Sketching the Griffith Observatory, LA – a drawing tutorial by Dan Hogman

"Live sketching offers the most honest means to represent a subject," says Dan Hogman, who travels far and wide to capture the vignettes of cities, its landmarks and the streetscapes as beautifully sketched reflections.

In April 2019, he visited Los Angeles, and as the ritual goes, brought for us the postcards from the splendid 'city of angels' in the US.

In this video, Hogman sketches the Griffith Observatory, one of the most popular landmarks in Los Angeles. He starts by penciling out the initial lines of the Art Deco building, which is followed by catching up on details by putting shadows and accent lines in ink.

For those who do not know much about this famed building, the observatory conceived by Griffith J. Griffith in 1896 was designed with an intent to make the science of astronomy accessible to public. A reason why the place introduced free entry to the visitors in contrast to the idea that observatories are supposed to be located at remote mountaintops and only accessed by scientists.

The building has a rooftop that opens to the views of Mount Hollywood and its characteristic HOLLYWOOD sign, making it a popular destination on Instagram. Its distinct domes feature copper panels that have over the years oxidized to a bright green colour. A walkway around the building is crowned with concrete arches, reflecting Art Déco and Greek Revival arches. Since the observatory’s opening in 1935, a 12-inch Zeiss refractor telescope on the building’s rooftop has invited more than seven million people to experience the nighttime viewing of the celestial bodies. The building, in addition to its monumentality and incredible architecture, is a go-to place for people who are intrigued by the workings of the sky and planets, as well as the meanings and measurement of time.

See the observatory come to life in the tutorial above, and for more such videos by Dan Hogman click here.