Some ideas and inspiration for creating interesting sketchbook page layouts when urban sketching people.

Urban Sketching during our trip to Turkey. In Istanbul, and at the beaches and cafes of Bodrum. Also sketched during a windy ferry ride to Datca. All Ink Sketches, no Watercolour.

Here’s how to use a Colour Triad to create colour harmony in a complex beach scene.

Come along with me to Cabanas fishing boat jetty as I explore how to simplify some complex shapes in ink and watercolour.

Sketching seagulls from life isn’t easy. So I think it’s best to capture their character with a loose sketching style. I sketched them walking on the sand at low tide, and dive-bombing the fish that the fisherman were throwing into the water. All Sketching in ink and watercolour.

Want to loosen up your sketching lines? Here’s some simple tips to help beginning sketchers build this skillset.

August 19th Drawing with Dylan live speed sketching event. Portrait poses ranging from 30 seconds to 6 minutes which I sketched in ink and watercolour.

Speed Sketching Portraits for the Drawing with Dylan live event on August 12th 2025. Portrait poses ranging from 30 seconds to 6 minutes which I sketched in ink and watercolour. Vibrant portraits because I decided to use up the paint puddles from a swatching session earlier in the day. Sometimes it’s good to mess around with expressive colour.

Tonight’s Drawing with Dylan live speed sketching event. Portrait poses ranging from 30 seconds to 6 minutes which I sketched in ink and watercolour.

A collection of my ink and watercolour sketches of Tavira and the surrounding areas in the East Algarve in Portugal.

Two portrait sketches in ink and watercolour of Anthony Bourdain from photographs. And another portrait of him and a quote that I used to cover one of my sketchbooks. The quotes was done with cut out letters in a collage.

Gallery page for my ink and watercolour abstract art inspired by my Turbulent Mind dementia poetry collection.

Sketching our local delivery man transporting potatoes to a local restaurant in Cabanas.

This year’s One Week 100 People challenge was great for honing my style and getting me using my Tombow pens for shading instead of watercolour.

So good to break my people-sketching drought. I much prefer capturing people to buildings, and these people were sketched in local restaurants and cafes.

Taking time to sketch visual reminders of our 4 weeks in Turkey. I sketched using a paired down urban sketching kit. And sketched people on ferries, in cafes, on beaches, and some business offices. A real variety of locations and people sketches.

Sketching on different papers is an interesting way to experiment with different tools and techniques with great results.

The first 32 people sketches for this year’s One Week 100 People.

How adjusting your sketch speed or where you hold your pen helps you find your sketching style. My assessment of the Find Your Line tutorial by Jen Dixon, and what I discovered by adjusting my pen grip and speed to help me determine what lines feel right, and which ones feel forced or contrived. And How to develop a line style that feels natural.

If you can’t get out and sketch, Sketching People from Travel Photos is a great alternative. Especially when you review your sketches to learn from them. Here’s a selection of sketches from our Cambodian Trip.

The beginning of my 365 Day of Urban Sketching People. Follow along on my journey to master capturing people live.

I joined #tekenuurtje for the first time this week. It’s one of the few Draw This in Your Style challenges that features people.

A collection of travel sketches from Cambodia that I did a couple of years after the trip, using photos I took during our Workaway adventures. Ink sketches of buildings, people, beaches, and

A collection of people I’ve encountered and sketched during my walks around Culver City in May.