DRAWING & PAINTING BRIDGES

There is no doubt about it; bridges make for good subjects. But what are the pitfalls, the things to look out for when drawing or painting a bridge?  

One of the most common errors, I’ve noticed, is to either show too much, or not enough, of the underside of the arch, depending on where the bridge is being viewed from. If you are looking directly on at the side of the bridge, then the chances are its underside will appear (if at all) as a dark, thin slither, spanning its entire distance. Another factor to consider, of course, is how deep is the bridge? (I think there’s a song there); a road bridge is going to be much deeper than a small single pedestrian-sized footbridge, or packhorse bridge, and will inevitably have more of an underside to display.

Tangentially, I’m put in mind of a canal trip I once took, which involved going through a very long tunnel. Being absolutely straight meant you could see the opposite end of the tunnel as you approached it (before you’d even entered it!). The reason I mention this is because of, what I perceived to be, a peculiar phenomenum. On the approach to the tunnel, the size of the opening at its opposite end actually seemed to almost fill the archway as viewed from this side. It wasn’t until you were within about fifty feet of its entrance that the blackness of the tunnel’s interior became apparent, the entrance to the tunnel apparently increasing in size at a faster rate than the exit at the far end.

Here’s a short animated piece to illustrate what I mean: www.peterwoolley.com/workshop/flash/canal_tunnel.html

While all of this might sound rather obvious, I urge you to stop and carefully consider exactly how much of the structure is actually visible to you. If you are stood close to the bridge and looking across at it from the river bank, then the amount of archway you can see will be crucial to accurately explaining your viewpoint. This is also true of the point at which the archway is seen to disappear into the upper part of the bridge (ie. the dark, pointy bit).

To illustrate this, check out this short animation: www.peterwoolley.com/workshop/flash/bridge_animation.html

Incorrect positioning of the ‘pointy bit’ will alter the apparent elevation of your viewpoint; ie. it it’s a tall bridge, then you will probably be looking up at its underside.

Sorry, this is all sounding rather technical, and I don’t mean it to be. Suffice to say, take extra care when drawing bridges. Only small amounts of variation in how you draw the underside of its arch will have seemingly disproportionate consequences to whether or not it looks right.

There are just a couple of further points I want to mention:

[1] It’s a good idea to graduate the tone of the underside of the bridge, by making it appear lighter nearer the water’s edge. This is because light would almost certainly be reflected upwards from the water. Darkening the ‘pointy bit’ also helps to exaggerate the depth of the bridge. By the way, if there’s a technical term for that pointy bit, perhaps someone will kindly let me know!

[2] If it’s a stone bridge, don’t overdo the detail on the stonework – Less is More.

[3] If the bridge is spanning water, then reflections are going to be an issue. I’ve seen many students slip up on this bit, confusing reflections with shadows. Start by lightly reproducing the shape of the bridge’s archway in the water, and then set about ‘breaking it up’. It’s highly likely that water passing under a bridge will be fast moving, so accurate, mirror-like reflections are really not necessary.