I sat down on a quiet Saturday recently to do a little personal drawing. These projects are a needed break between commissions and professional projects. I was perusing photos and feeling uninspired until I finally thought “duh!” Why not draw one of the most prominent buildings in the US!
Domes are particularly fun to draw. They are a definite challenge to freehand, but once the shape and perspective is right, they are pure joy to draw! As many of you know, all of my drawings are done mostly freehand. I do use a straight edge to line the drawing up with the paper edges (a personal pet peeve of mine) and occasionally to lay out a prominent or important line.
One thing I think is worth mentioning is how shaky the drawing looks when you start to put down ink lines. This used to be a really discouraging phase of any drawing for me. By the end of this drawing I was thrilled by how the dome looked. Pushing through this phase is so important in this style of sketch.
This drawing was produced on Bristol white paper using Copic Multiliner pens (.01) in a format size of 18×24″ This original pieces is currently for sale. If interested, please send a request via my contact page. Happy sketching!