Cocktail Canvases

By: Griffin Suber

A classical architect has the smudge of ink on his fingers and the medal spiral of his sketchbook peeking out of his pocket. He draws, therefore he sees. And he draws the traditional buildings; monuments and ornament everywhere he goes.

Especially at the street café where his cocktail napkin is his canvas! It is this architect’s proclivity which inspires the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, Mid Atlantic Chapter’s L’ Enfants to gather for drawing tours around Washington DC, a city well known for its classical buildings. Recently, they asked their under-30 members to submit drawings-on-a napkin, for an unofficial napkin drawing competition. The competition was fierce.

My own artistic training hasn’t advanced since the classical colonial doodles of my childhood. So I am very impressed by this year’s entries in the L’Enfants napkin drawing competition! In minutes these young designers whipped up brilliant interpretations of, well, just look for yourself:

With so much detail and creativity conjured on a napkin, we’re very excited to see the structures these young architects come up with in the future. Cheers to long careers and cheers to classical design!

Learn more about the L'Enfants: http://www.classicist-washington.org/lenfants/

Our thanks to the Washington/Mid-Atlantic ICAA chapter: http://www.classicist-washington.org/