What's up my dudes, my name is Leon and today I'm going to share some of the tips and tricks I've learned that helped me improve my architectural sketching skills and hopefully they will also be helpful for you guys. One of the most valuable tools in an architectural sketching is the perspective. So my definition of perspective is what gives a 3-dimensional feeling on otherwise flat image. It gives objects in a drawing a sense of distance where closer objects look larger and further objects look smaller. I'm not in focus am I? When drawing perspectives I really like to start by drawing the horizon line and the vanishing points which will serve as my guys to creating the perspective effect. So there are three main types of perspectives that are often used in architectural drawings. The one point perspective. This is mostly used when sketching in terrorist spaces and it is characterized by having only one vanishing point which is why it is called the one point perspective. Then there are the two point perspectives. These are often used to represent exterior views of a house or structure and is characterized by having two vanishing points on the opposing size of the horizon line. Lastly we have the three point perspective. This is used to introduce a viewing angle to your sketches. This perspective technique has three vanishing points. You have your usual two opposing vanishing points located on your horizon line and then a third one placed either above or below your horizon line. So if you place the third point above the horizon line it creates a worms eye view like you're viewing the subject from below. But if you place the point below the horizon line it will give you this bird's eye view as if you are viewing the subject from the skies. When sketching I usually leave the guidelines I've used on the race. I find that it gives the sketch that handcrafted feel and it also alleviates the pressure of having to make a perfect drawing which gives you more freedom to experiment. But make sure your guidelines have the lightest line value to not draw the attention away from your main subject. When drawing a line I like to put emphasis on the beginning and at the end. This technique anchors your line to a page and helps give your lines a strong and decisive look. One way to also make your sketches look more architectural is to introduce line extensions or overlaps when two lines meet. This will help corners look sharper and less rounded. When sketching start with the general elements and gradually work towards more specific details of your drawing. I often begin a sketch by drawing a single rectangular prism as a base then just adding or subtracting masses from the main form. I find it easier to sketch the exterior of a building by drawing some rectangular prisms to determine the massing and later on refining the overall shape by drawing from this prisms. Once you're happy with your overall shape you can now draw the finishing strokes to finalize the sketch through the manipulation of the line weights. So by making a line darker or lighter and thicker or thinner you can add a whole new dimension to your sketch. I usually use darker lines to outline the main shape of the subject and I use lighter lines for the finer details. One way to make your sketches look instantly better is to add shading to certain areas. You could do this by either doing a solid shade or by adding a hatch shade which is done by drawing a ton of parallel lines to the linear 8 darker value. Or you could also do simple shades which is characterized by using dots to represent the shading. This shading techniques could be used to represent shadows or dark areas and even to denote a certain material type or texture. Drawings done with shade and shadow tend to convey emotions better than line drawings. Now sketching is a form of art and it requires practice and through practice not only do you get better at sketching but you will also find your own style that will make your drawings unique. Okay so I'm going to challenge you guys to the month of sketch challenge so for a whole month we are going to do 10 sketches every day but each sketch must only be done within 30 seconds. So if you totally will only be sketching for like 5 minutes not bad right? So for the first week we are going to sketch an everyday object that we can see inside our bedroom. Could be a pencil, your flip flops, a cockroach as long as it is in your room you can sketch it. Now for the second week we are going to go outside and sketch anything that you see. You could sketch your neighbor, his cat, a passing car or the local McDonald's store. So for these sketches you could still do 30 seconds or you could go longer depends on how much free time you have. Now after the second week we are now going to sketch buildings that we can find on Pinterest or Instagram. Now you guys can do one sketch a day or you could still do 10 sketches a day but you have to sketch for at least 5 minutes. Doesn't have to be pretty because this is just for practice and to build a habit. So for the last week I want you guys to stay in the room and sketch anything from your imagination. Anything under the sun could be a flying panda, a walking house. It is up to you. And by the end of the month I want you guys to look back at your first sketches and see how much better you have become. And that's the whole challenge. So share this video to someone you want to challenge to this hashtag month of sketch challenge. And if you guys want to share your sketches on social media just use the hashtag month of sketch so we can all see each other's sketches. And that's it guys that is the end of this video. If you found this video educational or somewhat interesting you could subscribe down below to become an awesome member of the artisquad. It will also help me a lot if you smash the like button and drop a comment down below on what stuff you would like to see in future videos. Anyways, thank you guys for watching. I will see you all my next video flying peace. you