Stairway of Rocamadour, France
September 8, 2006
Again, another drawing based on a photo in Eyewitness Travel Guides‘ “Dordogne & Southwest France.”
I wanted to draw this photo eve since I first laid my eyes on it. It looked deceitfully easy, but perspective actually played an even bigger role here. However, I didn’t want to do a pencil layout like my last one; its perspective was more-or-less correct, but the drawing was sterile. It was a technical milestone for me, but somehow I just couldn’t get excited about it.
Because of its tricky perspective, I started my first attempt from the railing and then everything else except the stairway. Shortly after I noticed that the drawing just didn’t feel right, but I wasn’t sure why. David suggested to practice the stairway on scratch paper before plugging it in… That was it! The stairway was the protagonist, but instead of drawing it first, I did it last. The order didn’t seem like a big deal, but in this case it was absolutely crucial. I forced it to fit in the space left by the lesser others, so no matter how much effort I put in, it couldn’t be saved.
Starting from another piece of paper, I drew the giant stairway first. Immediately I noticed the difference: I was much happier, and the drawing felt “right” even though the stairway was the only thing on the paper. From there, I started working my way around it. Of course I continued messing up the perspective here and there, but over all I was pleased with it. 
Whew, it’s quite a relief that this one doesn’t feel like an architectural drawing…
Entry Filed under: Doodles (塗鴉). .
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1.
drew | September 10, 2006 at 8:37 am
Wow! This is a really beautiful scene. Difficult to draw, though, definitely. You did manage to capture it, though, and that shines through any minor deficiencies.
I see what you mean about the perspective. Most of the gross features, though, seem to be pretty much right on the money, and that is good. It seems like the weird perspective issues (like the low wall at the bottom left) have to do with the fine features, like the bricks/stones. I’m sure you noticed that too, but I just found that interesting.
I am glad to see how you have been tackling these denser architectural subjects lately. While I really like you botanical studies, these recent drawings seem like they are requiring you to focus on a single drawing for a much longer time.
Keep up the good work.
2.
amanda | September 10, 2006 at 10:52 am
Yup, I got carried away with the stone drawing (I’m quite fond of it as you probably have noticed
and forgot about the perspective. However, there are a couple of other spots that I messed up, but they are more subtle.
Plants and buildings present each of their own challenges, but I think eventually they will be easier (just “easier”, never “easy”) to manage. Living things, on the other hand, is still a gigantic challenge to me and I’m almost scared of drawing them. I just started putting little no-faced people in my drawings, but I found that the effort was really exhausting. *sigh*
3.
Rocamadour - Part 1 « Amanda’s Tea Room 阿勳茶室 | October 16, 2006 at 11:48 pm
[...] Ah, Rocamadour! Ever since I read about it in Eyewitness Travel Guides’ “Dordogne & Southwest France“, I couldn’t forget about this amazing place. The architecture is incredible: a giant cluster of churches in the middle of the limestone cliff, a big fort at top, and a cute village at the bottom. I just had to go there, at least to check out its great stairway. [...]