Architects Draw: Freehand Fundamentals

Architecture Briefs

by Sue Ferguson Gussow

Architects Draw offers a practical and invaluable way to help students and would-be sketchers translate what they see onto the page, not as an imitation of reality, but as a comprehensive union of voids and solids, light and shadows, lines and shapes. For nearly forty years revered Cooper Union professor and artist Sue Gussow has taught aspiring architects of varying abilities how to fully observe and perceive the spaces that make up our physical environment. Gussow skillfully applies architectural language to twenty-one drawing exercises that tackle a variety of forms--from peas in a pod to monkeys, skeletons, dinosaur bones, and the art of Giacometti and Mondrian. She shows, for example, how cut fruit and paper bags reveal that the physical world is made up of planes, dimensions, and enclosed space.

Genres: Architecture, Art

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2008

Reviews

[Megan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an informal student of drawing, this was an interesting read. I didn’t follow along with the exercises, but I felt like I did glean some technical knowledge from this book about the concepts behind the connection between eye and hand while drawing. I enjoyed the commentary on the students’ sketches and the insight from artists on their work. It helped me learn to study art rather than just view it.