My results from Urban Line session

Urban Line


In this session by Frank Ching, we went to the riverside and I drew Steel Bridge. It was a really unique bridge. The middle of lower part of the bridge is movable: A vertical-lift bridge. I saw it went up and a ship went through the beneath and then it went down. After returning it's original position, then a train ran across it. (You can see the train runs in my sketch. )
Mr. Ching's advice to me was to follow the way how the structure was built.(I don't remember the exact phrase but I understand something like that) And to draw the structure, you should draw not only the thing you can see ( superficial details) but also draw hidden part behind. I'm still not so happy with my result since I couldn't capture the lower deck of the bridge. There are some missing pillars backside but thanks to Mr. Ching, I like the upper part.


Then I drew the buildings seen across the river. This glassy building was a tough one. I couldn't figure out what it was exactly like. After drawing these sketches I realized that how great those fellow architects' understanding of structure is and how skillful seemingly easily drawn lines are! I added colors even though it was a Urban Line session. I couldn't resist my desire to make up my deficiency.

Perspective principles for sketchers

This just in! We just got an outline of some of the points professor Ching will go over during his drawing sessions at the Symposium. You may have guessed that perspective would be a hot topic. Here they are in case you'd want to do some homework before arriving to Portland:

Perspective Principles for Sketchers
• Drawing as a language: drawing systems
• Principles of linear perspective for sketchers: why not use SketchUp?
• Know where you are: the importance of the horizon line
• Vanishing points and lines: objective and perceptual reality
• Composition: object or space?
• Editing: deciding what not to draw is as important as what to include

Meet Wiley author Francis D.K. Ching

Last week we published an interview with Symposium presenter Frank Ching. Today we have a video by his book publisher, Wiley, where he talks a little bit about his teaching career, the many books he has written and the importance of drawing from observation as a communication tool — and you can see him drawing too! The 3-minute video doesn't come any close to the experience of attending one of his classes or sketching with him, but it's still a cool, quick way to meet Frank on the screen before meeting him in person in Portland.

Interview with presenter Frank Ching

During our monthly sketchcrawls in Seattle, Frank Ching is just another drawing enthusiast, passing his sketchbook around, giving feedback, asking questions and sharing the jovial atmosphere. But when you see his work, you realize Frank is no accidental sketcher. Over 35 years, he has taught generations of architects how to draw and has written numerous best-selling books about architectural drawing and design that have been translated to over 16 languages.

I've met many academics of different fields before, but never someone as approachable and generous as Professor Ching. He recently retired from full-time teaching at the University of Washington, so I'm especially grateful that he will share his talent and teachings with us in Portland.

A sketchcrawl participant browses through Ching's sketchbook.

Ching drawing at Gas Works Park in Seattle.

A sketch of Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal.

How did your career teaching architectural drawing start? What attracted you to it?
Toward the end of my year's service in VISTA in 1972, I got a call from a former classmate who was teaching at Ohio University, asking me if I were interested in interviewing for a teaching job. Not having any plans or commitments, I agreed to drive down from Cleveland to Athens, Ohio, for the interview. I remember the chair of the department of architecture asking me if I thought I could teach drawing and being young and naive, I of course said yes. So it was a fortuitous set of circumstances that led me to become an "accidental" academic.

How do you get your students to improve their skills? What's your teaching methodology?
I have come to believe that iteration — constant and repetitive practice — is important to learning visual and drawing skills. We can learn more from doing many smaller sketches rather than one or two larger drawings. I also think that drawing from observation, on location, and developing visual acuity should provide the basis for drawing from the imagination in design. But above all, design students should understand that drawing is a language with which we communicate our ideas and observations.

What tools do you use to sketch?
My palette is very simple: a fountain pen and a sketchbook. While I admire others who handle other media so well — pencils, watercolors, pastels — I have come to really love the tactile feel of an ink nib on paper and the fluidity and incisiveness of the strokes. And the abstract quality of an ink-line drawing is actually very liberating for me.

What do you recommend to people attending the Symposium as preparation?
I don't have any specific recommendations. Drawing occurs in the moment. All that will be required is to be present, be observant, and respond to the qualities of a place.

Have you been to Portland? What are you looking for in the Symposium experience?
Despite living in Seattle for almost 30 years, I have only been to Portland a handful of times. I fondly recall, however, the pedestrian-friendly scale of the downtown area and I'm looking forward to meeting and working with others who love drawing. Now that I am retired from active teaching, these kinds of workshops are my favorite ways to teach as well as learn.

Some of Professor Ching's books:

• A Visual Dictionary of Architecture
• Design Drawing
• Sketches from Japan