Today’s exercise was Scale & Rhythm, using the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. I started with a quick preliminary in ink, using the Sailor Naginata Concord. The aim was simply to establish the proportions, perspective and rhythm of the enormous columns without getting drawn into the architectural detail. For the final drawing I used the Concord again, with Buff Titanium and a grey mixed from Quinacridone Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. The preliminary showed me that the Concord is particularly good at describing the columns, but less suited to creating large areas of solid shadow. Rather than trying to force it to do that job, I allowed the wash to establish the larger tonal areas in the final. The second row of columns was particularly useful. Rather than drawing each one completely, I allowed some of them to disappear into the background. The contrast between the darker front row and the lighter rear columns gives the building both depth and scale. The right-hand entablature was another useful lesson. It is largely in shadow, but trying to describe all of that shadow with the Concord made the preliminary rather busy. In the final I was more selective and let the wash do more of the work.
The exercise was deliberately quick, and I think that helped. There was less time to start correcting everything and more emphasis on seeing the main structure and deciding what could be left out.
Score — 7.5/10
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