Today’s exercise was Rhythm & Repetition, using the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. I wanted to concentrate on the repeated columns and, rather than trying to draw each one in exactly the same way, use the rhythm of the colonnade to establish the structure of the building. I used the Sailor Naginata Concord throughout, with Buff Titanium and a grey mixed from Quinacridone Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. I increased the intensity of the mix as the shadows became deeper. I started with a fairly detailed preliminary in ink. It was deliberately quite inky, and although it helped me work out the structure and spacing, it also showed me how easily I can use too much line when trying to describe repeated architectural elements. For the final drawing I reduced the amount of ink and allowed the wash to do more of the work. The cool grey behind the columns was particularly useful. In the preliminary, the light spaces behind the columns competed with the columns themselves; adding the wash in the final gave the columns a clearer relationship with the recess behind them.
The Concord worked very well for this exercise. Its slightly uneven and broken line means that the columns don’t all look identical, while the repetition of the verticals still gives the building a strong rhythm. There are still areas I could improve. Some of the capitals and the darker areas beneath the entablature became rather congested, and I could have been more selective with the darkest marks. The upper part of the building is also probably more heavily described than it needs to be. But overall I’m pleased with this one. The preliminary and final also made a useful pair: the first worked through the architecture, while the second was more about deciding what could be left out.
Looking back at my earlier drawing of the same building, I can see that I’ve become much more comfortable allowing repeated elements to become simpler rather than trying to describe every one of them.
Score — 7.5/10
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