Another thing I need to be thankful about Lisa Bardot’s painting workshop in Portugal last May was being introduced to Urban Sketching! That is, we learned how to sketch buildings and houses whether in urban or rural areas. And now… during our road trip to the Swiss Alps this time, I got so enchanted with the pretty Chalets that I figured this would be a great opportunity to get my colored pencils out and sketch some!
Understanding the Details
Apart from the deep roofs characteristic of Swiss Chalets, I also noticed a number of other details. One that caught my eye was the traditional Swiss wooden-shingle façade which I thought was so cute and adorable because of those tiny rounded ends that resemble fish scales, flower petals, or even a little dragon’s coat! Known as Rundschindeln (“round shingles”), the shingles are essentially the weatherproof outer skin, rather than the structural wall itself. Their overlapping arrangement serves to protect the building from rain, wind and cold, while wood itself remains vapour-permeable. Who would have known!
And the Swiss love flowers. Lots of them! Wooden balcony fence adorned typically with red or pink geraniums for instance. Then the flower box in front of the windows is very typical of the country. Let’s not forget those wooden shutters too! They are usually red but I also spotted a few green ones or just in plain dark wood.
The Whole Picture
And now, piecing together those details, I went about sketching one and finally ended up with this! And no initial sketch with graphite pencil, I must add. Perhaps the roof could have been a bit deeper but I think it does look reasonably “Swiss” to me. The evenly rectangular row of windows with their identically-designed shutters for one. Although we have the flowers on the balcony, I could have added the flower boxes on the windows but I was focused more on the form of the house. And let’s not forget the Rundschindeln facade! That was most crucial for for the added cuteness. Not bad for the first attempt at sketching a Swiss Chalet, I must admit!
And for this sketch, I went for Caran d’Ache Prismalo aquarelle pencils. One of the great advantages of aquarelle colored pencils is that since they are obviously water-soluble I can smudge them with a wet brush and develop a watercolor painting or just use as pencils. Very versatile! For this sketch, I left them as as. Notice how the colors of aquarelle pencils are more intense compared to ordinary colored pencils too.
I thoroughly enjoyed sketching my Swiss Chalet! It was much less complicated than I had expected; all one needs to do is observe the basic shapes and work in parts. As such I am also very proud of myself for sketching it all directly with the colored pencils. Perhaps I will have another attempt at this with my markers, possibly even watercolor too. Curious to see the difference!
My Kawaii Quarter 