Architectural drawing

“ Such broadening influences naturally tended to stimulate and aid the development of architectural taste and, as a certain amount of dexterity in drawing was highly esteemed and practised as a polite masculine accomplishment, a considerable number of men were fitted, to a far greater degree than the majority of so-called well educated people nowadays, to translate their architectural preferences into a form sufficiently intelligible for the master-carpenter to work from in putting an idea into a tangible shape. ”

“ No architectural drawings are more popular than his, and no style is better known or more generally 'adopted' by the illustrators of little guide-books or of magazine articles. An architect's training and knowledge of structure underlies the picturesque dilapidation prevalent in his version of Anglo-gothic architecture. His first traceable book-illustrations belong to 1888, though in 'The English Illustrated,' in 'The Portfolio,' and elsewhere, he had begun before then to formulate the style that has served him so admirably in later work with the pen. ”

“ The necessity of painting the whole façade, in order to mask the nature of the material, gives the effect of enormous architectural decorations seen in open air. The salient parts, moldings, cornices, entablatures, consoles, are of wood, bronze, or cast-iron, to which suitable forms have been given; when you do not look too closely the effect is satisfactory. ”

“ The exterior of the building is not generally considered an architectural success, and the ugliness of the dome is almost proverbial. But it should be remembered that the original design included the erection of suitable pieces of sculpture—such as may be seen in old engravings of the Gallery, made from the architect's drawings—on the still vacant pedestals. ”

“ The development of photographic processes for the reproduction of drawings which has taken place within the past few years has led to a remarkable increase in the publication of architects' designs, both in the technical journals and in the popular magazines and daily press. Undoubtedly the recent progress of architectural design in America is largely due to the opportunity for comparison thus placed within the reach of architects and draughtsmen who could not otherwise place their productions beside those of their fellows. ”

“ The sculpture has vitalized the whole marvelous Exposition. It is not an accessory, as has been the sculpture of previous Expositions, but it goes hand in hand with the architecture, poignantly existing for its own sake and adding greatly to the decorative architectural effects. In many cases the architecture is only the background or often only a pedestal for the figure or group, pregnant with spirit and meaning. ”

“ It is to be remembered that, by a deep and narrow incision, an architect has the power, at least in sunshine, of drawing a black line on stone, just as vigorously as it can be drawn with chalk on grey paper; and that he may thus, wherever and in the degree that he chooses, substitute chalk sketching for sculpture. ”

“ An inherited talent for sculpture, handed down, no doubt, from their classical forefathers, distinctly marks the commencement of the era; but from that time until the appearance of the "Renaissance" influence, builder and carver are no longer conceivable as being independent of each other. Sculpture of one kind or another not only played an important part in the decoration of its buildings, but became a necessary and integral element in every architectural conception, be its importance little or great. ”

“ But painting could hardly reach any full development in connection with a system of architecture which presented so little wall space whereon to paint, and which so strictly required, in the auxiliary arts, an absolute subjection to architectural expression. The art of producing brilliantly-coloured designs in glass to fill the vast openings of the new architecture was, indeed, a kind of painting, which the Gothic artists made peculiarly their own, and developed magnificently. ”

“ Make yourselves, then, artists, not alone in respect of mere architecture itself, but in respect also of its allied arts; in respect of architectural sculpture, in respect of painted decoration, in respect of figure sculpture and of figure-painting in forms suited to architecture ”

“ The warm and varied hues with which polychromatic decoration endows buildings help us to distinguish them in such situations from the ground upon which they stand, and to accentuate their different planes. They also compensate, in some degree, for the absence of those strong shadows which elsewhere help to make contours visible. Attention is drawn to the dominant and bounding lines of an architectural composition by contrasts of tint which also serve to give force to wall paintings and bas-reliefs. ”

“ Mark's where the architecture is quite simple, the arches and vaulting without mouldings, nothing to interfere with the quiet splendour of the gold or blue fields of mosaic varied with simple typical figures, bold in silhouette, placed frankly upon them, emblems, boldly curving scroll-work, and inscriptions. The execution, too, is as direct and simple as the design. Such design and 23 decoration as this becomes an essential and integral part of the architectural structure and effect. ”

“ In architecture mere forms apart from their functional offices and relations are not enough to enable us to apprehend the distinctive characteristics of styles. Semicircular forms instead of straight beams may, for instance, be used to bridge the spaces between the upright supports of a building without a result which would constitute between a building employing the latter form and one employing the former, a difference of architectural style. ”

“ XXXV. III. Our final inquiry was to be into the use of colour as associated with architectural ornament.
I do not feel able to speak with any confidence respecting the touching of sculpture with colour. I would only note one point, that sculpture is the representation of an idea, while architecture is itself a real thing. The idea may, as I think, be left colourless, and coloured by the beholder's mind: but a reality ought to have reality in all its attributes: its colour should be as fixed as its form. I cannot, therefore, consider architecture as in any wise perfect without colour. ”

“ Mouldings are very rarely employed; in fact, the large bead running up the angles of the pylons, &c., and a heavy hollow moulding doing duty as a cornice, are all that are usually met with. Sculpture and carving occur occasionally, and are freely introduced in later works, where we sometimes find statues incorporated into the design of the fronts of temples. Decoration in colour, in the shape of hieroglyphic inscriptions and paintings of all sorts, was profusely employed (Figs. 27-30) , and is executed with a truth of drawing and a beauty of colouring that have never been surpassed. ”

“ Without the circle of timbers already described, is another of twenty-four upright timbers; and between these two circles the staircases wind. The architectural fronts of the galleries form frame-works, through which the spectator may enjoy various parts of the panorama, as in so many distinct pictures.
The cut and appended references will explain the devices for painting better than a more extended description; for mere words do not facilitate the understanding of inventions which in themselves are beautiful and simple. ”

“ Should we be justified in adopting a simple tint of white or stone colour, the usual method of painting iron? Now, it must be borne in mind that this building will be covered on the south side, and over the whole of the roof, with canvass, so that there can be but little light and shade. The myriads of similar lines, therefore, of which the building is composed, falling one before the other, would lose all distinctness, and form, in fact, one dull cloud overhanging the Exhibition. ”

“ But the great clumsy column, opposite, with its clumsier figure of Fame, against a ruby background extending right up to the stonework of the window, is not a satisfactory filling to the outer light of a big window.
The last thing to expect of late Renaissance work is modesty in the use of architectural accessories, whether in the form of frame or background. Frame and background they are not; they claim to be all or nothing. Just as ornamental design was gradually pushed out of use by figure work, so the picture was in time overpowered by its frame. ”

“ The three noblest forms of wall-decoration are fresco-painting, panelling, and tapestry hangings. In the best period of decoration all three were regarded as subordinate to the architectural lines of the room. The Italian fresco-painters, from Giotto to Tiepolo, never lost sight of the interrelation between painting and architecture. It matters not if the connection between base and cornice be maintained by actual pilasters or mouldings, or by their painted or woven imitations. The line, and not the substance, is what the eye demands. ”

“ So, in all drawing and sculpture, it is the power of rounding, softly and perfectly, every inferior mass which preserves the serenity, as it follows the truth, of Nature, and which demands the highest knowledge and skill from the workman. A noble design may always be told by the back of a single leaf, and it was the sacrifice of this breadth and refinement of surface for sharp edges and extravagant undercutting, which destroyed the Gothic mouldings, as the substitution of the line for the light destroyed the Gothic tracery. ”

“ The fact that the modern building cannot be allowed the cost of much architectural sculpture in its exterior, though unfortunate, cannot be urged as a serious defect, in view of the fact that the English mediæval churches have but little sculpture as compared with those of the Continent, their adornment being concentrated more generally upon the West front, or parts of the interior. ”

“ The severe lines and proportional rhythm of the architecture are enriched by sculpture, which in its turn is chastened and modified by the contiguous severity of the former,{2} while painting adds the necessary colour finish to the bare spaces that are enclosed by the mouldings and constructional lines of the architecture, borrowing at the same time much of its dignity, restfulness of form, simplicity of composition, and whatever else that adds to its nobility and monumental fitness, from its close association with the architecture. ”

“ Mural painting occupies a position alone and by itself, midway between the purely conventional decoration and the realistic easel picture. It must be sufficiently real to tell its story; it must not be so real as to destroy the flatness and solidity of the surface upon which it is painted. Mural painting, in fact, must be considered as an adjunct of architecture, and not as a self-dependent creation. ”

“ These serve to support the architectural forms, to fill up and to connect the whole. They may be best described as the living and embodied genii of architecture. It required the unlimited power of an architect, sculptor, and painter, to conceive a structural whole of so much grandeur,
to design the decorative figures with the significant repose required by the sculpturesque character, and yet to preserve their subordination to the principal subjects, and to keep the latter in the proportions and relations best adapted to the space to be filled.'—Kugler. ”

“ A similar style occurs in the baths of Titus at Rome, and the subjects have often been published. In the panels formed by these architectural representations, we find paintings of figures, of men and animals, of buildings, and of landscapes. The architectural part I am little inclined precisely to imitate even in painting, yet I think something may be extracted from it, and applied to the decoration of rooms with great advantage; and many hints may be gained from it. The paintings of buildings (as objects) which sometimes occur, are done without taste, and without any just perspective ”

“ All great works of architecture in existence are either the work of single sculptors or painters, or of societies of sculptors and painters, acting collectively for a series of years. A Gothic cathedral is properly to be defined as a piece of the most magnificent associative sculpture, arranged on the noblest principles of building, for the service and delight of multitudes; and the proper definition of architecture, as distinguished from sculpture, is merely "the art of designing sculpture for a particular place, and placing it there on the best principles of building." ”

“ The modern prejudice against the use of colour in architecture set in about the same time that sculpture also became, like painting, an independent art, which was about the beginning of the decadence of the Renaissance, at the end of the sixteenth century.
The architect, sculptor and painter should confer together, and if possible work in harmony with each other, so that when a cathedral, a church, a city hall, or any other public building is about to be erected, the complete scheme of the finished decoration should be formulated when the plans are being made. ”

“ Color and design impressive in a studio might, when placed beside vigorous architecture, become weak and pale. Besides, in this instance, the murals would meet new conditions in having to harmonize with architecture that was already highly colored. Furthermore, no two of the canvases would meet exactly the same conditions and, as a result of the changes in light and atmospheric effects, the conditions would be subject to continual change. ”

“ In other instances Architecture does not give everything to one art, but divides the bounty of her great façade between sculpture and painting; reserving to the former the hollows and nooks where statues may find niches, and giving to glass-painters the tympanum of the great door, where at Chartres the image-maker has displayed the Triumph of Christ. ”