Street scenes are great fun to sketch, and they often capture the essence of a place. Draw from above, from a window or balcony, sit in a sidewalk café, hunker down on the curb—whatever you do, see if you can zero-in on what it is about the place that makes it unique.
Choose your format to fit your subject as well. Don Low chose an extreme vertical format for this narrow street, and we feel the bustle of the city all round us.
Canadienne Shari Blaukopf catches the clean lines and moody feeling of a cloudy day in her city.
Don’s Sam Leong Road in Singapore feels much busier and more active. You can match your style to the feeling you’re after.
Danny Gregory chose a bird’s-eye view and bright, graphic colors to capture the street scene far below. The cars give a sense of scale.
I sketched from the top floor of North Kansas City Hospital one April day to keep myself calm while my husband was in recovery after surgery. It was a fascinating and challenging view of the old rail yards and streets.
Try capturing the feeling of a city at night, as Nina Johansson did in Paraty, Brazil.