Tag: urban sketch with poem
Urban Sketching People in Different Locations (Day 153-155)
Continuing on with day 153-155 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. Three day’s of sketches in different locations, and different approaches for capturing the story in the sketch by capturing overheard conversations and using some poetic reportage.
Travel Day to the 2026 Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse (Day 146)
Day 146 of sketching people during my travel day to the Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse. Including some sketches with some poetic reportage, and some using a limited colour palette.
Urban Sketches of People at the Cafe (Day 143 and 144)
Day 143 and 144 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. I seem to have a penchant for sketching people on their phones. In one sketch I added some poetic reportage, and in the other sketch I used a limited colour palette and sketched my version on the background scene.
Urban Sketch and Poem of People at the Cafe on their Phones (Day 141)
Day 141 of sketching people in ink and watercolour, and a short poem to add some social commentary to the scene of a father and son, sharing a meal together, but not sharing a moment of interaction with each other.
Urban Sketch and Poem of a Thirsty Man at the Café (Day 140)
Day 140 of urban sketching people, this time a man with flushed cheeks trying to hydrate with beer. I added a little bit of poetic reportage to add some additional “colour” to the sketch.
Urban Sketch Portrait and Poetic Reportage (Day 137)
Day 137 of sketching people. Urban sketch of men at the IMT office in Faro, with some poetic reportage as social commentary to illustrate the scene, and make the story about the make-shift “Silence” sign.
Urban Sketch Portrait with Analogous Colour Palette and Poetry (Day 136)
Day 136 of sketching people. Urban sketch of a woman on the phone, using a bright colour triad and an analogous colour combination. Also added some poetic reportage, and sketched oversized hands to help to create a strong focal point in this composition.
Cafe Urban Sketch using Analogous Colour Palette and Speed Sketching Portraits with Pencils4Tea (Day 134)
Day 134 of sketching people. Speed sketching with Pencils4tea onto collaged paper with Portuguese text, and an urban sketch at a cafe using analogous colour palette from a bright colour triad, and a complimentary colour for balance.
Cafe Urban Sketch and Portrait Sketching using colour contrast (Day 133)
Day 133 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. Urban sketch at a local cafe of a man with a pastel de nata, and a portrait sketch of Koosje Koene using a limited colour palette inspired by Ludivine Alligier’s tutorial about creating contrast with colour and text. Both sketches with some poetic reportage.
Urban Sketching People at the Beach and Café (Day 131)
Day 131 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. A couple of examples of poetic reportage – one at the cafe on a coffee-stained page, and one at the beach with multiple sketches of the same subject.
Urban Sketching with the Algarve Plein Air Collective in Cabanas
My first outing with the Algarve Plein Air Collective. Although we were on the Cabanas boardwalk to sketch the boats in the water, I was drawn to the Sunflower, in front of our local newsagents, which had its face turned towards the morning sun.
Urban Sketching People in Tavira with poetic observations and Portrait Practice (Day 129)
Day 129 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. Today I sketched a couple of people in Tavira and added some poetic reportage to these otherwise uneventful scenes. I also did a bit of portrait practice back at home.
Urban Sketching Sunburned People at the Café (Day 128)
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.
Urban Sketching People at a Government Waiting Room in Faro (Day 127)
Day 127 of sketching people in the waiting room of a government office in Faro. Experimenting with page layout by adding signs to help convey the location of the sketch, and filling negative space with some poetic reportage.
Urban Sketching People at Cafés in Tavira and Cabanas (Day 125)
Day 125 of sketching people at cafés in Tavira and Cabanas. Experimenting with page layout and composition, to see how well overlapping figures, and using V and L shapes layouts works.
Urban Sketching People at Faro Hospital and Biro Portraits (Day 124)
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.
Image Gallery #1 for Creating Reportage Urban Sketches of People with a Poetic Twist
Here’s an image gallery of my urban sketches of people where I’ve add a bit of social or cultural commentary in poetic form to elevate my illustrations into reportage.
Urban Sketching People at the café and Biro Portraits (Day 123)
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.
Urban Sketching People at the Cafe and Portraits in Biro (Day 121)
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.
Urban Sketching People during our Flight out of Lille (Day 105)
Day 105 of sketching during a day our flight out of Lille. I sketched people before our flight and during our flight. A good end to our trip, with some pleasing people sketches completed.
Sketching People in Ghent and some Poetic Reportage (Day 101)
In Ghent for day 101 of sketching people at the flea market and captured a bit of reportage sketching at the cafe, illustrated with a short poem about their dormant cell phones.
Urban Sketching People at Faro Airport (Day 97)
Day 97 of sketching people at Faro Airport while waiting for a delayed flight to Paris. Experimenting with ink lines with spot colour, and adding blocks of colour behind the people sketches.
Reportage and Collage Sketch of People and a Valentine’s Day Poem (Day 59)
Day 59 of sketching people. A reportage sketch with a restaurant bill as some collage fodder, and a Valentine’s Day Poem to develop a story around a scene I only saw for a couple of minutes. Sometimes you need to invent your own story, when you have no idea what’s going on.
Urban Sketching People at the Cafe and my new custom sized Sketchbooks (Day 57 part 1 of 2)
Day 57 of sketching people. A visit to a local bar in Cabanas to sketch in the sunshine to sketch groups of people, to practice compositions with a group of people. And also try out a new sketchbook format in the shape of a photo booth strip of images.





