Saugus artist drawn to community service

SAUGUS – Saugus resident Stephen Rich led a perspective drawing class at the library last week, which is just one of the many ways Rich said he tries to contribute to the town.Rich is a member of five local committees, including the Saugus Building Committee, the Belmonte School Building Committee, the Alternative Energy Committee, the Saugus Historic Commission and the Affordable Housing Committee.?I like donating my time on the committees,” said Rich. “You?re giving something back to Saugus and you?re doing something that?s going to benefit Saugus. It?s also a challenge.”About 14 people attended Rich?s drawing class at the library, where the participants set up chairs outside Town Hall so they could sketch the library.?We had about 14 there at various ages from junior high school to almost 80 years old,” said Rich. “I found that they just dug right in. What impressed me was how fast they picked it up. I gave them some instruction and they did some beautiful images. We had a lot of people slowing down to look at what we were doing.”According to Rich, perspective drawing means to look at a building and draw a three-dimensional image on two dimensional surface.?You?re looking at not just the front, but the side as well,” said Rich. “It?s not a pure elevation. One type is to draw existing buildings, which is the easiest because the building is right in front of you. The second type is drawing an existing building with a new addition. The third type is drawing a proposed building.”Rich said he is looking to hold another sketch class in the fall, this time at the Saugus Iron Works and wants to eventually sketch the Boardman House as well, a historical landmark in Saugus that was building in 1692.Rich said his goal is to preserve the heritage of the town as much as he can with his pen and ink drawings.?There?s so much history and heritage in Saugus I think it?s a good idea to try to capture the beautiful buildings in the town that have been here for so many years before they?re demolished or modified,” said Rich. “That?s why we?re going up to the Iron Works if we can.”Rich, 70, has been teaching a perspective drawing class at Boston Architectural College for 37 years and is a licensed engineer and architect with a degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1964.Rich also wrote a book on perspective drawing in 1986 called “Rendering Standards” and helped start the American Society of Architectural Illustrators.?With my background I find I can bring some teaching tools that make it easier for someone to learn how to draw,” said Rich. “I teach mainly not so much for the financial compensation, but it?s something I enjoy doing. My sister teachers ? So we?re a teaching family. It?s a lot of fun. The reward is seeing someone who can?t draw come up with these beautiful finished images.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].