How to draw a city with a pencil. How to draw a winter cityscape in gouache step by step for children Easy cityscape in pencil
A few simple rules, the simplest materials and a little inspiration - and even a beginner can create a finished painting from scratch. The book “The Great Creative Challenge” is a guide to the world of fine arts and a guide to unlocking creative potential. We are publishing a step-by-step master class on drawing a city landscape.
Cities are filled with people, buildings, cars and public transport. Each of them, in its diversity and dissimilarity from others, gives the artist a variety of subjects.
A typical cityscape is a panorama. To work on such a painting, you need to find a place that offers a wide view. It is better if it is located on a hill, so that a large space opens up to the eye. Often a good landscape can be found near a river, where buildings usually do not block the view and you can look around a large area.
Traditionally, cityscape images often include recognizable objects, famous buildings, and other distinctive features of the area. For example, Tower Bridge in London is chosen for this article. However, the face of a city is not necessarily a souvenir postcard for tourists. You may want to portray it in a less traditional or unusual style. You can get an interesting result by getting rid of conventions and choosing a look that is unattractive at first glance, which conveys the spirit of the city and tells about the daily life of its inhabitants.
Tower Bridge at dusk
Approximate completion time: 2–3 days, including drying time.
Material: oil paint.
Surface: canvas coated with white primer, size approximately A2.
You will need: pencil; small, medium and large round brushes with hard bristles; a very small pointed round brush with soft bristles; oil thinner in a resealable container; rag; oil palette; oil paints: ultramarine, ceruleum blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, white; optional: tracing paper, water-based marker, easel.
Objective of the lesson: learn to convey the illusion of depth in space and work with details in a panoramic landscape.
1. Preparing the canvas and drawing outlines
Prepare your palette by squeezing paint onto it in the order shown above:
from ultramarine to white, from left to right. Using a large brush, add to each
oil paint color thinner is sufficient to produce transparent colors. Make a wash of several colors over the entire surface of the white canvas. Leave overnight to dry.
Using a pencil over the oil wash, draw the outlines of all the main objects (the bridge, the dark mass in the foreground) and the silhouettes of the buildings on the horizon. To make things easier, I placed a piece of tracing paper on top of the original photo, drew a grid on it, and traced the outlines with a marker. I then drew a grid of similar proportions on the canvas and, cell by cell, copied the outlines of the original image. If you don't have tracing paper, draw the outlines by eye.
2. Performing underpainting
Start applying primary colors to objects. Ignore minor inaccuracies for now. Notice that the bridge is clearly a darker blue than the background around it, and the foreground is the darkest area of the image.
3. Clarifying the shape of objects
Start refining the shape of the objects in the underpainting. Using a small brush, work in the unpainted borders between the colors. Draw the general shape of the reflection on the surface of the water, including the silhouette of the bridge, and the approximate shapes of the horizontal highlights.
4. Elaboration of the sky and outlines against its background
I thought the sky would look better if it was changed a little. Using a medium brush, dipped in thinner, I lightly blurred the paint on the canvas and added a light cloud to the right. Then I added details to the building silhouettes
against the sky and refined the shape of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral using the thinnest pointed brush. Using the same brush and dark blue paint, I painted silhouettes of cranes in the background, to the left and right of the bridge.
5. Working out surface details
Mix a light blue tint and paint in the illuminated details of the bridge using a thin brush, keeping in mind their design. At this stage, you can add lanterns in the background and their reflection on the surface of the water, depicting them using dots and lines of white, white with a tint, or red.
6. Final touches
Work on the fine details, adding thin stripes of highlights to the bridge towers. Place tiny dots of light wherever you see light sources. Finally, add the chimney pipes and, in very thin lines, the silhouettes of the faucets in the foreground.
The city is where you might live. The city has many streets, houses, trees and people. There are small cities on Earth, and there are large cities - megacities - with a population of several million people. City dwellers get used to the noise of the streets, to the horns of cars, to the bustle and crowds on the streets. You may have tried to draw city streets and houses. Let's learn how to correctly draw a quiet city street in pencil step by step using the rules of perspective and proportions in the drawing.
Stage 1. We will draw a piece of a city street that goes away from us into the distance. That is, in the foreground we will have large objects, as we move away from our eyes, the size of all elements will decrease. The rules of perspective in the drawing are used here. We draw two lines in the middle, they are parallel to each other. On the right we show two lines diverging in perspective. On the left is a line at the bottom and two lines forming an angle at the top.
Stage 2. Let's start drawing the walls of the houses. Ahead of us we draw two straight lines running parallel to each other. One is higher, the other is lower. From the high line we move the line to the side. This will be the wall of the building located in front of us. On the right we raise the wall and draw a door.
Stage 3. Now let's draw the roofs of the houses. On the left we make them pointed, since this house is visible to us from the side. On the right too. But the roof of the front house is positioned differently.
Stage 4. Now we will draw additional features under the roof of the left house. Below we show the line of the sidewalk. From it we build straight entry lines. On the right we draw wavy lines of the sidewalk, going forward and turning to the side.
Stage 5. Let's continue drawing the door in the left house. And near the right house, in a small protrusion of the sidewalk, we draw a spreading tree that decorates this street.
Stage 6. The entrance to the left house is a door with a small canopy. Let's draw a window under the canopy. Next to the sidewalk near this house we show elements - dining tables and chairs. Let's draw a vase with flowers on the table. There is a cafe on the lower floor of the left building. And in the right house we will complete the elements on the front door.
Stage 7. We will show a trash can near the table. There is a hanging lamp above the entrance. There is a street lamp nearby. On the right house we draw pipes on the roof.
Stage 8. Now we draw windows in all three houses. Please note that they are of different types everywhere. Rectangular, square, arched. There are a lot of windows, especially in the house in the middle of the picture.
Stage 9. Now we erase all the sketches, leaving nothing unnecessary. This is what your drawing should look like in black and white. You can, of course, make it brighter and color it. You will get a cityscape. Now you can, looking from the window of your apartment, also draw your city street if you live in the city. Do not forget the rule that objects in the foreground are larger, those in the background are smaller, and all lines must go into perspective.
Drawing a city with a pencil is quite difficult due to the fact that it is necessary to take into account the perspective, the correctness of construction, and at first it is not a drawing, but pure geometry. For those who are not familiar with the basic laws of perspective, there may be difficulties. It’s impossible to tell everything in one small lesson, so here will be the most basic steps. Our drawing will include houses, a bridge, a river, and trees; in general, the drawing is not easy, so be patient. When you know how a drawing is constructed, you will be able to draw any street, square or picturesque corner of your city. Now let's try to draw a city with a pencil step by step.
- You will need a sheet of thick paper with a smooth matte surface, two pencils - hard and soft, and an eraser. First of all, we outline an imaginary horizon line. This is where the entire construction of our drawing begins. Draw a horizontal line through a sheet of paper with a thin, hard pencil. For beginners, it is better to do this under a ruler to be more accurate. In the open air or when doing quick sketches, be sure to try to draw “by eye”, without the help of tools. Experienced artists, most often, do not use either rulers or compasses. Thanks to many years of training, they have a well-developed eye and hand strength.
Now we roughly designate a point on the horizontal line, this will be the point of our gaze, the center of the entire drawing. Then we mark the top point of the building on the left and draw a line through this point and the central one. We do the same with the buildings on the right. They are smaller in height because they are much further away. In the same way, draw a line through the highest point on the right and the central point of the horizon. We get the “framework” of the drawing and the guide lines, according to which we will build our entire drawing of the city.
- Another difficult stage - we begin to build all the city structures (bridge, buildings). On the houses on the left, thin lines indicate the places where the windows will then be located. See how they all converge again to one central point on the horizontal line. In the background there are houses of different heights and widths, and they “overlap” each other. We outline the river waves with barely visible shading; we will return to them later.
- Now let's start drawing. All additional construction lines can be carefully erased with an eraser, restoring the desired contours of the drawing. We outline where and how the windows of the houses will be located on the right and left. We draw the buildings that are in the background in general, with a hint; there is no need to draw them in detail. The main thing is that the viewer gets the impression of a big city and many buildings. Shade the darkest parts of the picture. This should be done to check the overall tonal balance. We draw several trees in the foreground. So far, only their trunks and the thickest branches.
- We make the window openings in the tall buildings on the left darker, draw small decorative balconies here and there, and make the corrugated roof and the shadow under it more voluminous. We outline the details of the bridge. We need to show that it is made of rough stone, so we draw its texture with small short and broken lines. Again, no need to draw clearly, the bridge is far away. Therefore, leave it to the viewer to mentally imagine what the bridge is built from.
- Let's start working on the details of the drawing. On the left we make an almost black metal fence, we draw the shadows of the trees and their trunks more clearly. The water under the bridge will also be almost black. We draw the waves with broken lines for more contrast. We draw thin branches on the trees. At the base they will be thicker, and towards the top they become thinner and more transparent. Thanks to this, in the picture they look like a large fluffy and openwork “hat”.
- In the final drawing of the city, we draw small details with the softest pencil. We return again to the buildings in the foreground, the trees, the water, the shadows under the bridge. Some houses are lighter, some are darker, we will show this with fine shading. We squint and check the overall tone.
Rivers, lakes and forests are a pleasure. However, now we will learn how to draw a city. Let's look at the step-by-step drawing process in detail. So let's get started!
Required materials:
- colored pencils of yellow, brown, green tones;
- simple pencils;
- ruler;
- eraser;
- sheet of white paper.
Drawing steps:
1. We begin to develop the city, for this, first of all, we need high-rise buildings. First, let's place two such buildings. The height and width may differ from each other. To make further drawing easier, first of all we draw a horizontal line on which all the buildings in the city will be placed.
2. Let’s draw one more building on the left and right sides. In this picture there is one building that is taller than all of them; it is above its top that we will draw a semicircle. But on a small building located on the left side, we will draw a pitched roof.
3. Let’s add some skyscrapers in the background. The building on the right side has an interesting upper part. Next, you should use your imagination and come up with your own building design. We will draw exactly these tops of the building. Let our city become the metropolis of the future!
4. Let's add a few more buildings and draw the top of one of them, which will house a television antenna or the office of one of the TV channels.
5. Now let's move on to a detailed drawing of the entire drawing. We will add windows to each building. Each building will have different shaped windows. Detailing the television tower. Let's add trees and other vegetation to the drawing. If you wish, you can, shops, people who will be walking or rushing to work, etc.
6. For the brightness and saturation of our drawing, we use a simple pencil marked B8 or B9. These pencils are soft and can create dark lines. We outline the entire drawing.
7. Use a brown pencil to color the tree trunks. But let's start greening the trees with light green.
8. Darken the trees and bushes with a dark green pencil.
9. We will decorate the windows with blue or light blue pencil.
10. Finally, color the buildings with yellow and brown pencils.
So the drawing of a modern city is ready!
Of course, you want to master the initial skills of urban landscape, since you are on this page. Well, you're just at the right place. This is where you will find the most detailed instructions on how to draw a city. Moreover, the first part of the master class is devoted to two-dimensional drawing, and the second gives the basics of a three-dimensional image, as they say now, in 3D format.
The secret... is in geometry
Have you ever wondered why even the most inexperienced viewer is hypnotized by the sight of a painted city? There is no mysticism in this. The secret is that the human brain loves order, system, repeatability of lines. He finds it breathtakingly beautiful. This rule is fully consistent with symmetry and asymmetry, the severity of lines, the smoothness of circles and the accuracy of angles. Geometry, in a word. You will do absolutely the right thing if, in addition to a pencil, an eraser and a thick sheet of paper (for drawings), you stock up on a ruler.
Lesson 1: "High-rise buildings"
To understand how to draw a city, just follow the illustrations. Repeat the details of each step. The gray lines will “suggest” new shapes that should be drawn at the moment.
Just two rectangles of different heights (future skyscrapers) - and the beginning of the picture has been made:
Draw a couple more skyscrapers:
Add rectangular elements for the facades of the background buildings:
Draw the pictures of the house furthest from the foreground:
Pay attention to the most inconspicuous components of the architectonics of the drawing:
Draw some small fragments, focus on details:
Despite the fact that the windows in the picture are the tiniest details, they are far from being of secondary importance. Carefully, under the ruler, draw each of them, and you will not regret the time spent:
Remove all extra lines. This is what you should end up with:
Like? Maybe there will be more! 3D graphics are coming!
Lesson 2: How to Draw a City with Perspective
To achieve a volumetric effect, you need to follow simple rules of perspective. In order for the drawing to become dynamic, you first need to determine the horizon line - the place where the sky meets the ground, and the vanishing point - the area in which objects shrink and disappear.
Here, take a look at this one in which the perspective “runs away” into the distance:
And here is the drawing and the final version, where the perspective tends upward:
And the master class will show you how to draw a city with two vanishing points:
Divide the sheet in half with a vertical line. Mark vanishing points on the horizon that are equidistant from the vertical on both sides. Extend vertical working lines from them to the central part, as shown in the figure:
Using light movements, mark barely noticeable auxiliary lines. Add three parallel features, and the outline of the first, key building appears in front of you:
Notice how the buildings are positioned, moving away from the viewer towards the horizon. Label each:
Now is the time to finish drawing doors, windows, signs and other significant details. Remember, the more elements (pillars, sidewalks, pedestrian paths, even traffic lights), the more naturalistic the picture. When finished, erase all unnecessary lines and draw the contours well. Add shadows and your drawing will come to life. Don't forget to take into account the direction of the sun's rays when shading. The most illuminated places should be the least shaded.
That's how you learned how to draw a three-dimensional city. In fact, there can be not only two points of convergence, but also more. Five, for example. Then your drawing will look as if the city was photographed with a fish-eye lens. In this case, the image takes on a convex appearance, as if the houses had the intention of jumping out of the picture.
Clue
The more unexpected the perspective and artist when looking at the urban landscape, the more fascinating and lively the picture turns out. No less interesting are the motifs on the theme of the future. How to draw a city of the future? There can be no clear answer on this matter. For the created landscape is a figment of the artist’s imagination. Who can know what pictures appear before his mind's eye? But there is only one basis, and we just told you about it and showed it. Try it, create it! And who knows, maybe it will turn out to be not even fiction, but a prediction...
