La Alhambra-a continuacion: The Alhambra continued

Even after I left Palacio Nazaries I couldn't get away from it! I got out of that portion of the Alhambra with about an hour left before our meeting time for lunch, so I headed into the Alcazaba, which was its own city before it was expanded later on into what became La Alhambra. At the top of the first tower that I got to, I found Sean and Victoria, and we all decided to try a "15-minute sketch" of our view from the tower of Palacio Nazaries. Because you limit your time, it is suggested that you will pick out the most important lines and geometries of what you are trying to draw. Below is my 15-minute sketch of the view.

I am really happy with it. While it has lines that are not at the perfect angles or some conflicts of scale, the general proportions and shapes are easily distinguished. One thing that makes drawings easier is actually drawing from a pciture, such as the one above, because it is easier to see how your lines physically compare at approximately the same scale. The problem with this is that it often loses the emotion that comes from sketching from the space, itself. This is especially true when you begin to incorporate shadows and textures.

Granada, from a guard tower in the Alcazaba...I really love that the building are all very unique, but that they maintain the white facades and tan roofs. It is picturesque (obviously).

When the Alcazaba was a town, this entire space was for the homes of the citizens! It is amazing that an entire city consisted of so few people. Although it may be misconstrued how many people actually lived in these homes since people lived with much less then than most US citizens do today, especially regarding the size of rooms. The way that this part was retored was really interesting, to me because it gave a good idea of the way houses were layed out and how people adapted to the space they had. I would have liked to be able to walk inside the walls that are blocked off to get a better idea of the way those spaces would feel, but it was really cool just the same.

After visiting the Alcazaba and the Coliseum-like building next to the Palacio (which really just doesn't belong!), we headed through the gardens toward El Generalife. Above is yet another example of the time and effort put into the design here. I believe these gardens were put in more recently, though I am not sure if they are to replace a previous garden or if the land was originally used as farmland or for another purpose altogether.

The water, the "tree-bushes," my Aldana boys, the sun that finally came out...it was an awesome afternoon.

Bob was super-enthralled by the tree-bushes..."Ohmygod...It's like a carpet!"

Then we headed up the hill to the Generalife.