Fields Sketchbook | Acropolis, Athens

15 May Acropolis, Athens – My Honeymoon Vacation

Posted at 03:53h in Plein air, Sketching, Travel by Ephraim Fields

A 'sketchy' honeymoon

My wife and I spent 9 days traveling around Greece for our Honeymoon, and she was gracious enough to block out a day in each of the cities we visited for me to whip out my sketchbook! First was Santorini, then Crete, and finally Athens.

Sketching the acropolis

Athens was definitely my favorite; literally felt like an Architect’s paradise. We spent over half a day exploring the Acropolis and the impressive temple remains. Along with my sunscreen, water, and a snack, I packed my camera, watercolors, copic markers, and sketch pens.

Sketching in the heat of the sun with no shade in sight was honestly pretty challenging. So, I sketched these pieces in two sessions. I typically like to start all my sketches using pencil because I am able to learn and explore the form and proportion of the architecture I’m sketching more loosely before laying down ink. I spent about an hour at each site on the Acropolis, starting first with light gestural pencil drawings then bringing in more detail with pencil and finally overlaying with ink. I brought in color using watercolors, alcohol markers once I found a place to sit in the shade which also happens to have the tastiest gyros as well, O’Thanasis.

the erechtheion

The first temple I stopped to sketch was the Erechtheion- Porch of Maidens. I chose to sketch from this angle after taking pictures with my camera and noticed the nice backdrop the mountains add to the Caryatids from here. Once I started sketching I started to like the angle even more with the contrast I could bring in from the background to the Caryatids. The beauty of sketching the Caryatids is that you get detail by layering imperfect lines; which actually made this sketch a little easier than the Temple of Athena Nike and the Parthenon.

the parthenon and temple of athena nike

Then we walked over to the Parthenon where a guy was taking a cool photo from the corner and looking up towards one of the tips of the Parthenon, and of course, my wife and I had to get a photo from that angle too (see photo below). From there I decided it would be a cool perspective to sketch from as well, instead of straight on from the center. I felt this angle could add a bit more depth. After the Parthenon, I wrapped up my sketch tour of the Acropolis at the Temple of Athena Nike, which is the smallest of the rest, but no less impressive. Both the Temple of Athena Nike and the Parthenon were a bit challenging to sketch and took a little longer because of the symmetry and straight lines that make them the impressive buildings they are.

wrapping up

We wrapped up the long day of exploring at a rooftop bar about 25 minutes walking distance away from the Acropolis. From the rooftop we had a perfect night time view of the beautifully lit Acropolis.