freehand drawing and discovery

freehand
drawing and
discovery

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul.


Layover in Frankfurt, en route to Athens.


freehand
drawing and
discovery
urban sketching and concept drawing for designers

james richards


Cover Illustration courtesy of James Richards
Cover Design: Michael Rutkowski
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Richards, James, 1955Freehand drawing and discovery : urban sketching and concept drawing for designers / James Richards.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-23210-1 (cloth); 978-1-118-41946-5 (ebk); 978-1-118-42120-8 (ebk); 978-1-118-43388-1 (ebk);
978-1-118-47995-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-47997-1 (ebk); 978-1-118-63566-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-63567-4 (ebk)
1. Architectural drawing--Technique. 2. Cities and towns in art. I. Title.
NA2708.R53 2013
720.28’4--dc23
2012025750
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

On location at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.


Farmer’s market concept sketch for urban design study.


This work and the creative journey that
led to it could not have been done without
the love and support of my wife and best
friend, Patti. This book is for her.


s
t

Part 1: Learning a Language
Chapter 1: The Freehand Renaissance  2
Influences  8
Art and Technology   12
Reintegrating Work and Play   16
Drawing and Discovery with Michael Vergason   20

Chapter 2: Nine Keys to Exploratory Drawing   24
Simplify Tools   27
Simplify Message   29
Work Small   31
Simplify Technique   32
Attack the Drawing   36
Draw People First   39
Pull It Together with Darks   43

Leave It Loose   44
Annotate Everything   45
Drawing and Discovery with Kevin Sloan   46

C

o

n

t

e

n

Foreword by Francis D.K. Ching  x
Preface  xiii
Acknowledgments  xvii

Chapter 3: Elements and Entourage   50
People  52
Vehicles  55
Trees, Shrubs, Groundcovers   58
Rock and Landforms   62
Water  69
Furnishings  72
Sky  76
Buildings  83
Drawing and Discovery with Christine Ten Eyck   92

Chapter 4: Creating Believable Worlds   98
Perspective: What You Really Need to Know   99
Creating Depth: Foreground, Middle Ground, Background   111
Building Up Color   115
Pulling It Together   119
Drawing and Discovery with Luis Ruiz  122


Part 2: Urban Sketching
Chapter 5: Urban Sketching as Creative Fuel   130
Drawing and Discovery with Gabriel Campanario  140

Chapter 6: Capturing the Place   144
Tools  145
Subject Matter   147
Editing  150
To Color or Not to Color?   152
Working Fast   154
Drawing and Discovery with Liz Steel  162

Part 3: Concept Sketching
Chapter 7: Capturing the Idea   170
Sketching over Digital Bases   173
Sketching over Aerial Photographs   173
Concepts and Character   192
Drawing and Discovery with Kim Perry  204

Chapter 8: Digital Sketching—   208
Drawing Without Limits   ##

The Vision   210
The Reality   213
Tablet Sketching Gallery   215
Drawing and Discovery with Robert Chipman, ASLA   232

Chapter 9: What’s Next?   238
Practice  240
Collect  241
Copy  242
Keep the Well Filled   243
Drawing and Discovery with Bob Hopewell    254
Endnote  261

Index  263


In the village of Oia, Santorini, Greece.


r e w
o

Drawing, like the ancient Roman god Janus, has two faces.
One looks to the past, at what already exists, when we draw on
location from direct observation. Even though we are in the
moment, as soon as we turn our gaze from the subject to the
blank page or to the drawing in progress, we have to rely on our
visual memory of what we have seen. In drawing on location,
we do not have to restrict ourselves to the perspective views
typified by travel postcards, although these are the most

tempting to replicate. In lieu of recording
the optical images before us, we can
use the drawing process to gain
understanding, insight, and perhaps
even inspiration.
The other face of drawing looks
to the future, what does not yet exist
except in our mind’s eye. This is
what we do when
we design,

F o

I first met Jim Richards in the summer of 2011 in
Lisbon, at the Second International Urban Sketching
Symposium sponsored by the Urban Sketchers group.
Before then, I had already been acquainted with and
admired from afar his beautifully rendered drawings,
his sure hand, and his skillful eye for composition and
detail. But, as is so often the case, physical artifacts
become much more real when you meet their maker.
Not only did Jim’s drawings become more alive in
Lisbon but also now, I can hear him speaking in this
introduction to freehand drawing.

r d

Street furnishings.

externalizing our ideas so that we can act on them, whether with a pen on paper or with
digital tools on the computer monitor. This kind of drawing stimulates the mind and can
make visible aspects that cannot be seen by the naked eye nor captured through the lens
of a camera. In this way, we can use the drawing process to figure things out on paper,
thinking not only with the pen or pencil but with the head as well.
As Jim rightly points out in this
book, these two faces of drawing are
related. The things we learn about
our environment when we draw on
location help us as we imagine, draw,
and design the future.
While I share Jim’s passion
for drawing, we each have different
approaches. I view my drawings as
being much messier than Jim’s and he
uses more precise linework, values,
and textures in his work. This is as it
should be. As he so eloquently points
out, “one’s persona always emerges
in a sketch. Your sketches won’t look
like mine, or mine like yours. That’s
beautiful.” So while this book is full
of beautiful drawings, don’t let the
mastery that they embody intimidate
you and prevent your learning to draw
if you are a beginner, or continuing to
draw, if you are already a designer or
sketcher. Anyone can learn to draw,
and this book is an excellent way to
enter the satisfying world of freehand

drawing.
Concept sketch for a downtown gateway obelisk.
Frank Ching

xii Freehand Drawing and Discovery


r
e
f

Yet here I was, drawing, and thinking, and drawing more, and receiving college
credits for it! Design and design thinking were realms where not only was drawing
encouraged, it could serve higher purposes of effecting change and enhancing lives. We
were changing the world with freehand visions, and there was no turning back.
With excellent teachers, generous classmates, and mountains of project work,
drawing became a very natural second language to me. To my surprise and relief, I
realized over time that in sketching, mastery isn’t requisite. In fact, a preoccupation with
perfection may be the greatest enemy of the freshness and spontaneity that characterize
great sketches. I learned that freehand sketching isn’t about photographic realism. It isn’t
about art, per se. It’s more about authenticity. It’s about being in the moment, honestly
recording what’s in front of you or in your mind’s eye, and gaining a deeper awareness
and appreciation of your subject or idea. Mostly, it’s about experiencing the joy of the
creative dance of the mind, eye, and hand.

P

The first drawings weren’t very good, really. I had been
led to undergraduate studies in landscape architecture
and urban design by my love of drawing. Looking at

sketches made in my first years at LSU, it’s apparent
that my sketching ability had no where to go but up.

a
c

The Palais Garnier, Paris.

e


Freehand sketching isn’t about art, per se. It’s more about authenticity.
Something of one’s persona always emerges in a sketch. Your sketches won’t look
like mine, or mine like yours. That’s beautiful. A great sketch is an unself-conscious
fusion of pen and place and personality. It will have its own unique creative energy,
reflective of its subject and its maker. And if you don’t draw it, that unique expression
won’t be voiced.
Seeing sketching as a window into one’s personal creativity underscores its value
in an age when digital tools so thoroughly dominate design education. I was recently
asked in an interview for a Turkish magazine whether “crayons or computers” were the
essential tool for design students. I responded that the essential tools were openness,
imagination, and the creative impulse. Then, the question becomes, how does one
nurture and develop creative capacity? At the beginning of the creative process,
one needs to be able to generate a lot of ideas quickly, and to be able to record and
communicate a flow of ideas as they occur. Spontaneous freehand sketching remains
the most efficient and effective way to do that. Very soon afterward, it’s critical to be able
to quickly explore various aspects of concepts in three dimensions and in increasingly
greater levels of detail. These are applications where digital programs are indispensable.
The best designers in many creative fields—architecture, graphic design, advertising,
filmmaking—have learned to merge the advantages of computer technology and

workflow with the speed, creative flexibility, and emotional connection of hand drawing.
The wisdom lies in using the tools and techniques that are most appropriate for where
you are in the creative process.
In reflecting on the path that’s brought me to writing this book, it became clear
in hindsight that my career has unfolded in thirds, and drawing has been central to
each. The “first third” was about becoming a design professional—securing a position, learning from mentors, assuming
creative and management responsibility for projects, achieving
a measure of recognition from peers. Frankly, drawing my way
through that phase of my career (whether invited to or not)
probably played a significant role in landing great jobs,
getting my work noticed, and in affording me professional opportunities that may have been harder to
accomplish otherwise.
The “second third” was about moving
beyond established career tracks and
disciplinary bounds and learning to trust my
creative instincts. I started my own firms to focus
on my passions for cities, design, and drawing.
Travel and drawing became the fuel for a journey
of self-discovery, resulting in the development
of project work, writing, and a discipline
of sketching that helped me find my own
creative voice.

Entrance to campus building.

xiv Freehand Drawing and Discovery


Aerial sketch for urban design guidelines.

The “third third” has become about helping others find their creative voice—
sharing hard-won lessons I have learned about using drawing and other means to record
impressions and explore ideas that result in change. And the best teaching I can offer
at the outset is this: Jump in. Pick up whatever notebook or business card or scrap of
paper is within reach, and begin making marks, just for the pure joy of it. There’s a reason
writers, artists, and designers carry notebooks and sketchbooks. There’s the convenience
of being able to record a fleeting impression or idea. But just as importantly—perhaps
more so—it becomes a portal to a stream of creative thought. In my experience, drawing
is a gate through which we can enter the stream, and let it carry us along where it will.
When truly in connection with that stream and tapped into its flow, we lose a sense of
time, its ideas move through us, and we become a medium through which the dreams
living there become visible.
The last thing we want when recording or communicating our impressions is for
inhibition or lack of a few basic drawing skills to get in the way. My aim with this book is
to give you tools to transcend that hesitation, and to make freehand sketching an unselfconscious joy and a valuable tool on your own journey of self-discovery.
Start now. On this page, if you like. Don’t wait to find a picturesque scene to record,
or for “inspiration” to strike. Move the hand. The mind and imagination will follow.

Prefacexv


A Note on the Contributors
I’m very grateful for the richness of imagery and the diversity of drawing styles my
contributors bring to this effort. They represent a range of disciplines and interests, but
share a passion for seeking out the truth of a place through sketching, and celebrate
the seminal role it plays in their creative process. Because they represent different
backgrounds, experiences, and parts of the world, they each have their own distinctive
voice. I’ve chosen not to heavily edit their narrative styles for the sake of consistency, but
rather to let the reader meet them through their own words, unique personalities, and
views of drawing.

St. Peter’s Square, The Vatican.

xvi Freehand Drawing and Discovery


I recall that while a kid in New Orleans, my parents, Jim and Mary Richards, openly
worried (only partly in jest) that I might end up with a beret and goatee hawking paintings
and living on Lucky Dogs in Jackson Square. Yet they loved me unconditionally, kept me
stocked with art supplies, sought out lessons, and later encouraged me to pursue drawing
and design with the same focus on excellence and leadership that they insisted my brothers
and I bring to any endeavor. And the personal and professional accomplishments of those
four brothers—Larry, Dave, Don, and Steve—have always kept the bar high. I’m grateful
beyond words for that foundation.
My TOWNSCAPE co-founder and partner Dennis Wilson has extended friendship,
support, and encouragement to pursue creative directions that required him to cover
my flank on countless occasions. Our associate Wade Miller has likewise been an
indispensible supporter and advisor. To them, and to our clients and collaborators, I
extend my heartfelt thanks.

Luis Ruiz Padrón

Panorama, Malaga, Spain, by Luis Ruiz.

Ac knowled gmen ts

This book could not have been written as a solo
endeavor. It was co-written with the help of what
American mythologist Joseph Campbell referred to
as “Unseen Hands,” and undoubtedly my strongest

contribution was in trying to stay out of the way of that
unfolding creative process. But just as importantly,
there have been very active teachers, supporters,
friends, and family whose influence has left an
indelible stamp on me and this work.


The Duomo in Florence, Italy, seen from Piazzale Michelangelo. Micron .5 ink pen and watercolor, 8 in. n 10 in.

The Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy.

xviii Freehand Drawing and Discovery


I likely would not be writing these words without the mentorship and guidance of
Lake Douglas, who saw the potential for this book in my heap of workshop materials,
coached me through the proposal process, and introduced me to Senior Editor Margaret
Cummins of John Wiley & Sons. Margaret’s encouragement to reach beyond my own
vision helped set an ambitious course for this work. The professionalism, guidance, and
encouragement of my editor, Lauren Poplawski, has been the bridge between that vision
and the book you hold in your hands.
My contributors have added tremendous depth and richness to the work. I’m
indebted to Frank Ching, Christy Ten Eyck, Michael Vergason, Kim Perry, Luis Ruiz,
Kevin Sloan, Gabi Campanario, Liz Steel, Bob Hopewell, Tadao Ando, Asnee Tasna, Paul
Wang, Benedetta Dossi, Mark McMahon, John Lavin, and Harley Jessup for their talent
and thoughtful contributions. Thanks to the Alvar Aalto Museum for its assistance. I’m
especially grateful to my friend Bob Chipman, whose talent, intellectual curiosity, and
personal dedication to the advancement of landscape architecture has resulted in his
generous contribution to Chapter 8.
I’ve been blessed with extraordinary teachers. The influence of the late Robert S.

“Doc” Reich—teacher, mentor, and friend—is so pervasive as to defy easy description,
but at its core, Doc’s was a gift of awareness that taught me and thousands like me
to delight in a breathtakingly beautiful world that few take time to see. Max Conrad

Concept sketch for a trailhead.

Acknowledgmentsxix


personally initiated me into the ongoing adventure of world travel, without which
my work and worldview could never have come together as richly as they have. James
Turner taught me to look beyond arbitrary divisions between art, design, and professionalism, and to claim them all as aspects of a full, creative life. Many others have
provided well-timed, not-so-subtle nudges to keep me on a path of professional and
creative growth.
My mentors and later fellow principals at Johnson, Johnson and Roy (now
SmithGroup/JJR)—Clarence Roy, Dale Sass, Carl Johnson, and Jim Christman—
patiently taught me a philosophy of design drawing and visual thinking that provided a
foundation for many of the lessons shared here. Many of these lessons were perhaps best
articulated and exemplified by Bill Johnson, whose consistently amazing drawings and
paintings continue to dazzle and inspire me. Lawrence W. Speck, a valued friend and
collaborator of Johnson Johnson and Roy, was a seminal influence in design thinking and
the symbiotic relationship between teaching and practice.
A great number of generous spirits have provided grounding and support, and made
sure I never took myself too seriously. My thanks to Sam Lolan, Jack Fry, Jim Anderson,
Earl Thornton, Stewart Wren, Tim Orlando, Alan and Marianne Mumford, Chris Miller,
Mike and Debbie Paolini, Mike and Rita Grogan, Jeff Williams, Chuck McDaniel, Ace
Torre, Gary Hilderbrand, Chip Sullivan, Charles Birnbaum, Taner Ozdil, Kate Matthews,
Rebecca Venn, Mary Minton, Tim Oliver, Kathy Bailey, Don Gatzke, Pat Taylor, Chris
Flagg, Kurt Culbertson, Sergio Santana, Jonny “Waffle” Stouffer, Tim Baldwin, Vic Baxter,
Michael and Leslie Versen, Sadik Artunc, Bill and Ashley Reich, Michael Robinson, Van

Cox, Tony Catchot, Mike and Dorothy Tejada, Steve and Kaye Gumm, Stephanie Main,
Evelyn Utke, Lynn Miller, Fran Beatty, Mark Boyer, Judy Brittenum, Diane Collier, Lara
Moffat, Chunling Wu, Dana Brown, Bill Thompson, Paul Nieratko, Fr. Damien Thompson,
Tim Bruster, Susan Hatchell, and Yasin
Çağatay Seçkin. Special thanks to my
creative coach and spiritual advisor,
Bruce “Big Daddy” Hearn.
Throughout my career, my best
barometers for whether or not a
thought or drawing moved forward
or ended up on the cutting room
floor have been my daughters, Jessica
Richards Paolini and Cassie Richards.
If they were excited about a place I
envisioned and drew, I was excited.
As kids they accompanied me to
meetings, on road trips, and with Patti
and I to study and draw cities around
the world. I’m grateful for their love,
patience, and adventurous spirits. My
Concept sketch for a transit station shelter.

xx Freehand Drawing and Discovery


son-in-law, Michael Paolini, is likewise a rock in my life, and a valued sounding board for
gauging the creative heft of an idea.
Finally, I want to offer gratitude to my grandson, Michael James Paolini, eight
months old at this writing, in whose laughter and unbridled joy I see the hopes and
dreams of the future. As Satchmo sang, “What a wonderful world.”

Acknowledgmentsxxi


Part 1

Learning a
­Language


This waterfront scene achieves an illusion of depth through one-point perspective and creation of a foreground,
middle ground, and background. Loose line quality, color, and people in motion add life and energy to the sketch.