Finished watercolor sketch, but this was done for a friend who is looking at how to treat windows… I apologize for the bad images – damn pencil is hard to photograph.) I tried to draw what goes on in my head as I think about buildings. I look for rhythms in the windows, and differences from one to another. in this case I also looked for the first floor, which because of the canals, is different than a city built not on water..

I might draw vertical guidelines, even if in my head.
BTW, I might also do this in a photograph if I was practicing, trying to think about all this stuff.  I’d look for the center line on each building.

Then I look at each building and see the rhythm of the window pattern, squares or rectangles?  Doors?  Balconies?  In this case, these buildings had very different window patterns, in size and shape as well.  I might count the panes to see the rhythm.

I start general — I don’t draw a lot of detail.  I stop when it feels right call it quits. If you look at the 4th & 5th drawing below, you will see how little I did to make a statement about the windows and doors.

Basic shapes and sizes tel a huge story…

Getting into more detail.  I did this all in  one medium nib pen size, but if I was doing this a bit more seriously (and had time), I might switch to a finer pen for the details.

Thanks to Brian Thompstone for the image.

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“Memory is more indelible than ink.”
Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
“I think not….”
Me… why I journal!

Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook,
Jinhao 750 with JoWo nib and Super5 Darmstadt ink,
MGraham watercolors.

 ©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back  to dkatiepowellart.