Learning to Draw by Sketching the Great Buildings of the World

Drawings

Have you always wanted to improve your drawing skills? Join us for our new series of virtual lectures focused on architectural drawing. No formal drawing experience is necessary.

During these draw-along virtual lectures, you’ll learn drawing concepts such as perspective, horizon line, vanishing points, light and shade as you sketch notable buildings from around the world.

Our instructor Mark Keane, who has been teaching architecture for over 40 years, supports scientific research that concludes drawing is good for your health. Sketching improves creativity, memory and provides stress relief.

As with all of our virtual lectures, each lecture is recorded and is available to registered participants for two weeks following the live lecture.

If you have not yet enrolled in this drawing series, there’s still time to join us!

Enroll Today

To get the most out of your class, Professor Keane recommends that you take a moment to prepare these items before his lecture:

Print out the base drawing for your lecture. Please note there is a separate base drawing for each lecture. These templates will guide your sketches during the lectures and are helpful for everyone regardless of skill-level:

Program #24610 | Monday, Mar. 20, 2023, at 4 p.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing The Pantheon

Program #24644 | Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023, at 11 a.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing Ponte Vecchio

Program #24614 | Monday, Mar. 27, 2023, at 4 p.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing Piazza del Campo in Siena

Program #24643 | Thursday, Mar. 30, 2023, at 11 a.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing The Salute in Venice

Program #24618 | Monday, Apr. 3, 2023, at 4 p.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing Pisa

Program #24621 | Thursday, Apr. 6, 2023, at 11 a.m. (ET)
Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing St. Peter's Basilica

Use white or light color standard 8.5 x 11 size paper.
Sharpen 3 pencils. A black Prismacolor® pencil is preferred, but a standard #2 pencil will also work. Prismacolor® colored pencils allow you to have the best range for shading (going from very light to completely black).

You can find Prismacolor® colored pencils at major craft stores (such as Michael's) art supply stores or on Amazon.com.
Highly recommended, but not required — watch Professor Keane’s 30-minute video that covers some basic drawing concepts.

Watch this past lecture for a sneak peek at what a drawing lecture is like:

Online Lecture: Hands-On With an Architect, Drawing Notre Dame de Paris
Download the base drawing and watch this lecture for free!

FAQs

What if I don’t have a printer and don’t have the base drawing printed before the lecture?

The base drawing is provided as a helpful tool that makes it easy to follow Professor Keane’s instructions. The class can be done with a blank piece of paper for those more experienced in sketching. There will be a perspective drawing demo/review to start the session. We also recommend that you watch this video to prepare yourself with some basic architectural/drawing knowledge.

What if I only have #2 pencils?

While you can use what you have, a regular #2 pencil simply does not provide pure black. The recommended Prismacolor® (or other brand of black color pencil) will give you control over the shading aspects of your drawing.

I don’t have any drawing experience, is this class for me?

All humans were born to draw, as we drew before we had language. Professor Keane also believes that drawing is good for your health. Start with one drawing and keep going to improve your technique. You can always stop the recording and continue at your pace.

Can I sketch on my iPad/tablet and use a smart pencil to draw on it?

While we recommend physical paper and black color pencil drawing for this class, if you prefer to draw over the base drawing sheet scanned into your unit, that is acceptable.