Anatomy of a Drawing: Fort Duquesne

Today's post is a little longer than usual-- this drawing took a week to do, and I thought I'd offer a more in-depth look at the process involved.

I've broken it into parts for easier reading: Part One (Inspiration), Part Two (Research), Part Three (Acting Out), Part Four (Putting It All Together).

Lots of good stuff here if you want a real "behind the scenes look." Forts, landscapes, costumes, acting! Read on!

Sketching in Three Dimensions

Digital model of Fort Duquesne created for Buttons and Beads reference

If you follow us on Facebook you may have seen a preview of the virtual three dimensional Fort Duquesne model. Fort Duquesne was the French stronghold located on the Ohio River forks-- the site of modern downtown Pittsburgh, PA-- and a pivotal location in the ongoing fur trade conflict with the English.

It was in 1755 that the English launched an unsuccessful attack against the fort. Returning in 1758 they found that the French, who had lost the support of their Indian allies, had fled already, leaving a burnt fort behind them.

The English (to the Indians' dismay) further established their own presence in western Pennsylvania by building the much larger Fort Pitt on the same site.

Pencil sketches as seen above will be based on the digital model, which in turn was based on period plans and drawings of the fort as seen below.

Old French map of Fort Duquesne

Digital "blueprint" of Fort Duquesne created for reference. Created with Google SketchUp. Fully rendered version (top of post) created also using Shaderlight. Cannon appearing in the model created by A.J. Unknow.