Everyone can draw, even if they think they can't. John Ruskin claimed in The Elements of Drawing (1857) that, with hours of irksome practice, he could teach even the least promising would-be artist to draw; indeed, that he had 'never met with a person who could not learn to draw at all'. But as with so many other disciplines,it is essential to develop the skill with rigour and determination (rather as learning to play a musical instrument requires constant practice). Henri Matisse, a consummate draughtsman, achieved his amazing fluidity of line through sheer hard work. For a period in the 1930s he spent every afternoon drawing a model, and throughout his life remained dismissive of those who tried to emulate his style without enduring the necessary graft. Life drawing is often considered the best way to learn to draw, as we all share an understanding of the subject-in its myriad different variations-in front of us.

Across the design disciplines, drawing by hand has largely become a lost art. With powerful digital tools at their disposal, the majority of students and professional designers create landscapes, gardens and buildings while sitting at their computer screens, far removed from the spirit of the site they are meant to improve. But attitudes are changing.Spurred by creative boredom and a sense of being disconnected from their briefs, today's designers now seek a more immediate, more human connection with their projects. Understanding the sense of place is critical for any successful building project, and there is no better way to stimulate the imagination than by learning to draw what one sees and imparting spatial ideas by hand. Once one has conceived a design,conveying and executing this vision for clients is equally important.

Targeted at landscape- and garden-design students and professionals, this essential publication reintroduces the importance of learning to 'see by hand', to visualize large-scale design schemes and explain them through drawing, and demonstrates how doing so supplements digital drawings throughout the design process. Drawing for Landscape Architecture guides practitioners, through international examples, from their very first impression of a site, through concept and schematic design and client presentation to construction and site drawings, concluding with two case studies that show the final result.

Just as hand-drawing returns to design courses around the world,this book celebrates the best aspects of traditional techniques while incorporating them into today's digital design methods. This enriched approach makes for better design, happier clients and the most successful projects.

Introduction

1

Absorbing the landscape

Developing a vocabulary

Mark-making

People and spaces

Light and colour

Unlikely subjects

Artistic influences

Architectural rhythm

Line weights

Exercises in abstraction

Drawing scale

Leaf textures

Expressive line

Drawing plants

2

Drawing on site

Understanding the past

Streets and shops

An embassy garden

The urban context

Heat and light

Analysis sketches

From past to future

Beach landscape

A village garden

3

Drawing ideas

S ite-analysis studies

Analysing levels

Instant visual records

Views from above

A school and the London Eye

Planting plans

Ideas for planting

4

Plans, sections + elevations

Marks and textures

People and trees

Mixed media

Line weights

The influence of Nolli

Textured plans

Strategic plans

Hand-drawing and vector images

Coloured cartoons

Minimal colour

Sections and details

Architectural space

5

Perspectives

Black-and-white drawings

Sketch perspectives

Emphasizing a mood

Impromptu sketches

Drawing in meetings

Streets and public places

A seaside hotel

6

Isometrics

Different viewooints

Plantings for a large garaer

Landscape for education

Colouring on computer

Trees

Examining levels

People in landscape

7

Money drawings

Concept development

Use of bright colours

Sequential drawings

8

Construction details

The character of a site

Paving details

Bench design

Bollards and benches

Design for a skateboard cut

Screens for a residential development

Construction details for a college

Step details

Computer drawings

9

Completed work

St John's College, Cambridge

Brief and historical background

Sketch-plan options

Options for courtyards

Proposals

Levels and materials

Lighting studies

Microclimate analysis and planting

Planting design

Paving details

Gate details

Shop drawings

Completion

Coventry Peace Garden

Brief and historical background

Analysis and sketches

Eureka moment

Design development

Desire lines

Respect for the site

Corten steel

Choosing trees

Drainage studies

Stone bollards

Completion

Project credits

Further reading

Author's projects

Acknowledgments / Picture credits