Cityscapes

What is a cityscape?

A land-scape shows land and trees, so a city-scape shows a city.

When we draw/paint/sculpt/photograph a city, we are creating a CITYSCAPE.

Humans have been making cityscapes for a very long time. Before the camera was invented, it was the only way to show what a city looked like!

Here are some examples of cityscapes by different artists.

Apartment Houses, Paris by Jean Dubuffet

Gardanne by Paul Cezanne

St. Paul's, Manhattan by John Marin

After Sir Christopher Wren by Charles Demuth

I was inspired by artist James Gulliver Hancock. He is trying to draw all the buildings in New York City. Here is his blog. We have many beautiful buildings and monuments in St. Louis which I have printed pictures of if you'd like to draw them!

This lesson we will be concentrating on one artwork and artist. Let's look!

View of Paris, small business by Jean Dubuffet

We looked at an artwork earlier (look at the top!) by this artist, but this one looks a lot different. Do you think his feelings for his city changed?

Tea Ceremonies

A tea ceremony is something that is practiced in some Asian cultures. Here are some of the countries that have tea ceremonies:

• China
• Taiwan
• Vietnam
• India
• Japan

We will be focusing on one country, Japan.

The Japanese have been having tea ceremonies for a very long time. Tea ceremonies are still an important ritual in Japan.

The Japanese tea ceremony is not so much about how the tea tastes, but about how it is made and given to another person. 

The host considers every movement and gesture when preparing and serving tea.

The traditional tea used during Japanese tea ceremonies is called matcha. It is green and tastes bitter.

The cup that is used to drink tea is called a chawan.




Here are some examples of chawans. We will be making our own chawans by creating pinch pots.

Buildings That Almost Look Unreal

Here are some buildings from around the world that are very different from the types of buildings we are used to seeing.

50 Amazing Buildings

Have you ever seen any of these buildings? Have you ever seen a building that made you stop and stare?

Architectural Sketches

Sometimes architects make quick sketches of buildings they have seen. These are called architectural sketches. They are often made with a black ink pen and watercolor paints. Here are some examples.



These sketches are by an artist named Liz Steel. Here is her blog that has many examples of her work.

Let's look at her artistic process.

Here is the building she is drawing.


She begins with sketching with a light colored pencil.


And then she begins to outline her drawing with a black ink pen and adds watercolor.


Here is her final product. She works fast, but she has a lot of experience!



Here is a quote by a famous architect, Le Corbusier.

"The camera is a tool for idlers, who use a machine to do their seeing for them. To draw oneself, to trace the lines, handle the volumes, organise the surface…all this means first to look, and then to observe and finally perhaps to discover…and it is then that inspiration may come."

- Le Corbusier

What does this quote mean?

What Le Corbusier is saying is that you really get a feeling of what the building is--what it looks like and the "feel" that it gives you--by giving it a long, hard look. Also, looking at something, really studying it, makes you "see" it for the first time. Details you might have looked over if you had walked by or even photographed the building are more obvious.

What building would you like to make a drawing of?