The Joys of Sketching

This week Art Rice, a professor from NC State, was here to help us transition to living in Prague and to adapt to Prague.  I had heard that he is an excellent drawer, so I asked him in an email if we could go drawing around Prague.  He agreed to take some classmates and I on what he calls a "drawing safari." We met at the Institute and headed out to our first space to draw.

I could not understand when I asked classmates to go with me on the “drawing safari”, the majority of responses consisted of moaning and/or some comment on their lack of drawing skill. 

Art has a theory about drawing:  We are all born with this excessive amount of bad drawings. When we draw a bad one, we should be glad because we’re getting rid of them. Whoever draws the most bad drawings wins!

That gave us a lot of encouragement, myself included.

Art has a skill drawing with pencil. I wanted to use my marker so badly, but since Art was here I thought I’d try drawing with pencil.

This is the first place that we stopped to draw. It was a small courtyard. Most of these courtyards are hidden from the main street.

After I drew this for 30 minutes, I walked over to Art and sat down.  He saw my drawing and said “Can I give some hints?”

“Absolutely!”

He critiqued how I drew the tree. He told me my ground plane lines looked like a wall instead of the ground. He told me it was a good first attempt.  I told him that I am afraid of pencil and that I prefer marker because I can be quick in my strokes. When I drew the sketch above, I tried so hard to make it exact, and it wasn’t. I decided that I had to apply my “loose marker approach” to pencil drawing.

We walked up towards the river and sketched a few feet apart. Other people walked by us on the sidewalk, stopped and took our picture. So many people would do a double take. They would turn around to see what we, as students, were seeing.

Below is the view and my sketch.

Wow. What a difference between this sketch and the previous one.

Art told us that drawing shows you what you like best about a certain something, but in this case that something is space.

When the 30 minutes to draw ended, I was disappointed that the sketch wasn’t finished. But, that’s the beauty in it. (when is a drawing ever complete?)

Next stop was over Charles Bridge, to Lesser Town.

We pulled off in a side courtyard. It was right next to the Lock Gate. Couples put their initials on a lock, then lock it to the gate and toss the key in the water. That way, you can never break up.

 

I sat on the cobblestone street as I drew.

Again, people walking by did a double take at what I was drawing, since it must be of importance if someone is drawing it, right?

By this sketch, I felt more comfortable with pencil drawing. It isn’t as scary anymore!

We walked for a long time, with stops along the way for lunch, dessert and coffee, beer, and dinner.

We covered a lot of ground today and I like Prague just for the fact that you can walk everywhere and anywhere. There’s never a time where I felt scared or nervous to walk around.

While we walked there was tons of laughter, stories, interesting architecture, and just pure fun with Art and my classmates.  Today was fantastic. It was exciting exploring drawing in a new medium. I was introduced to a new way of approaching my drawing. I never thought I could learn so much from a simple "drawing safari." Even though it was windy and cold, I wanted to keep drawing! I could have gone all day drawing and walking to new destinations, but the 3 we did today wore me out. 

It got to the point where everywhere I looked, I thought "how would i draw this?" I love this feeling. I want to capture everything I see with a drawing! Life is good. Drawing brought joy to me today, as it does most days! Can't wait to sleep so I can get back out there and draw tomorrow! 

A City on Paper

What do you think this is?

It is layers of trace paper covered in thoughts that I documented while I walked from an outer edge of Prague to the center city.

My studio professor yesterday gave the class an optional assignment. He told us to take a tram to the end of its line, get out, and walk back into the city without using a map. We were to write down our observations but more specifically, document what we experience through our senses.

How could you NOT do this assignment?!

Have you ever walked from your house into your city's downtown?
How is that experience different than driving downtown?
What things in your city make you think "This is where the city truly begins"?
Is the architecture different?  Noises different?  Amount of people?  Amount of trees?  
 

I have never done this before. Charlotte is enormous so i would never walk from my house to downtown. In Raleigh, NC State is pretty close to downtown, but I have no desire to walk between the two. What made today's walk in Prague so exciting? Because it's something new. I was curious to see what I would discover. It's a different way of documentation than I'm used to doing.

I took my trace paper, favorite marker, and camera (even though my professor said a camera would distract us) and headed down tram line #17 to the southern part of Prague and walking back to Charles Bridge. I was accompanied by two of my classmates, Taylor and Cameron.

So the writing and drawing on the trace paper roll begins (here are bits and pieces)….

“Get off. Where are we? Road signs? More traffic than people. Cant see water. Greek restaurant. Loud car noises. Rattling tram tracks. Lots of trees. I feel lost, not in Prague. Pavement. Sidewalk mimics street with white dashes. Architecture on right is run down. Colorful fence on left. What is it blocking? I feel watched. Too much space, less people………..Smells bad while crossing street…..all of these trees, why can’t they have a nice fragrance?....why are all these people driving when there’s a tram?.....Do they have speed limit signs?.....I hear another siren, how come cars don’t pull over and stop completely?.....I feel good. Purple flower. I plucked it! Petals feel smooth and soft. Butterfly. A dog posed for me!……Why only two benches?......Drastic increase # of people….Bldgs are brown, neutral colors…..More cars parked than moving….Where are crosswalks?.....Tunnel within cliff. I panic. Where do I walk?....Framed views….Cobblestone is a gray and dark gray pattern….No cars parked along road…..Buildings have 7 stories…..I’m crunching leaves as I walk. I want to hear leaves rustle……we hear song “we will, we will, rock you!”….Why do they pour half of your drink into a glass?......I’ll sit on a “tree” bench……People are drawn to music. They stop on sidewalk to listen….this is definitely for tourists. Now im very protective of my belongings.”

This is my final length of trace paper with all of my notes and brief sketches. It's a little over a foot long in length. The walk took about 3 hours.  I’d love to frame this when I get back to Charlotte/Raleigh. 

I did bring my camera. Here are some of my favorite photos from today.

 

(how amazing are THOSE ^ clouds?!)

The transition from the "middle of nowhere" in southern Prague, to the central spot for tourists, Charles Bridge, was intriguing. One of my friends commented that I wasn't paying that much attention to the architecture.  He is right. I spent more time looking at animals, the water, trees, and sidewalks. I noticed that varied tree layout along sidewalks as I got closer to Prague's historic center. One part in particular had trees in the middle of the sidewalk. At first, I found it odd, but ended up enjoying it since it was different, it kept people on their side of the sidewalk. The animals got my attention since where do you see swans in a city?! The sidewalk is important in the sense that you can feel safe and distanced from the traffic at one point, but at another the traffic is right up against you with no tree or grass between the two. I was amazed that looking to the right was consumed with noise, traffic, and buildings, while the left side was calm with water, animals, and people strolling. This walking experience was nothing like Charlotte or Raleigh.

The views were fantastic. I held out my trace paper roll with the view. What a spectacular day. What a fun exercise. I’m definitely doing it again! I'll try walking in from the northern part of Prague to Old Town Square.

Draw With A Pencil

A person who draws has many different tools:  pens, markers, pencils, etc.

Here is my preference for tools when drawing:

1st. Black marker

2nd. Pen

3rd. Gray markers

…..

….

…

….

……

1,000. Pencil

Does that show how much I dislike drawing with pencils?

When I work with pencils, I’m tempted to erase what is wrong, especially if I don’t like something. There’s always the thought “I can erase this and nobody will know.”

With a marker (like the black one I’ve been using since I started traveling in Italy) there is no chance to erase. It builds confidence. I feel that I can be messy with a marker, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

To me, pencil drawings should always be perfect.

Today in my first drawing class we had to draw a still life.

A still life is basically just a group of objects.

Most common still life object? Bottles.

What did we have to draw first thing today?

A bottle, a pot, and a plate with two peaches.

What was our drawing tool?

A pencil.

Something as everyday and simple as a bottle is extremely difficult to draw.

The value of the glass changes throughout the bottle since light is reflected at every curve and surface. The small gentle curves on the bottle are difficult to make symmetrical.

No instructions were given except “Draw to study the objects.”

Why is it that students, including myself, think that a drawing has to show value in order for it to be studied? When we do that, we forget about proportion, scale, and placement on the page.

My first attempt was difficult just because I was nervous for the still life and the items I was drawing. I drew this (see below) on the page in landscape format.

My professor walks around and gives advice to each of us as we draw. She sees mine. She recommends that next time I should draw the still life vertically, since the objects' composition was more vertical than horizontal. She also said not to make the outlines of objects so sketchy with repeated, layered, lines. Instead, draw one outline. Only one line is needed.

Second time around, my professor showed us how to draw ellipses at different angles depending on how high above or below you are from the elliptical object. She then said it is easier to connect and draw the items once you draw the ellipses.

Last sketch for the class, I combined the tips she gave me. I had better placement on the page, but I did not draw the pears correctly because they were a lot larger than they actually were. I still need to work on how to accurately draw a bottle. She had looked at mine and said “Well, it’s different than what’s there, but that’s okay, I guess that is what you see instead.”

Her last comment has stuck with me today.

What makes a drawing accurate? Doesn’t that depend on the person that’s drawing it? What makes a drawing finished? (Originally for my second drawing, I left the objects as a bunch of ellipses so nothing was outlined to its defined shape. She told me to outline the objects even though I didn’t want to)

When I have sketched on my travels I know that what I draw isn’t accurate. I know perspective lines are off or some things aren’t perfectly placed or aligned, but it captures something for me. The experience is important to me.

Obviously today’s sketches aren’t perfect.

I’m not saying that I was upset with how today’s class went. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a big difference from how I started today vs. how I ended the class. I was proud of myself too for not using an eraser all class.

This class will be a great challenge for me. I am excited to learn how to use different tools/materials. I appreciated how my professor taught today, she walked around and looked at our drawings as we drew and said one or two comments then moved onto someone else.

Yay for drawing! Yay for pencils (let me tell that to myself a few more times today….)

This is....different.

Don't get me wrong, Prague is a beautiful and enjoyable place to be.

But what about the things nobody talks about when they study abroad?
The lifestyle in the dorm...adapting to being a resident instead of a tourist....adapting to the food.....

The bathroom:

There's no place to lay any of your toiletries. Where are the counters? Shelves? When I brush my teeth I have to hold my retainer case, my toothbrush case, and my toothpaste. It's a lot to handle. And im not going to put my toiletry bag on the floor. EW.  So I make multiple trips to the bathroom in the morning. Good thing it’s right across from my door. 

I miss having my toiletries on my bathroom counter or in drawers.

The shower:

There’s no space before the shower to take off your clothes.

It’s just an open room with a sink and two shower stalls.

So, last night, I got in the shower. Took off my clothes. Opened the shower door, checked to make sure nobody was there, draped the clothes on a chair, showered, then opened the shower door and realized my towels were on a hook behind this wall which was behind the chair w/ my dirty clothes.

Ugh. So frustrating. The shower itself was okay. Good pressure. The water is either super hot or extremely cold. It took a while for me to find that happy medium.

Food:

I still can't believe beer is cheaper than water. It's odd for me to have to specify between sparkling and natural water. (I got sparkling water at the grocery store on accident and wow, what a different taste it is!) The food has been delicious so far....the bread! Oh the bread! I could eat that constantly.

For breakfast today we had a yogurt and bread with butter/cheese. I can't even explain how much I miss my cereal. I never thought of cereal as comfort food, until now. 

Smoking:

In most of the restaurants I've eaten in so far, people are smoking. 

In North Carolina there is no longer a smoking/non-smoking section of restaurants. In Prague, everyone is mixed together, the non-smokers and smokers. Yesterday when I came home I had to febreeze the clothes I was wearing. 

Walking:

At orientation today we went outside for a walking tour around the Institute. Dana, who was leading the tour, was walking incredibly fast. What am I supposed to do - walk fast but look down as I walk so i don't trip, or walk slowly to see things but then hold up the group? It's just this transition phase between tourist and resident that I am adjusting to.

Locks:

The locks are different than back home. You turn to the left to lock, and right to unlock.

I'm so used to righty tighty, lefty loosey. 

Grocery store:

You are supposed to bring your own bag to put your things in. Tonight was the 3rd time I had forgotten to bring my own bag. They have bags, but you typically get a stern look from the cashier and you have to pay for one. I have to admit, it's a pretty good idea to save material, but I'm so used to having groceries being bagged for me. 

It's amazing how many things I take for granted back home in Charlotte and at school in Raleigh.

I will never understand how it takes a person to leave what he/she has in order to realize how great it is to have certain things.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. 

One thing for sure, I still have first day jitters like I do back home!

Tomorrow I have my drawing class (yay!) and studio (yay!).

Hug your bathroom counter for me and enjoy your breakfast (if it consists of cereal)!

From Home to a Temporary Home

I think I’m going to like it here.  Here is Prague, Czech Republic, in a neighborhood called Vinohrady just east of Wenceslas Square. Prague will be my temporary home as I study architecture this semester.

I have arrived here from Italy. It’s such a change from originally leaving Charlotte/Raleigh, where I’m comfortable with my surroundings, to Italy where I became a tourist within a tour group, to then Prague where I’m starting as a tourist but will become a resident. With the Insight Tour in Italy, I was trying to cram everything I could possibly see into a week’s time. Now, in Prague, the feeling is completely reversed. I’m constantly thinking, “Eh, I don’t have to photograph that today, I have 90 more days to do that.” I must remember that just because I have more time, doesn't mean I should take that for granted.

It’s been my first day here in the Pension (dorm/hotel) in Prague.

There is a modernist roof top terrace on the second floor, which is down the hall from my room.

When I look outside one of my bedroom windows in Charlotte, all I see is a grassless backyard and a brick wall of my neighbor’s house.

When I look outside of my dorm windows in Raleigh, the view has either been of another dorm window or of a parking lot.

Here is the view.  It is magnificent as the architecture of the city rises and falls in the distance. The red roofs, centuries of architecture, and landscape all melding together to form this great view outside of my window. 

Yeah, I think I am gonna like it here.

I can get used to looking at that view each day. I’m excited to see how this view transforms through fall and winter.  I will continue to draw the view outside my window to see what I notice differently each season or time of day that I sketch it.

It is refreshing to see trees mixed in within the buildings.  Unlike what I saw in Italy and Prague, it’s very rare to see trees within an urban setting (and the trees by parking spaces do not count).

I’m used to having little space provided in a dorm room back in Raleigh, but I always manage to find how to creatively put up my inspiration images (of architecture/spaces/landscape architecture/art) and my pictures of family/friends on the walls. The walls in the Pension are devoid of framed paintings, pictures or posters at the moment, but the light is absolutely gorgeous with those large windows (plus the view, mentioned above).  These windows take up more than half of the wall height and the ceilings are roughly 12 feet tall.  Right now I’m enjoying having the windows open. Perfect temperature.

Outside of the rooms on my floor is a common area with couches (and good Wifi). It is adjacent to the staircase. While I was sitting here, I decided to draw what I saw from my seat.

I wish I had more time to draw the Pension and the things around it.

Oh wait, I do have time, 3 months of it!

Dancing in Context

I’m in Prague! It feels wonderful to finally be here. Where to go and look first?!

On our way to the hotel last night, my mom spotted the Frank Gehry building – The Dancing Building aka The Fred and Ginger Building (it looks as if Fred is pulling Ginger close as they dance).

I’ve seen this building many times on the Internet, so I have been anxiously waiting to see it in person.

This afternoon I was accompanied with an architecture classmate of mine, Alyssa, and my mom, to see this building.

How should an urban building fit into its surroundings (context)?

Designing a building by itself is great, but how will that building look with other buildings around it?

Most people would agree that a building should be unique for its particular site. I agree with this statement because the context influences that building design.

Prague is great in terms of its wide streets and has a friendly relationship between store/restaurant and street. Buildings are up against the street, but do not overwhelm the experience of walking on the sidewalks. Even cars do not seem as intrusive as they are back in Charlotte/Raleigh.

One thing I noticed of the buildings today, is that even if their facades are different in terms of style or color, the windows still remain to be rectangular and simple. Nothing curved, nothing that stands out too much.

Frank Gehry seems to have pushed the limit of what glass can and should do in Prague.

This is the approach I had today of the Fred and Ginger Building (see it? end of street on left).

It definitely catches ones eyes because of the amount of glass that it has and its unique shape.  No other building juts outward like the Fred and Ginger building does.

I believe that when analyzing a site’s context, there are some important things you should respond to in your design, and others that can be ignored.

To me, Frank Gehry did not respond to the street like he should have, since the street/building relationship is extremely important in Prague. He has huge columns in this, what appears to be, random layout that blocks the openness of the sidewalk.

The side of the building facing the river, however, responds well to the context. Here he matches the window relationship and layout that the other buildings have.

Overall, I would like this building better if the columns were not on the street corner in such an overpowering way.

This semester I will be studying urban design. This is extremely important for architects to know the relationship to other buildings in proximity to it, to the city it resides in, and the masterful response the building's form generates, since most of the buildings that are designed by architects are at a public scale. I think Prague is the perfect place to study and appreciate the relationship between what is built and open spaces such as streets, sidewalks, and parks.

I can’t wait to immerse myself in all the information that Prague has to teach me!  I will be seeing this building and other contemporary ones throughout the semester.  Let’s see if my critical analysis changes over my time here. I will revisit it often to see.

Framed By A View

Do you prefer a floor to ceiling wall of glass with only a marginally favorable view outside, or a building wall with only one typical small window that has an absolutely fantastic view?

I prefer the smaller window with the better view.

Why? Because a view should cause you to pause. To stop and look. To figure out why that view deserves its own window. Someone took the time to frame a certain thing and wants you to appreciate it.

Would I like a wall filled with these small windows every 2 feet? No.

A framed view like this is special. It stands alone.

What are windows traditionally for? For light or for views? If they are for daylight then I’d rather have daylight enter a space from above, for example with clerestories, rather than have large windows that don’t frame anything worth looking at.  I think windows are not always placed carefully on walls.  Especially in typical residential houses…..I don’t want to look out my kitchen sink window and see my neighbor’s brick wall or a fence staring back at me.

Today we stepped outside of Florence to visit San Gimignano.

The architecture, the materials, the shops, and the food, were all great, but the framed views really caught my eye.

Among all of the heaviness of the brick and stone, there would be an alley with an opening at the end to an amazing view of the hillside and lovely Tuscan landscape. I couldn’t help myself from stopping right in the middle of the street to admire the view.

The openings throughout San Gimignano were not necessarily windows, but framed openings. The framed openings felt as if created by something pushing through the thick buildings from one end to the other to form one strongly depicted view.

Take this sequence of pictures for example. They show my approach up to this specific framed view. It was exciting walking up to it. My walk quickened, anxious to see what was beyond the opening in the wall.

After reaching the door opening, we climbed steps to the highest point at San Gimignano.

This view was not framed. It was completely open, 360 degrees.

I found this overwhelming. Where do I look first? Where do I take the first picture? Should I zoom in? When people took pictures of their friends, how did they decide what part of the view to get in the background? It obviously didn’t matter, as long as you got some part of it.

From these two sets of photos, which do you think is better (between the 360 degree view or the framed view)?

Look out of your home, work, or office window today to see if you have a framed view of something and see if the view is absolutely wonderful or just mediocre?

Go out there and appreciate the view!!