Free Professional Architectural Sketches to Inspire Your Projects

Discover sketches by great architects and get inspired to create your architectural design projects

Regardless of genre and style, illustrating requires a lot of research and a good set of references. In the case of architecture, studying the sketches and designs of other architects, especially those you admire, can make a big difference in the outcome of your drawings. After all, observation is also an art.

Understanding the identity of a space and knowing how to express it in architectural illustration is the challenge that urban architect Marcelo Marttins (@marcelomarttins) takes on in each of his projects. Through humanized drawing, he transforms his sketching into a powerful tool.

All the important architectural offices Marcelo has been working in have had one thing in common: all projects included at least one hand-drawing stage in the process.

The file shared by the Brazilian urban architect includes valuable information taken from his course Architectural Illustration: Humanize the Design of a Space.

Check out some useful facts about architectural illustration before downloading this fantastic resource.

What is architectural illustration?

Architect and architectural illustrator Héctor López (@_thearchitector) states that "architectural illustration is the visual representation of an object that can be as small as a detail or as large as an entire building or a block of buildings."

Humans have created visual representations of architectural objects for thousands of years. According to Héctor, the oldest known example of an architectural plan dates back to 2200 BC. It is part of a statue of Gudea, who ruled the state of Lagash in southern Mesopotamia around 2144 - 2124 BC. The statue, titled Architect with the Plan, shows Gudea seated with a tablet on his lap, showing the plan of a temple.

Both during and after the Roman Empire, an increasing number of examples of architectural illustration started to appear more closely, resembling the discipline we know today.

What is the job of an architectural illustrator?

An architectural illustrator works closely with an architect to visually represent their plan for a structure or space and carefully follows the architect's instructions.

Their illustrations show clients and anyone else involved in a project what the final result will look like.

What can the illustrations be used for?

Initially, architectural images were created only after a structure had been built and were not used to aid during the construction process. Over time, these images have acquired new uses and have become fundamental in the construction process. While some drawings are more conceptual and convey the appearance of a given project, technical drawings explain how something is built.

These visual resources are used to test and develop one or more ideas. They can be used to show a project's potential: by real estate agents who want to sell properties still under construction or by organizations trying to raise funds to renovate the space they occupy. They can also be shown to ther owner of a property to give them a clearer idea of ​​what a new extension will look like, for example.

What tools are needed?

Every architectural illustrator has a different way of working: while one creates their images in pencil and watercolors, another can work digitally using specialized computer software.

Check this list of courses in which different experts share the techniques, tips, and tools they use for their architectural illustration projects.

How to add shadows in Photoshop

The way light falls onto a city has a remarkable impact on its appearance. The look of a site can change dramatically depending on the time of year and the time of day. Adding shadows to your architectural illustration not only gives your image a three-dimensional feel, says award-winning Italian illustrator Carlo Stanga (@carlo_stanga), but also helps define the elements, materials, and shapes that make up a scene adding personality and context.

In this tutorial, Carlo demonstrates how we can use Adobe Photoshop to add shadows in an architectural illustration, both realistic and fantastical, to create an atmosphere.

Check the video below!

Sketches by famous architects

Observing the work of other artists is an essential part of any creative process. For this reason, Marcelo Marttins is sharing some sketches of famous architects.

The designs show the style and stroke that define each artist, from Oscar Niemeyer to Tadao Ando, ​​not forgetting Santiago Calatrava or Steven Holl.

Click below to download the pdf file Sketches by Famous Architects, by Marcelo Marttins. You will find the file in your Downloads folder.

If you want to keep learning, you can do so by signing up to the course Architectural Illustration: Humanize the Design of a Space, by Marcelo Marttins. You can learn to capture the essence of a space through humanized drawing and create an architectural plan by hand.

You may also like:

- 6 Free Tutorials to Get Started in Architectural Drawing
- How Can I Become an Architectural Illustrator?
- 20 Architecture and Design Blogs and Magazines You Should Follow
- Interior Design Methodology for Custom Projects, a course by YLAB Architects
- Interior ArchViz: Create Surreal 3D Designs with Blender, a course by Camille Boldt