Vernazza Scene

Ink sketch of a scene in Vernazza Italy by Don West. One of six exercises in the Sketching Fundamentals course by Paul Kelley.
7-1/2”x9-3/8”, drawn in a large Fabriano Ecoqua Notebook
with a Micron 005 pen.

Continuing with the “Sketching Foundations” course by Paul Kelley, this is one of the six exercises. Paul travelled to Vernazza and based the course on images from the trip. I’m finding the process of ”building” architectural scenes to be very enjoyable.

As with all drawing and sketching, one has to pay attention to shapes, values and their positional relationships to one another. That’s both the challenge and the fun. However, architecture allows for a far more loose approach in capturing a scene. As long as the proportions are correct, the looseness of line work seems to actually improve the overall impact of the scene. In fact, some urban sketchers exaggerate perspective and proportions in their sketches to add interest for the viewer.

Either way, there is a plethora of subject matter all around us in the form of architectural details and structures. Ornamentation alone makes for great sketch subjects as well as fountains, monuments and historical buildings.

So get out there and find something that inspires you! 🙂

Reference photo of a scene in Vernazza Italy by Don West. One of six exercises in the Sketching Fundamentals course by Paul Kelley.
Reference photo for the sketch.