Drawing and Painting the Landscape – Measured Drawing

View Towards Gatcombe Farm
Measured Drawing - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
April 2019
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
21.5cm x 18.5cm (8.5" x 7.25")

In Lesson 5 of Drawing and Painting the Landscape, Philip Tyler introduces some techniques to accurately draw a picture to scale based on sight measuring and angle checking. This involves adopting the stereotypical pose of the artist using a pencil in an outstretched arm to estimate the relative size of objects, measure angles and to check alignments.

The approach is similar to those explained in other sources including The Urban Sketcher by Marc Taro Holmes (Citizen Sketcher) and Liz Steel's SketchingNow Foundations course. This isn't surprising because there are a limited number of ways to address the challenge of translating a three-dimensional landscape into an accurate two-dimensional drawing.

Philip includes an interesting discussion about how much of the landscape we can see without turning our head. This knowledge can help us to tackle our tendency to include too wide a field of view in our drawings and to simultaneously draw everything too big.

Edge of the Common
Measured Drawing - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
April 2019
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
16.5cm x 12.5.5cm (6.5" x 5")

The exercise also includes the seemingly unrelated concept of decorative line drawings in which the confidence and fluidity of the line work is as important as the subject:

... the objects in the landscape become a series of shapes that are defined largely by an unwavering line. There is a real confidence to the line, finding the rhythms and repetitions of motif within the landscape.

Otter Estuary - Decorative Line
Measured Drawing - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
April 2019
Ink on Paper
19.5cm x 15cm (7.5" x 6")

The picture of the Otter Estuary is a decorative line drawing using a photograph as a reference. The other pictures were drawn from life, first focusing on accurate measurement and then trying to create decorative lines.

From the Bench on Fewster Road
Measured Drawing - Drawing and Painting the Landscape
April 2019
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
12.5cm x 16.5cm (5" x 6.5")

I had the usual apprehensions about drawing in public, but there really doesn’t seem much to worry about. I take care to position myself as out of the way as possible. If anyone notices what I am up to, they are usually too timid to disturb my fierce concentration. If they miss (or ignore) the signs that I don’t want to be interrupted, they only want to look at the drawing and to pass the time of day. In common with most sketchers, I haven’t encountered anything except pleasantness and compliments.