Day 79 and 80 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people during my train journeys around the UK. I sketched at Kings Cross, Doncaster, and Hull, on the train, and at the cafe. Experimented with some limited palette compositions.

I did Koosje Koene’s “How to Draw Distorted Perspectives” Tutorial, and here’s the exercises we did using two different approach. Firstly contour ink lines, and then another sketch using watercolour shapes, and adding minimal ink lines afterward.

Day 76, 77, and 78 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people and statues I encountered in London, and sketching the audience at the Royal Albert Hall during a concert. Merging colour and monochromatic sketches to increase the focal point, add depth, and simplify the composition.

Experimenting with a comic strip style page composition to document an urban sketching day out. I evaluated the story thread, the subject matter diversity, the strength of the focal point, and my use of colour and text.

We take a look at the different way Don Low sketches people on a double page spread using negative space, tonal shading, and high contrast in his comic book spreads. He creates impactful scenes with no use of colour. I evaluate how he uses these elements to lead the eye through the panels, and how he varies his panel layouts across both pages.

Day 75 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people in the departures long of Faro Airport, and on the plane from the front row – so lots of toilet queue sketches. Experimenting with different compositions using an outlined oblong shape in the background to tie people and objects together on an A6 page layout.

Day 74 of sketching people and also the first day of One Week 100 People. Got more continuous line practice in by sketching a crowd scene at a cash point machine from a photo. And a page of random portraits for skin tone practice.

Day 73 of sketching people. Got some continuous line practice in by sketching a crowd scene at an airport, from a photo. And a couple of urban sketches at the local cafe.

Day 72 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people at the cafe at the end of the street. Playing around with compositions to leave enough negative space so my sketches can breathe. Also added text, social commentary, and overheard conversations to turn these urban sketches into reportage.

Day 71 of sketching people. A morning urban sketching people at cafes and a mobile screening unit in Tavira. Experimenting with different backgrounds and page layout compositions.

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.

This year’s One Week 100 People sketching challenge hosted by Marc Tarot Holmes and Urban Sketcher Liz Steel is starting on March 9th 2026.

Day 69 of sketching people. Traveled to Ayamonte Spain for a day of urban sketching. I sketched people at the cafe, a few buildings and an iconic statue in the square in old town. My watercolour pencils saved the day, and I used this day trip to experiment with page layout ideas and using spot colour for areas of focal point.

We take a look at the different way Don Low sketches people using negative space, tonal shading, and high contrast in his comic book spreads. He creates impactful scenes with only a minimal use of spot colour. I evaluate how he uses these elements to lead the eye through the panels, and how he varies his panel layouts.

Day 68 of sketching people. Urban Sketching at a local cafe at the end of the street. Combining people sitting in different parts of the cafe together at a table, and experimenting with compositions for a reportage post.

One of my new projects for February was to make a sketchbook in a Photo-Booth-format style, and fill it up with portrait sketches of people I’ve encountered during my day. He’s the photo booth portrait sketches I completed in February, and tips on how to make your own version of this photo booth sketchbook.

Day 67 of sketching people. Sketching from photos to get a jolt of inspiration after hitting a creative lull. I used a different style for one sketch, and incorporated different art materials for the other. I also show how I created my watercolour pencil stubbies, so that they’re an ideal size to take urban sketching.

Day 66 of sketching people. Urban Sketching afternoon at the Tavira Plaza to capture people in ink and watercolour. Experimented with a V-shaped Composition, tonal shading with a spot colour background, and creating depth with desaturated colours.

Day 66 of sketching people. Ink Sketches and tonal shading, with vivid spot colour added during the Pencils4tea speed sketching event on zoom, where every pose is the length of a music track.

We take a look at two different approaches that Santi Sallés uses when using a comic strip style layout. One to tell a story, and the other to connect different locations and capture small details. I evaluate how we could use these approaches when urban sketching people.

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 65 of sketching people. Not much time today, but enough time for a quick coffee at a local cafe and a quick sketch, about being in a foreign country but still able to order scones and clotted cream. This was an experiment in reportage and page composition.

An exploration of using distorted perspectives on my people sketches. I did Regina Spector’s Making Sketches Expressive through Proportions Tutorial, and here’s the exercises we did, and some examples of other sketches I’ve done with distorted proportions.

Kick in the Creatives is hosting a month-long challenge called February Faces, so I decided to do month of blind contour self portraits in ink, and then finish them off with watercolour. I’m using their daily prompt list to drive the poses I’m sketching.