How to Draw the Colosseum
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Before anything else, you need to find some photo reference. The worst thing you could do is try to draw such a recognizable structure without the proper reference material. Even those who aren't experts will know if you just winged it. The firs
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The shape overall shape of the Colosseum is that of a cylinder. Check your reference. What you want to do here is lay down some curved lines that represent each level of the structure. On a blueprint, these would be straight, horizontal lines. In per
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Looking at the reference material more closely, lay in more curved lines that run parallel to your previous guide lines. These are the framework for the various ledges, moldings and foundation of the building's various levels.
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Check your reference. Some of the building's wall are still solid and straight, but others are broken and jagged. Start connecting those curves with the proper style of line. We're also indicating the thickness of the outer layer of wall, so the enti
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This step is a bit tedious. Once again, check your reference before drawing. What we're doing here is laying down guide lines for all the arched openings that are a recognizable feature of the Colosseum. The openings on each level match up with one a
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Some more technical drawing here, as we move on to the arches on top of all those openings you just blocked out. If you're doing this on the computer, there are a few techniques you can use to achieve these curves. I used the pen tool, but I could ha
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No red lines here. Why not? For this step, you don't actually draw anything -- you erase! Your drawing has become busy with all sorts of guide lines and there's an overall sterile, blocky quality to the image. The first thing you want to do is go in
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Adding details is my favorite part of drawing, but of course you can't do that without having your basic drawing done. If you've done your work correctly, this is the payoff. It's kind of like desert. You still want to check your reference, but you s
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This is an optional step, depending on whether or not you want to color your image. If you're going to leave it as a black and white drawing, you should really go in and block in all the major shadow areas from your reference material. Double-check a
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The final, inked image.
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The colored image. There are countless methods of coloring a line drawing. I just kept it really loose with the brush tool and had fun with it. You can rely on the drawing as it is, but you can also go in there and literally draw with the brush tool
