Urban Icons

Sketching things we see outside.

This week’s sketchbook Project

Let’s Draw 7 things you see outside as icons.

Write a caption as if you were writing a travel blog.

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Interior of Posey Pearl is a Curious Girl

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Here are 7 things you could draw. (Use this list or make your own!)

1. A Car: Start by observing the car’s basic shapes and proportions, noting the rectangles and curves that form its body. After sketching the outline lightly, add finer details like headlights, mirrors, and distinctive features to give the car character.

2. Some other vehicle: Choose a vehicle that interests you, like a bicycle or bus, and start with its fundamental shapes. Focus on adding details specific to the vehicle, such as handlebars and pedals for a bicycle or windows and lights for a bus.

3. People Standing or walking around: Capture the movement and posture with quick, loose sketches to represent dynamic poses. Add details like clothing and accessories to give personality and context to the figures, and consider how the people interact with each other and their surroundings, such as groups conversing or individuals walking along a path.

4. Trees next to a building: Position the trees in relation to the building, considering their sizes and shapes. Sketch the basic structure of the trees and add foliage using varied lines and shapes. Show how the trees and building coexist by adding shadows and elements like roots or overhanging branches to create a cohesive scene.

5. Electrical poles: Begin with strong vertical lines for the poles and add crossarms and wires, noting how they connect between poles and to buildings. Consider the perspective and angle to ensure the lines converge appropriately, and incorporate surrounding elements like streets or buildings to provide context and scale.

6. A Market Stall: Focus on a single stall, sketching its basic structure and the arrangement of items on display. Add details like the vendor and a few key products to capture the essence of the stall.

7. And old building: Capture the overall shape and proportions of the building, emphasizing aging aspects like worn edges and cracks. Add architectural details and use shading to show the texture of materials like brick or stone.

Draw them as Icons, or for extra credit, go outside and do some urban sketching, alternatively, use Google street view and draw from home.

I gave urban sketching a pop, here are my sketches.

The picture on the left is the view from the Thai Restaurant as I waited for my food. The next view was of a convenience store.I felt completely out of my depth. I didn’t know what subject to choose, what to look out for, how to ‘not get caught’. I had no idea what I was doing.

But it was fun.

Using the 10 minutes between ordering and getting my food felt great. Sitting on the pavement to draw also felt great. Like anything, it feels with a bit of practice, this could be something I really enjoy. Maybe I should reimagine the scenes as scenes in a picture-book.

That’s the approach I’ll take this week focusing on individual objects as building blocks rather than whole scenes.

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• Here’s a link to an icon drawing workshop I did with

  Katie Stack

• Here’s a micro-lesson on drawing icons from earlier this year

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Birds Gallery

You really out did yourself with the bird drawings! It was so fun to see! Visit the gallery and give some of the amazing work a shout!

Yumiko Kitazono: Florida birds- Tricolored Heron The colors here are exaggerated but it would be cool to see a heron in these colors💙

American Robin by Christine

"The largest of the woodpeckers north of Mexico and the third largest in the world, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was a bird of old-growth forests in the southeastern U.S. and Cuba. Destruction of its forest habitat caused severe population declines in the 1800s, and only very small numbers survived into the twentieth century. It was thought to have gone extinct in the middle of the twentieth century. The bird was rediscovered in the "Big Woods" region of eastern Arkansas in 2004” via Mary B

A crow for a London map I’m working on this week. The map will include a game for children to look out for things along a walking route. The crow 🐦‍⬛ will be paired with the Tower of London - Libby Brewster

The Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is common throughout most of mainland Australia and is one of only two pigeon species with an erect crest. They have striking iridescent green and pink/purple feathers on their wings. They make a distinct whistling sound when they fly. - Sophie Sparks

I was doing alright until the dark grey blob. I thought it was water, but it turned out to be mud. I will remember from now on-slow and steady wins the race. These are Canadian geese and their goslings. Maybe they are walking home from an outing they took over the weekend. - Jenn

The Keynote Speaker penguin is so named for its sharp communication skills and ability to draw an audience. The male's flashy good looks are characteristic of this South Pole native.

by Jeremy Ross

The Eastern Whip-Poor-Will. A medium bird in the nightjar family that chants it's name nonstop on summer nights. It's quite proud of itself it seems. - Jesse

by Frank E Griffen

Follow them on Substack:

Yumiko Kitazono

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Mary B

,

Libby Brewster

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Jenn

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Audrey Tawa

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Christine

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Jesse

(I didn’t include anyone who had their mentions turned off)

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1. Make Art Daily

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3. Keep Going without Burning out

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