Polis Encounters #4: Urban Sketching Techniques

“This short talk will introduce you to my way of drawing – not my style, because everyone has their own – but my objectives in drawing, which is my way of recording what I see and experience on site. I’ll show you images from some of my sketchbooks (which I call ‘logbooks’). I used these as a student and as an architect. I’ll also show you the effectiveness of combining different kinds of images, or text and image, to tell a fuller story (e.g., plans, sections, sketches, notes, mementos, etc.). I end with a brief look at some of the city guide books I’ve written and illustrated, all of which began with my humble student sketchbooks.” – Gregory Bracken

Drawing is a vital method for gathering data about buildings and places. It is only one of a variety of tools that can help you understand (and really see) the places you are studying. When you draw you’re forced to pay attention to what is in front of you – you don’t just look, you see. And as you draw you’re already making important decisions about what to record (and what to leave out) with the result that your drawings already exhibit your own agency as a researcher (something that electronic media do less well). Drawing is not about creating beautiful images (although that can be nice), it’s about recording what you see so that you can go back to those images and retrieve useful information about your site – information you will later use to inform your design and planning decisions. Even if you’re not ‘good’ at drawing, you will get better with practice. Remember, it’s the process that’s important.