The Importance of Drawing
- Gayle Hutchings
- Mar 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 20
"Drawing is the essential skill of a designer. If you can't represent your idea on paper, to others or yourself, then you can't see the issues and you can't solve them"
- Paul O'Leary, from the DeVOL Kitchen
We start every project by hand-sketching our ideas. Steve uses sketching as a tool to work out technical issues before he begins to build anything.
I often refine these sketches into shaded and coloured perspective drawings. Digital 2D drawings are an efficient way to relay dimensions and layout, while shaded and coloured renderings convey atmosphere.
The above image is of a project we carried out in Campbellford, Ontario. In the initial stage, our clients commissioned this watercolour to illustrate their building proposal. They were seeking permits to add on to an 1870s farmhouse - the left side of the house and central structure are original.
They proposed to build a replica of the original house on the right side which would contain a kitchen and living space. The painting was submitted alongside their permit application. It was approved, and now, they have a little piece of art to enjoy as a bonus. Steve built the interior and exterior millwork, a large commercial kitchen and a secondary kitchen for this project.
More examples of my architectural renderings:
Drawing our ideas will play a key role in the renovation of the Ennotville house. It's important to us to honour and maintain the original character of the stone house. The addition, however, was rotten and needed to be torn down and rebuilt. We could have expanded it, but our approach to this project, as with all our projects, is to keep our environmental impact to a minimum. This includes planning for low energy consumption in the home once occupied. We, therefore, chose to stay small and rebuild the addition on its original footprint.
Planning begins
We saw a twofold issue with the current layout that we wanted to improve upon. First; there was only one tiny south-facing window in the stone house, likely designed that way to keep the building cool in summer. I wondered where I would start my tomato plants, but, I digress.
The issue at hand was that the room was dark. There were two large west-facing windows, but one had been enclosed in the addition.
Second; besides the front door, the only way into the stone house was to enter a door in the addition and go through a bit of a maze at the back of the house.
Evolution of an idea
We both thought it was a shame that the addition covered so much of the stone, and I started to form an idea.
I sat looking at the house one day, sketching it out; minimize the addition on the back wall to expose the previously hidden window and turn that window into a door. This would let more light into the interior, show off more of the exterior stone wall, and allow a straightforward entrance into the house.
There is an exterior stairwell to the basement which had been enclosed in the addition. Steve noted that peeling back the addition would expose the stairwell to weather. We talked about covering it with a sloped Wizard of Oz cellar door, (represented by the quirky little box I drew between the door and window), but Steve didn't feel that would be enough to keep rain and snowmelt out. He tweaked the plan to include a roof for shelter.
We would need a professional opinion on whether the window could be turned into a door but we hoped so. We liked the plan.
Window styles
I refined my quick sketch into a coloured drawing. This allowed us a better feel for the back of the house with the new entrance.
I drew in 'two over two' Victorian-style windows (two panes or 'lites' at the top and two at the bottom). I gained a better understanding of window proportions and how they relate to doors from a book called 'Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use and Avoid' by Marianne Cusato and Ben Pentreath with Richard Sammons and Leon Krier.
What about historical accuracy?
Although it was built several years into the Victorian era, most of the building's windows were six-over-six Georgian style. They appeared to be original, but for energy efficiency, all the windows would need to be replaced.
Because the house wasn't a registered Heritage Property, we didn't have to replicate the original windows. We were free to choose the style, but we wanted it to be sympathetic to the house. Steve planned to build the windows with traditional wooden frames and mullions as opposed to decorative grills sandwiched between panes. As an art framer, I have a thing about clean glass and don't love the idea of cleaning 12 individual panes on every window. Steve also made the point that larger lites may not have been available in Ennotville when the house was built. If they were, they may well have chosen to use them.
The window to the right of the front door, which was the original entrance to the store, still has its original 25-paned frame. We plan to replicate that on both sides. Although difficult to clean, it does feel like an important feature to preserve.
So at this stage, we haven't finalized our window and door style, but we're both leaning towards two-over-two. It seemed trivial to dwell on window styles when so many dire events were happening around the world, but we would only make this decision once. Getting it right the first time could mean the windows would last another 180 years. If we wanted to try on a different style, I could change the windows in my drawing.
A typical conversation between Steve and I;
'Gayle, can you draw this for me?'
'Absolutely, Steve. Can you build this for me?'
'Absolutely'.
A match made in heaven
Architectural drawings and permits
We enlisted local architect Bill Spira, of William Spira - Architectural Illustration and Design, to draw up our plans. He visited the house and determined that yes, we could turn that window into a door. Nothing would be compromised by removing the stones below the window sill. This was exciting news, although we were a little nervous about upsetting the symmetry in the windows.
One other request I had was to make the windows in the addition the same size as one of the windows in the adjacent stone wall. As it stood, the windows were all different sizes.
Bill drew up our plans accordingly.
With the architectural drawings complete, we submitted our application to the Municipality. This was our first time navigating the permit process. The staff at the Municipality offered all the assistance we needed, and after a few revisions, we received approval.
Our next steps would be critical to getting the building watertight and preventing further deterioration.
