The Temple of Garni was chosen to create a sketch using a two-point perspective and essential tools: a piece of paper (11 x 17), a ruler, and a graphite pencil HB. The ancient building is a true masterpiece of Hellenistic architecture in Armenia, characterized by luxurious finishes. It is built according to the classical Greek architecture canons and looks similar to the famous Temple of Athena Nike at the Acropolis in Athens.
The temple’s facade is decorated with 24 slender Ionic columns crowned by a roof with a triangular pediment. The temple’s base is a high basalt podium to which a wide staircase leads from the facade. A view of the exterior of the Armenian temple is shown in Figure 1. It is crucial to emphasize that the freely available photo was borrowed through the Google Images online service.
Based on a photograph of the temple obtained from the Internet, a sketch was created to express the general idea of a possible future painting. Thus, the resulting drawing is shown in Figure 2. The author was guided by the basic rules of composition and linear perspective to create depth of space and accurately convey the object’s dimensions on paper.
The main elements that come in handy for building a two-point view are the horizon line, vanishing points, and guides. The horizon line is the line on the sheet that corresponds to eye level in real life. Vanishing points are locations on the horizon line where the lines of sight converge.
Guides are auxiliary lines that extend from objects to convergence points. To make the resulting sketch more exciting and memorable, several elements and details were added, including people, roads, mountains, and trees. The student endeavored to convey the accuracy of the shape and size of the construction while maintaining artistic integrity and intent by combining draftsmanship and graphics.
