Morris Jumel Mansion Photo 1500px

Drawing a building is easy when you break it up into shapes! Start with the biggest shapes first, then add in smaller shapes and details until it’s complete. Watch our demonstration below using the historic Morris-Jumel Mansion, then use this technique to draw another building you like.

Materials: Front view or photo of a building, Paper, Pencil

Step 1: Find a straight-ahead view, or elevation, of a building’s façade (front). Turn your paper horizontally or vertically to match the building’s overall shape.

Step 2: Start by drawing the overall shape of the building on your paper, such as a large rectangle, or a rectangle with triangle on top.

Step 3: Continue drawing the other shapes you see in the building, moving from biggest to smallest. Add in other important lines and patterns you see.

Step 4: Once the drawing is complete, label the architectural parts on your drawing using our Illustrated Building Parts glossary.

Step 5: Share a photograph of your creation on Instagram! Tag @centerforarchk12 and use #architectureathome.

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