A return to buildings

I seem to always return to drawing buildings. It is one of the most enjoyable things I find to draw. I love to draw strange architecture and impossible buildings. I am fascinated with the ad hoc nature of some buildings, how air conditioning units, and plumbing and electrical wires are added to buildings after the fact. Whole new additions are added, old windows and doorways are bricked in, an outdoor staircase added to a new floor. You could probably use one of my favourite fancy words, palimpsest, to describe it but it is something more than that. It has something to do with how we piece together our lives. How we have certain plans or the best intentions, but our life ultimately ends up being a patchwork of what we can pull together. Just like a patchwork quilt, sometimes we find interesting little scraps to piece together, sometimes it's pieces of whatever we can get our hands on. It ends up creating this beautiful mess, or should I say you have to take pride in your beautiful mess.

This leads me to this particular set of drawings I just completed. I needed an illustration for the cover and of the set of monster drawings that I did late last year into a calendar for 2014. What better thing to draw but a haunted house? Following my no pencil rule for Inktober, I had to first make a sketch and then attempt my first haunted house. Of course a little bit of Google image searching helped. It is interesting to think, just what exactly makes a haunted house? It seems to be this common vocabulary of a certain style of architecture. The house are often baroque in their design and feature round windows, pointed roofs and turrets.


Here is my first attempt, trying to figure out if I can essentially wing it and get the desired effect, more of a sketch than anything.

My first proper attempt, keeping it low scale



My second proper attempt, worked out well. I might see if I can use this one, I may even give it an  ink wash


 

 


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