The key to creating a powerful drawing is to start with the right concept! In this book, sketching and painting expert Masao Yamada provides dozens of examples showing you how to establish accurate perspective guidelines and proportions for your initial pencil sketches, setting your drawings up to succeed right from the start. If a sketch's perspective and proportions are correct, your finished work will look crisp and beautiful. If not, you'll have a frustrating time trying to correct the problems at a later stage--and the finished work will never look quite right. A Beginner's Guide to Sketching Buildings & Landscapes is here to help you avoid those frustrations and set up your composition for a finished piece that will make you proud. The detailed step-by-step lessons in this indispensable guide teach you how to: Establish a composition's point of view correctlyLocate the horizon line, dividing land and skyBreak down complicated scenes into simple component shapesCreate the right relationship between foreground and backgroundExpress 3D imagery using 2-point and 3-point perspective Experience the satisfaction of creating well-formed and well-balanced landscape and architectural illustrations of churches, castles, houses, mountains, bridges, waterways, gardens, and much more!