Thursday, March 08, 2007

Angles and ornaments...


Another drawing from our recent stay in Las Palmas. I don´t get the idea behind the balconies on some of the old buildings of this town. They are often too small to actually use and I never saw any people on them. Still they are built with such care. The ornaments are sometimes overwhelming, and it must have taken a lot of work and craftsmanship to build them. I sense a slight lack of equilibrium between form and function here, but hey, who´s complaining. They are incredibly tempting to draw, so they fill all the function I need.

14 x 20 cm, ink and watercolors on sketchbook page.

14 comments:

Bill said...

Another drawing tour de force, Nina. Maybe the balconies are for the cats--see any of those out there?!

laserone_ said...

I love this, I love architecture and this kind of drawing just delights me. I think balconies like that were for when people didn't have air conditioning and so they'd want to open the place up as much as possible, so they'd put doors in that you could open up (much bigger than windows) and then the balcony was put in more for safety than for sitting on. That's just a guess tho'. :)

Anonymous said...

podswzmepOoohhh, I love this! I, too, love architecture, especially older buildings. You have done a beautiful job with the detail on the balcony and I love the colors. Is that the real color of the building, or did you pick it? Either way, this is just a gorgeous piece of work. Awesome!

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Hi Nina, this is a beautiful drawing/painting..I love the romance it carries, which is so typical of the older architecture and you've captured it with such sensitivity. Well done.
Ronell

Joe (real name Pat) Cubicle said...

The tone, proportions and values are spot on for my eye. This drawing is what art is about. This drawing should be the background for the cover of an art book. I hope that makes sense.

E-J said...

Perhaps they're intended for flower pots/window boxes?

Really lovely watercolour.

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Gosh and wow! This is just stunning.

Linda said...

This is realy great -- wonderful perspective!

Robyn said...

Fabulous perspective. Wish I could do this.

mereth said...

You've done a great job with the perspective on this, and somehow you can sense the building behind , even though there's no detail portrayed.Very convincing.

Felicity Grace said...

Fabulous drawing and I like how you have managed to get some texture on the wall rather than paint it one flat colour. I don't get why people don't use balconies either. In Kuwait they have huge balconies and garden terraces on every building but modesty dictates they can't use them!

Unknown said...

What a gorgeous painting! I really like how you've handled the details in the railing, the shadows, and the color throughout.

Alison said...

Oh, I love this paint sketch - here, those sort of balconies are called 'Juliet balconies' - I imagine they are for 'romancing'as in the days before people just jumped straight into bed together!

cazsh said...

love your balcony drawing. I get so impatient with architectural details sometime. and straight lines!