Started my city perspective drawing journey on a boring Tuesday afternoon. My sketchbook was gathering dust and I needed something new. Saw this cool Instagram post showing London streets in 3D and thought, “Why not try that?”
Gathering stuff
Dug through my art supplies – found some beat-up pencils and a half-dead eraser. Printed simple building templates since straight lines ain’t my strength. Poured coffee into my chipped mug because every artist needs caffeine, right?
The awkward beginning
Attempted drawing my apartment building first. Ended up looking like a collapsing cardboard box! Kept erasing till the paper nearly tore. Remembered that perspective grid trick where you draw lines meeting at one point. Sounded complicated but gave it a shot.
Made two dots on the page for vanishing points, then connected basic shapes. Suddenly the windows started aligning properly – magic! Buildings stopped looking drunk. Took three messy tries before getting something passable.
Weird benefits popped up
- Noticed details everywhere – suddenly saw patterns in brickwork and roof angles I’d walked past for years
- Stress disappeared – that hyperfocus when figuring out angles made daily worries vanish for hours
- Portable therapy – just need paper and pencil to transform boring bus stops into sketch subjects
Game-changing discoveries
Figured out shortcuts through trial and error:
- Trace lamp posts first to set scale before drawing towers
- Sketch telephone wires swooping toward vanishing points to fake depth
- Smudge pencil with fingers for instant shadows under bridges
Now my purse always has a mini sketchbook. During lunch breaks, I’ll rough out coffee shops or weird intersections. The more chaotic the street scene, the more fun it is to untangle on paper. Sometimes strangers peek over my shoulder – once a construction worker showed me better ways to draw cranes!
Not gonna lie – half my sketches still look like abstract disasters. But that’s the joy? You don’t need perfect results. Just grab any pen and try capturing that fire escape across the street. Weirdly satisfying seeing flat paper turn into living city blocks with just scribbles.
