Bit Off More Than You Could Chew?

Sometimes you have a project that bounces around in your head, that is a ''must do'', it hops up now and again and then bam! You start .......... , and then you realise you may have bitten off more than you can chew.   

This is an ink/watercolour sketch of the Würzburger Residenz that I have been dithering about doing, not sure whether to try it in monochrome or sketchy like here and rather than in a sketchbook on 50cm x 60cm Torchon watercolour paper. What makes is it tricky is the perspective, My horizon is high because I took my reference photo from one of the windows on an upper floor looking down into the courtyard, and there are lots of  ''diddly'' details which I personally love. 

Unfortunately, it is the unusual perspective which makes the scene interesting. I'm a bit of  fuddy duddy when it comes to perspective, get loose yes, but nothing ruins a sketch like perspective that is off! Don't forget when you admire the work of the Urban Sketchers that many of them have an architectural background, so even when they are working loose, their perspective is honed (mine isn't!). Things to look out for are lintels of windows and doors for example, my sketch here shows you just how many perspective lines I have drawn before starting (and there are lots that are rubbed out!)

Although the wing of the palace is facing us, which is easy but it also is on a slope which still looks  a bit  odd and I'm not sure how that will pan out. 

This gives you an even better idea of just how much thought and how many corrections are done before even picking up the paintbrush or pen. Lots of scrunching up of eyes and sitting back and checking and squinting with absolutely no guarantee of success, sometimes you just put a stroke of the brush in the wrong place and Bob's your uncle ...... it's heading for the bin! 

So if you fancy trying a bit of ''urban sketching'' do yourself a favour and check out some of the great online tutorials about perspective, there are some great tips and tricks using tin tacks and string. Or two pieces of hinged card to get your angles right, I did a short post about perspective in the past, maybe it's time to refresh. 

Balthasar Neumann took 60 years to build this Baroque/Rococo dream, the way things are going it might even take me that long to finish.