Weekly Visual Library Building - 4: Castles

[Jaik]

Visual Library Building 4: Castles

I wanted to try something a bit different this week. One of the most common things to see in an environment painting is castles so I thought 'It would be great to have a repertoire of different looking castles tucked away in the memory to pull out when necessary' so this week is all about castles, different era's, cultures, what ever. Just castles.

Great website with a lot of castles on it: http://www.castlesontheweb.com/photoarchive/
wikipedia: Your friend and mine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_castles



So this is what I have found works best for basic architecture study: (If anyone can add to this for the greater good I would appreciate it)
- Focus on what makes it different from other types (either the style directly before or after it)
- The general proportions used (i.e. Long and low, short and flat, open and vaulted)
- Materials and proficiency in preparing them (i.e. Crudely cut bedrock, mudbrick, perfectly cut limestone)
- Details (Motifs, Shapes, style, colours, materials)
- Basic types of buildings (temples, communal homes, private homes, nobles homes etc)
- Bonuses for answering the why of these questions (i.e. The Mesoamericans could cut perfect limestone with limited tools because when it is first mined from the ground it is much softer than after it has a chance to oxidize and harden.)

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And the boring stuff I will include with every post so that new comers don't have to go searching:
- Each week I will come up with a topic, it can be anything from boots to machinery.
- Find some images to study, but don't just copy them, maybe do some technical drawings, take written notes (I'm not asking you to write an essay, just things worth noting), some specific detail and generally just get a better idea about a topic.
- I think I'm going to put a new one up each Monday (NB: My time, Sunday for the western world.)
- It's not a competition, its really just about sharing knowledge, one person may pick up an interesting detail or a keen observation than another person may have missed. Just building the number of visual cues that can be extrapolated to design something interesting and new when necessary.
- One last thing, the drawings do NOT have to be pretty finished renderings. A quick sketch of a building façade with details marked and notes will have just as much use as a beautifully rendered copy of a photograph. The point is the content and thought behind it, not how well you can render.

[Rognoll]

This sounds like fun! Castles are always fun to draw. I'll add to this challenge.
Now, should I post the results here? or in my own sketchbook? Sorry, I'm new here

[Jaik]

No prob Rognoll, yeah, just post up the stuff you do here :) cant wait to see what you come up with :)

[Wingal]

This sounds like a blast! I will be participating this week. Can't wait to see you guys make! Thanks for putting this together, mate! Thanks for putting this together, mate!

[Rognoll]

Quick tower sketch for today. What do you guys think? I just don't want to do it brick by brick! any suggestion for that?

[Jaik]

Nice job Rognoll, as far as texturing, this article is probably the most succinct one I know. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com.au/201...tower.html
When in doubt, Gurney it xP

[Lyraina]

Looks good Rognoll, unfortunately don't have advice for brick drawing. Texture overlay is an option, but this kind of stuff is more like "use after you learnt how to do it the hard way" I guess!

This topic is great, I think one could do a month full of studies of different castles! There's so much more to research, but here is what I've got so far:
(I swear, those lines were more straight before I scanned them...)

[Jaik]

Haha yeah Lyraina I know what you mean, I wish I had more time to put into it this week. I'll probably revisit castles at some point in the future, maybe specific parts etc.

Heres mine, sort of in between other drawings >.> ohwell sketchbooks arent meant to be ordered.