Day 128 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. Today I sketched a couple of sunburned people at the café and added some poetic reportage to capture the scene. I also added coffee stained backgrounds.

Day 126 of sketching people. Drawing is Free speed sketching event on zoom. Sketched a series of portraits, where every pose is the length of a music track. Simple ink lines and tonal sketching on 5x8cm pieces of watercolour paper. I also did Dylan Sara’s 10 minute sketch-along on YouTube.

Day 124 of sketching people at Faro hospital, where I added a bit of poetry to my sketch to memorialise the moment with a bit of reportage. Also continued my fasciation with biro portraits, using Earthsworld photo references.

Day 123 of sketching people at a local cafe. Added a bit of poetry to a couple of my sketches for a bit of reportage. Also continued my fasciation with biro portraits.

Day 122 of sketching people. Working my way through the second week of Dylan Sara’s facial features course which focused on sketching the nose. Which culminated in a coloured pencil portrait.

Day 121 of sketching people. Biro sketches with tonal shading from online resource images, and a couple of urban sketches at the cafe in ink and watercolour.

Day 120 of sketching people with a biro and adding tonal shading. Using photo references from Dylan Sara’s 10 at 10 live YouTube sketch along where he sketches portraits in 10 minutes.

Day 117-119 of sketching people with a fineliner. I did a lot of 2 minute sketches to put into practice the idea of simplifying lines and minimising the detail in people portraits.

Day 112 of sketching people. Drawing is Free speed sketching event on zoom. And completing a sketch study sequence, which was another exercise in speed sketching.

Day 111 of sketching people. Working my way through the first week of Dylan Sara’s facial features course which focused on sketching the eye. Sketching eyes in ink, and a portrait in watercolour pencil.

Day 110 of sketching people. Drawing is Free speed sketching event on zoom. Sketched a series of portraits, where every pose is the length of a music track. Simple ink lines and tonal sketching with a little spot watercolour.

Day 86 of sketching people. The calm of sketching people at the cafe when you know they’re not going to move much vs. the urgency of sketching people on a bench when you fear they may get up to walk at any minute means you create different line styles. Tight vs. loose.

Santi Sallés’ YouTube channel has examples of him sketching using a comic strip style layout, and a more organic page layout. But use the inclusion of small vignettes to capture his urban sketched scenes.

Day 70 of sketching people. Urban sketch in ink and watercolour of some players taking part in a Pétanque match in the village. Also a couple of portrait sketches to finish of my latest A6 people sketching sketchbook.

My triptych sketch series in a photo booth style is inspiring me to explore more options for using grids and comic book style page design that is easy to read and not confusing or overwhelming.

Day 64 of sketching people. A sunny day so I headed to the Algarve town of Olhão for a full day of urban sketching. I sketched on public transport there and back, and at the market, and a local cafe. There was also a surprise Carnaval parade that had taken place, and that greeted me when I arrived. Another interesting sketching opportunity.

Day 54 of sketching people. Drawing is Free speed sketching event on zoom. Sketched a series of portraits, where every pose is the length of a music track. Experimenting with pencil gesture sketch, ink, and tonal shading. Also sketched urban sketchers who are hosting workshops at Toulouse in July.

A blind contour sketch of Urban Sketcher and Illustrator Lis Watkins, to illustrate this post about her sketchbook Tour of Toulouse, where she uses bright and vibrant colours to capture the essence of this French city that’s hosting the new Urban Sketchers Symposium in 2026

Day 48 of sketching people. Used the daily prompt from Urban Sketchers Org to sketch a couple of Toulouse-inspired sketches to minimise being overwhelmed by sketching complex buildings. Also a selection of ink sketches with tonal shading.

Day 45 of sketching people. Sketches of Suhita Shirodkar, an urban sketchers who is presenting a lecture and demo at the next Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse.

Day Fourteen of a 365-day people sketch challenge, exploring colour combinations and personal interpretations rather than exact replicas of reality. Plus sketches inspired by photos from Cordoba with dynamic focal points, and a speed sketching event.

How I started my 10 minute daily people sketching practice, and some tips and inspiration for starting your own sketching habit.

On day three of the #Kick365 sketching challenge, I explored sketching people with ink and watercolor while practicing portrait techniques. I experimented with skin tones and adopted a new approach to drawing portraits by prioritising overall outlines. Drawing Earthsworld Challenge Portrait, and Live Zoom Portrait session with Dylan.

The start of my new 365 day sketching challenge, where I’m focusing on Sketching People in Ink and Watercolour. Here’s the first two days, with tips on where to find inspiration for people sketches. Some Drawing Earthsworld Challenge Portraits and a local urban sketch of people.