the relationship between repeated classical elements, concentrating on the columns and the spaces between them. I didn’t feel it today, maybe because it is the final day of my holiday or I felt rushed, but as soon as I placed the first column I felt it wasn’t right. The reference was chosen for its strong perspective, with the columns progressively diminishing into the distance. The preliminary established the main structure and the changing rhythm of the columns before moving on to the finished sketch. The foreground columns were given more detail and stronger definition, while the columns further away were progressively simplified. The warm ochre/buff wash was similarly reduced in strength with distance, with cooler tones used selectively for the shadows. The open spaces between the columns were deliberately left light to retain the sense of daylight passing through the colonnade. I prefer the preliminary.
The exercise was less about drawing each column accurately and more about using proportion, repetition and diminishing detail to create depth.
Score — 6.5/10
A useful architectural study, but not one of the more resolved finished sketches.
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