Best of

vol. 01

#SketchLikeAnArchitect
 Dedication
To all fans of sketching, architecture, or both! Special thanks to
all of you sticking around the #SketchLikeAnArchitect project!
You’re a huge inspiration for me and I appreciate you
more than you might think!

- David Drazil -
#SketchLikeAnArchitect
www.SketchLikeAnArchitect.com

© 2021 by David Dražil. All rights reserved.

 Contents
My Back Story p. 4

Why Sketching p. 6

Best of Sketches p. 7

The Tools I Use p. 48

Books on Drawing p. 49

About the Author p. 50

Get in Touch p. 51

3 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 My Back Story
Back in summer 2016, I graduated from Aalborg University in Denmark
as a Master of Science in Architecture and Design. Together with my
girlfriend (now wife ;)), we moved to Copenhagen to look for jobs. I was
a young architect, unemployed expat, not speaking local language prop-
erly, with very little of working experience, and no contacts in the new city.

‘In Copenhagen, getting a job is easier than getting accommodation,’ they

said. Well, we were lucky enough to find an apartment, not jobs, though.

While sending job applications, calling (and sometimes even visiting)

many of architecture studios, I thought to myself that I could use this un-
employment time to my advantage somehow. But how?

During that job-seeking period, I was rejected by firms more than 100
times (yes, I numbered all my applications). It got me thinking whether
architecture is actually something for me. Lots of self-reflection went in,
but after a while thinking about what makes me happy, I realized that I
always loved to school and correct other people -- ehm, I mean teach.

4 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 With passion for both visual presentation of architecture and teaching,
I decided to create an online course on architectural sketching. At the
same, I took it as an opportunity to start sharing my sketches and works
in progress on Instagram, making it a little gallery to show the process
behind it. This was at the beginning of 2017.

That’s how #SketchLikeAnArchitect was born and since then this little
venture of mine brought me a lot of joy, motivation, and purpose in life.
But don’t get me wrong, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. It’s been also
lots of hours, evenings, weekends, and sometimes nights spent sketching,
learning all the hacks on Instagram or how to shoot and edit video, and
struggling with juggling all the balls in the air.

Eventually in the summer of 2017, one year after my graduation, I got

a full-time job as an architect in which I continue to this day. On top of
that, thanks to sharing my sketches and tips on architectural sketching
on Instagram and in my online course, I’ve had the chance to meet some
amazing people, speak at conferences, collaborate as a featured artist for
two sketching apps, be interviewed, and featured in a magazine.

The unstable and bit difficult period of time wasn’t all bad, I guess. It gave
me an opportunity to take a shot at doing something I otherwise wouldn’t
have a chance to do. I’m grateful for all what happened and excited about
what’s coming next. Thanks for following and being part of this journey!

5 Best
Shotoffrom
Sketches
video vol.
footage
01 | of#SketchLikeAnArchitect
Sketch Like an Architect| online
Davidcourse.
Drazil
 Why Sketching
As an architect, I believe in power of effective visual communication.
For me, sketching is a communication tool, helping to make sure that
people I work with understand exactly what I mean.

With ability to sketch, you can quickly, easily, and naturally present and
communicate your ideas. However, it’s not only about presenting the
final result. Sketching serves extremely well even during the process.
By sketching you can brainstorm new ideas, solve problems, shape
your design and make iterations to optimize it.

A free-hand sketch, with all its imperfections, often opens a dialogue,

invites viewers to participate in the process and suggests with wel-
coming arms that nothing’s set in stone. Good free-hand sketching
connects us on a very human level which people can relate to. Even in
today’s world focused on innovative technology, 5D BIM, and virtual
reality, I find hand-sketching with pen and paper irreplaceable.

My hope is to share all my knowledge about sketching with creative,

like-minded people so they can use it to their advantage - in their de-
sign process, in communicating their ideas better, and more convincing
presentations of the results, whatever they are creating.

6 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Best of Sketches
These sketches on the right hand side are not here to represent the
‘Best of...’. These are the sketches which my journey started with - I
brought these to my artistic entrance exams at architecture school in
Prague, Czech Republic.

On the following pages, you can find more recent (and hopefully bet-
ter) sketches! I hope they will serve you as an inspiration or references
for your own work, and will offer some handy tips & tricks you might
find useful. Hope you enjoy and happy sketching!

7 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 10-Year Challenge vol. 01
I used to suck at drawing... For
the upcoming book, I’ve recent-
ly re-drawn this sketch of Bau-
haus. What can you notice about
the differences between 2010 and
2020 version?
Here’s a couple of things I noticed
about the old Bauhaus sketch:
Very low line quality – I wasn’t con-
fident in making long strokes, I’d
overdraw them several times
Composition – I had no idea about
composition rules so all the ele-
ments are somehow flying on the
paper, not related or connected to
anything
Entourage – no people, because I
couldn’t draw them. Plus I think I
had to be angry with the tree oth-
erwise I couldn’t draw it like that.
Poor tree.
8 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil
Shading – even though I tried to
add shading, it looks like a bad tile
texture…
Sky – let’s just not mention the sky,
shall we? Thanks.
I’m being very critical to myself, but
the truth is there aren’t many good
things we could say about that
sketch. But that’s okay. It was my
beginnings and everyone has to
start somewhere, right?
The point here is - don’t compare
yourself to someone else. Com-
pare yourself to your version from
yesterday or even 1, 3, 5 or 10 years
ago. That’s where the progress re-
ally reveals itself.
Have patience with yourself. You
got this! ;)
 10-Year Challenge vol. 02

My wish for you is simple...

For this next decade, I wish we all

had more patience with ourselves
as well as others and enough will
power and discipline to be consist-
ent with our efforts no matter the
bumps we experience on the way.

Here’s another comparison of two

sketches of the same object -
German Expo Pavilion in Barcelo-
na, Spain, by Mies van der Rohe.
The top one is drawn 10 years ago,
the bvquite recently.

What’s the difference between

them? Which one do you like better?

9 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 10-Year Challenge vol. 03

I drew the top drawing for my en-

trance exams into architecture
school in 2010 to show my inter-
est in modernist architecture.

The bottom sketch was created

in the fall of 2020 as one of the
100 illustrations of iconic buildings
for a new book (coming out this
summer!)

Do you archive your old drawings

& projects or do you throw them
out?

10 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Family House Concept 01

These sketches are from a family

house project for a private client in
the Czech Republic.

Perspective section, showing how

the house works, its orientation to-
wards views, connection with the
garden, and accessibility to both
floors from the terrain.

Axonometry of the whole plot

shows the full volume of the house,
its position on the plot and relation
to the slightly sloping terrain.

Sketches are based on a very sim-

ple Sketchup model, all the details
are added directly in the sketches.

11 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Family House Concept 01

Photoshopped version of the ax-

onometry with added colours and
textures.

12 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Family House Concept 02

Another solution for the same

brief on the family house project.

In these examples, hand-sketches

really helped to create an impres-
sion of flexbility of the design. Cli-
ent was more open to talk about
adjustments and changes, coming
up with new ideas to the topic.

High level perspective sketch

shows important relation to the
existing buildings around the plot,
comparing volumetry and typology
of the houses.

13 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Imagination Exercise

This image was a really good exer-

cise for perspective and composi-
tion. To add a sense of depth, I was
working with the 3 depth planes
- foreground, middle ground, and
background. At the end I empha-
sized the focal point with a colour
accent. This time I also tried a bit
more creative approach to the sky
which supports the flow of the
building and the landscape. (Ex-
cerpt from my PDF Handbook
‘Sketch Like an Architect’.)

14 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Batman

You might think ‘Wait a min-

ute, that’s not architecture!’, - and
you’re right! However, architecture
isn’t the only thing and I’m a huge
fan of! ;)

15 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Tree House Hotel, Bengo Studio

In this image, there is an interest-

ing play between the two comple-
menting major elements - stacked
architectural structure and natu-
ral surroundings. The central part
of the image is most detailed and
therefore it draws the most at-
tention. The focus is on the ho-
tel itself, its role within the nature,
and the contact with the clos-
est vegetation. (Excerpt from my
PDF Handbook ‘Sketch Like an
Architect’.)

16 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Tree House Hotel, Bengo Studio

Photoshopped version with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

17 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Expandable House

Sketch of the Expandable House

by Urban Rural Systems. This
was my contribution to Envisage
Brand’s Diary campaign.

18 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Expandable House

Photoshopped version with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

19 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 You have to love this sport!

It wasn’t intentional, but one of

these guys turned out to look a lot
like Carles Puyol!

20 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Guggenheim Museum, NYC

Architectural masterpiece by Frank

Lloyd Wright in New York City!
Sketch from our visit in NYC last
Christmas - I absolutely loved the
city. Definitely planning on coming
back!

Simple framing of the sketch, tree

in the foreground, and couple of
people for the sense of scale.

21 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Guggenheim Museum, NYC

Photoshopped version with added

colours, reflections, and texture, us-
ing watercolour brushes.

22 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Hoomans

Bunch of hand-sketched architec-

tural hooman figures. Populating
your sketch adds liveliness, sug-
gests a story, and adds sense of
scale!

Don’t forget that you can get

exactly these as Photoshop/
Procreate brushes and raster and
vector files!

DOWNLOAD BRUSHES

23 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 More Hoomans

Bunch of hand-sketched architec-

tural hooman figures. Populating
your sketch adds liveliness, sug-
gests a story, and adds sense of
scale!

Don’t forget that you can get

exactly these as Photoshop/
Procreate brushes and raster and
vector files!

DOWNLOAD BRUSHES

24 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Imagination Exercise

Lonely, quiet, calm - I had these

three values in mind when creating
this 2-point perspective. Instead of
a busy city context, a simple sum-
mer house is placed in a very nat-
ural environment, offering peace
of mind. All the natural elements
are very important to the desired
atmosphere, including the water
with reflections. As a final touch,
I used a colour marker to enhance
the shading of the image. (Excerpt
from my PDF Handbook ‘Sketch
Like an Architect’.)

25 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Rhythm

Rhythm created by repetition in

1-point perspective.

26 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Ribbon Chapel, Hiroshima

Absolutely love this project by Hi-

roshi Nakamura & NAP architects.
Such an elegant and clever combi-
nation of beauty, story-telling, and
engineering.

27 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Ribbon Chapel, Hiroshima

Photoshopped version with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

28 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Innovation Center UC, Chile

Step-by-step drawing process of

the Innovation Center UC, Chile,
from Alejandro Aravena from my
book ‘Draw Like an Artist: 100
Buildings & Architectural Forms.’

LEARN MORE

29 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Slovenia Pavilion

For me something not so typical

- pencil-coloured sketch - of Slo-
venia Pavilion from EXPO 2015,
Milan, Italy, by SoNo Arhitekti.

30 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Trees, trees, trees

Architecturally sketched trees in all

forms, shapes, and sizes.

Don’t forget that you can get ex-

actly these as Photoshop/
Procreate brushes and raster
and vector files!

DOWNLOAD BRUSHES

31 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Vegetation Exercise

Start by defining the scale with a

human figure and then drawing a
basic composition of trees. In the
examples on the right hand side,
there is always one small and one
big tree, but you are free to choose
your own composition.

Subsequently, you complement

the sketch with smaller elements,
such as small pots with flowers,
bushes, and grass.

As a final touch, I recommend to

anchor the composition by defin-
ing a setting - in this case, a simple
brick wall in the background will do
fine. (Excerpt from my PDF Hand-
book ‘Sketch Like an Architect’.)

32 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Natural elements

Sketching vegetation is very calm-

ing to me and I’ve always liked how
natural elements can complement
man-made spaces. We should re-
turn the favour when designing
architecture - so our designs com-
plement nature.

33 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Natural elements

Photoshopped version with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

34 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 2D-to-3D

Two sketches representing how a

2D principle/section/elevation can
be transformed into 3D perspec-
tive sketch, revealing the spatial
consequences.

These perspective drawing tech-

niques are covered in my second
book called ‘Advanced Tech-
niques.’ Click the button below to
learn more!

PRINTED VERSION

PDF VERSION

35 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Bay-window, Copenhagen

Sketch based on a photograph I

took in the streets of Østerbro,
Copenhagen.

Big scale of the sketch requires a

high level of detail. That is a very
challenging change from regular ex-
terior sketches. Nonetheless, I en-
courage you to pay attention to
such small details - on the build-
ings, on the streets, or in a pub-
lic space in general. Very often
you need to thoroughly under-
stand the principle behind a  de-
tail and its tectonic qualities
in order to sketch it properly.

This was a great exercise in ob-

servation skills and detailing work,
including window reflections and
shading techniques. (Excerpt from
my PDF Handbook ‘Sketch Like
an Architect’.)

36 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Wingardium Leviosa!

It was fun to try more of a con-

cept art architectural sketch for a
change! Notice how the reference
to human figures create the im-
pression of a big scale piece of ar-
chitecture. This trick is often used
in concept art to achieve a feeling
of monumentality!

37 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Only the best staircase!

Most beautiful staircase I’ve ever

seen with my own eyes. I should
add that I was totally blown away
by the whole project of Antinori
Winery in Tuscany, Italy, by Archea
Associati Architects. Since we’ve
done a winery project as our mas-
ter thesis, I know how much of a
factory a winery actully is. Abso-
lutely gorgeous factory this one!

38 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Danielsen Architecture

Here are couple of sketches I made

for Danielsen Architecture. Both of
them depict the same residential
building in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Again, Photoshopped with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

39 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Danielsen Architecture

Here are couple of sketches I made

for Danielsen Architecture. Both of
them depict the same residential
building in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Again, Photoshopped with added

colours and texture, using watercol-
our brushes.

40 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Getting Industrial

Sketched composition inspired by

industrial architecture.

41 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Originality is a myth!

Absolutely unoriginal idea of twist-

ing a high-rise. Great example of a
multi-point perspective, though!

42 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Story of a cube

Quick diagrammatic sketch drawn

in 3-point perspective. Similar
style is often used for presenting
concepts in architecture and in-
dustrial design.

43 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Landscape

Simple 1-point perspective using

strong principles to create an illu-
sion of depth. Trees, as getting fur-
ther from the viewer, get smaller in
size and contain less details. Use
of different lineweights is crucial to
support this illusion, as well as to
create contrast in a sketch.

44 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 How many people?

45 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Angled Picture Plane

The only single sketch in this collec-

tion, which I drew with a ruler.

I like to think about this object as

a big-ass wine cork. No particular
reason.

46 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Space Efficiency

Simple sketch of a complicated ge-

ometry. Based on a photo refer-
ence by Daniela McAdden, design
by Estudio Ramos.

47 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 The Tools I Use
Analog Sketching Tools:

CLICK HERE to read the blog about the specific sketching tools I use

Digital Tools:

iPad 2018 9.7 inch and an Apple pencil

Wacom Tablet Intuos Pen & Touch

Apps/Softwares:

Morpholio Trace
Photoshop
ProCreate
ShadowDraw

48 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 Books from David
Click on the buttons below to learn more.

Sketch Like an Architect (1): Sketch Like an Architect (2): Draw Like an Artist:
Step-by-step from Lines to Perspective Advanced Techniques 100 Buildings and Architectural Forms

PRINTED VERSION PRINTED VERSION PRINTED VERSION

PDF VERSION PDF VERSION

49 Best of Sketches vol. 01 | #SketchLikeAnArchitect | David Drazil

 David Drazil, MSc.

About the Author

Young Architect Who Loves to Sketch
Online Teacher, Author, Speaker
Founder of SketchLikeAnArchitect.com

David Drazil is an architect who loves to sketch. With passion for visual
representation of architecture, he creates educational content and re-
sources on how to #SketchLikeAnArchitect.

Since his childhood, he‘s been fascinated by visuals and has been in-
clined towards fine arts, architecture, and graphic design. During his
architectural studies, both in the Czech Republic and Denmark, David Find out more about David and the #SketchLikeAnArchitect project:
found his passion in the visual presentation of architecture - name- SketchLikeAnArchitect.com
ly architectural sketching, visualisations, animation, and virtual reality. Youtube.com/DavidDrazil
Instagram.com/david_drazil
David gained international experience while studying at Aalborg Uni- LinkedIn.com/in/daviddrazil
versity and working as an architect for KHR Architects and Danielsen Facebook.com/SketchLikeAnArchitect
Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Today, David is focused on helping architects, designers, and hobby As featured in:
sketchers to use sketching as a tool for better design process and rep-
resentation. He also collaborates as a featured artist with sketching apps
on iPad called ShadowDraw and Morpholio Trace.

Find more information on the website SketchLikeAnArchitect.com

or at David’s successful Instagram account (@david_drazil) where he
shares daily his tips & tricks on how to #SketchLikeAnArchitect.

50
 Get in Touch!
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www.SketchLikeAnArchitect.com

51