Architectural Illustration

all images, c. Kevin SproulsThis week, I'll concentrate on architechtural illustration. I've always been captivated by architecture. In grade school, I learned how there were three types of classical columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. It appealed to my young day-dreaming mind, and gave me much-craved drawing time in class!Since then, I've created many architectural illustrations. These drawings, like the physical forms they represent, have to be exacting and precise to hold up. I'll begin this survey with a romanticised winter scene...The above drawing was commissioned by the Home Insurance Company for it's holiday card, back in the 1990's. I enjoyed illustrating the snow-covered roof and cloud-burdened sky above while rendering the nostalgic figures below.Back to those classical columns -- a depiction of a temple facade I created for a client.Here is a drawing I created for my Dad for an ad his company ran. Drumthwacket is the name of the Governor's Mansion in New Jersey. Dad's company, New Jersey Realty Title Insurance, insured the title of this property. I laid down the type for this piece and drew around it, incorporating it into the illustration.A rendering of our nation's Capitol. This structure is extremely detailed, and took considerable effort to represent accurately.This is a drawing of my client's office building. It's simply elegant.I created this image while I worked at The Wall Street Journal. It appeared in the paper sometime in the 1980's. This illustration was a one-column image. That's about 2-1/4" across.Finally, a rendering of my Alma Mater, Villa Caproni, in Rome. I did a semester here as a Senior in Art School. Temple University operates its Temple Abroad affilliate here on the ground, first, and second floors. I remember my Rome days with great fondness and gratitude. I studied classic literature here as well as printing and sculpture. It was a truly enriching learning experience. Temple gave me this assignment and uses the illustration in various promotional pieces for the school.More next week...