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The Sketch Workshop is a complete sketching solution for beginners and hobbyists alike. It is an innovative and fun way for people of all ages
to find the inspiration to pick up a pencil – and draw! We’ve created a number of guides that cover popular topics such as anatomy, characters,
creatures, cityscapes, and robots and spaceships, all loaded into ready-to-go sketch workbooks.

To complete your Sketch Workshop collection, be sure to check out all five workbooks in this series.

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3dtotal Publishing First published in the United Kingdom, 2014, by 3dtotal Publishing.
Correspondence: [email protected] 3dtotal.com Ltd, 29 Foregate Street, Worcester WR1 1DS, United Kingdom.
Website: www.3dtotalpublishing.com
Soft cover ISBN: 978-1909414198
Sketch Workshop: Cityscapes © 2014, 3dtotal Publishing. All rights
reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by any Printing and binding: Everbest Printing (China)
means, without the prior written consent of the publisher. All artwork, www.everbest.com
unless stated otherwise, is copyright of 3dtotal Publishing. Any artwork
that is not copyright of 3dtotal Publishing is marked accordingly. Visit www.3dtotalpublishing.com for a complete list of available book titles.

Every effort has been made to ensure the credits and contact information Deputy editor: Jess Serjent-Tipping
are present and correct. In the case of any errors that have occurred, Managing editor: Lynette Clee
the publisher respectfully directs readers to www.3dtotalpublishing.com for Designers: Aryan Pishneshin, Imogen Williams
any updated information and/or corrections. Proofreader: Adam J. Smith
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 The Tutor

Cityscape in one-point perspective

Learn how to draw a city scene using
one-point perspective
Marisa Lewis
Illustrator
The furthest buildings are fainter and less detailed due to aerial perspective (light scattering in www.artsthread.com/p/marisalewis

the atmosphere). This helps create depth, and is why distant objects look misty in real life.

Try adding
different features
to each building
to break up the
monotony of
a long street.
Roofs, windows,
signage and
People often say “I broken elements
can’t even draw a add character to
straight line!” But the scene.
really, nobody can.
You’d need to be
a robot. Don’t be
afraid to use a ruler
for your drawings.

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helps to create a sense of depth and distance, drawing the eye into the picture.

Cities seem big and daunting at you how to draw a cityscape using way when constructing a detailed
first, but everything can be broken simple perspective guidelines in a background or a busy urban scene.
down into straightforward lines and one-point perspective, which is ideal A solid sense of perspective really
blocks. This workshop will show for a beginner, but it can go a long brings the scenery to life.
 Even a towering skyscraper is easy to draw if you
just think of it as a big block. Here, we’ll begin with
some simple guidelines to establish the correct
perspective. You can make blocks of all sizes and
proportions using the same rules – and eventually
a whole street of them.

Always begin with the horizon

line. The vanishing point is
marked here with a dot – this
is the one point where all the
scenery converges towards
the horizon.

The horizon line can be set low or high in

the picture. Do you want more ground or
more sky in your scene? The horizon here
is roughly at eye-level.

The diagonal lines mark where

the angled sides of the buildings
will be. The steeper the guidelines,
the steeper your perspective.
 These first templates have been partially completed. Finish and shade the remaining sides to make whole blocks.

You should now be equipped to draw your own guidelines on

different horizons. Define the vanishing point, and then try to get You’ve learned the basics, but these blocks aren’t
the diagonal guides symmetrical so the buildings are level on much to look at yet. A city needs architecture and
either side of the street. windows, which we’ll work on next…
 Blank blocks need some spicing up before they look like buildings. Windows and ledges are a good place to start quickly
adding some variety and definition. These can all be created with diagonal guidelines and simple vertical lines.

Use small details

to break up the
outline of your
building. Even
the simplest
skyscraper isn’t
totally flat on all
sides – there are
small frames and
ledges everywhere.

If you keep your

guidelines delicate
and faint, it’s much
easier to add layers
of detail and refined
shading. Don’t get
too heavy-handed
too early.

Use an eraser to make

highlights on shiny surfaces.
When you’re sketching a lot,
it’s easy to forget there’s white
under there. Bring it back out
to add gloss and shine.

Remember
that windows
are reflective
surfaces. They’ll
have some dark
areas where they
reflect whatever’s
opposite, and
often a bright
area where they
reflect the clouds
or sky.
 Add some window details to these buildings, and use the vanishing point to add ledges and upper stories of your own.

Imagine where the light is coming from and remember The buildings are starting to take shape,
this as you add reflections and shadows. Your but it’s the smaller details that really make
buildings will probably be darker nearer the base a building look lived-in, such as wonky tiles,
where the sun can’t reach. bricks and signs. We’ll tackle those next…
 What good is a city if you can’t find your way around? Adding some
signage will make your scene look like a real place. Architectural
detailing like bricks and tiles are another simple finishing touch that
will make your buildings feel more real.

Sketching some quick roof tiles is simpler

than it looks. Draw the horizontal parts first,
and then add vertical strokes to divide the
sections into tiles.

Don’t worry about

drawing the shape of Neon signs are made of long
every tile and brick – it’ll tubular bulbs, so bear that
take all day, and it’s shape in mind – the letters
an unnecessary effort. will be rounded at the ends.
Practice implying detail
and texture with a few
lines instead.

Add some razor wire to a rooftop to

make it look forbidding. It’s easy to
suggest razor wire: draw some scruffy
spirals, and then add the sharp bits.
 Practice some signage and wall textures of your own using these templates, and then use what you’ve learned to add
detail and realism to the blank street below.

A ruler is useful for

establishing all the
clean lines, but try
going over some
areas freehand.
Brickwork isn’t
smooth and neat
– some roughness
gives the impression
of different materials.

Now you’ve covered all the component parts that you may
need to create a whole street, you can use what you’ve
learned and expand it to complete a full cityscape…
The template below includes the bare outlines of the larger buildings for you to complete. The vanishing point has been
included, in case you need it.
Now you can add your own vanishing ignore them, lengthen them, or add of a road, or does it vanish to the left or
point and perspective lines to this even more to create extra buildings. It’s right of you? Are you low to the ground
horizon to get the angles you prefer. entirely up to you. Just be sure to think or perhaps standing high up? Don’t be
There are some lines already added to about where ‘you’ are in the scene: are intimidated by small details ‒ get your
form either side of the scene; you could you looking straight down the middle lines and blocks sketched in.
 The Tutor

Design sci-fi cityscapes

Learn how to draw a relatively complex cityscape
in one-point perspective view
Dmitry Sorokin
Concept Designer
www.dsorokindesign.blogspot.co.uk

Use your
drawing to
tell the story.
You’ll never Over time the
see just brand material has
new buildings started to fall
around you – from this section
there should of the wall.
be some traces
of human or
natural activity.

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Painted graphics
in this alley are
still readable,
although some
of the paint is
weathered.

Corners are
usually filled with
trash, moss and
even plants.

In this workshop, I’m going to show you’ll see that it is pretty simple if you start by blocking in big shapes on a
and explain how to draw a sci-fi do everything step by step. I’m going grid, break it down to smaller shapes,
cityscape in a one-point perspective. to show that a relatively complex and finally add details, textures and
I’d like to give you a challenging task drawing is actually pretty simple if simple shading. You will also see the
in this workshop, but as you progress you understand the process. We’ll potential of using templates.
You can use a ruler to draw your lines and boxes, or
try to get them down freehand if you’re feeling brave.
There’s nothing wrong with using a ruler at this stage.
The hardest part of one-point perspective is the
vanishing point, because everything converges very fast.
I prefer to just block it in.
Use the horizontal and vertical lines in the perspective grid to build up simple blocks to get a feel for your composition.

Draw your shapes in softly so you can experiment with your design and create a good base. Don’t
forget to use a ruler, if you need to.
 Instead of showing just a variation within one subject, I
want to show the potential of the template.
Here you can see different types of bridges. You can use
the elements from these references not just to draw the
bridge, but to fill in the rest of the drawing, too.

You can use a pencil or thin pen (0.05)

to draw an idea in before you commit
to the final line.

Be sure to draw both ends of the bridge in

the correct space. Reference the vertical lines
connecting with the horizon line on the ground.
 The best way to draw a cityscape is using one-point perspective, because it’s easy to follow the vertical and horizontal
lines to build up simple blocks. You can now start to design those blocks. Even though you may not know exactly how
the final design will look, you already have a good base for it, so experiment on this page with some ideas.

Concentrate on designing your biggest shapes first, as these will hold the picture together. After those you can dress it up
any way you like. Remember: even if you’re using a sci-fi theme you can still base it on real-world references.

Once you’re done placing your big blocks (representing buildings)

in the 3D space, you can start to break them down into smaller
shapes (representing functions) in the next exercise…
I always think about the functionality of
objects, and how they work in different
time periods or genres, such as a gate
mechanism. In a sci-fi world it would
work in a mechanical way and in a
medieval design it would be made from
wood and ropes.

To add visual interest, I use the rule

of thirds, which is when you imagine
your image divided into nine equal
parts – you can do this by imagining
two equally spaced horizontal lines
and two equally spaced vertical lines
running through your image.

When you decide how to break or

divide the big shapes, think about
functionality. Where would the main
function or empty space be?

Try adding more overlapping shapes to

improve your designs.
Use these templates to break large elements down into smaller shapes. Use the references above to add details.

We’re still in the early stages of the drawing, so don’t hesitate to draw outside the initial building blocks, extrude
some parts or white-out some areas of the template to change the designs.

Once you’ve established your biggest shapes, you should have a good overview of your drawing.
Next, it’s time to decide on some final details. The work you’ve done so far is already enough to
frame the whole picture, which should boost your confidence for the next exercise…
 You can dress up your buildings any way you like. Here are some different themes and variations to
inspire you, such as Art Deco, medieval fantasy and sci-fi.

You can show depth by using lines with

different thicknesses, or by drawing double/
triple lines. To show that the object is closer or
As the sci-fi reference is the
overlapping other objects, use thicker lines.
side alley of a mall, they
might keep some crates
outside, under the slope.

Remember: everything
you draw is a 3D object
that has thickness, like
doors, windows, railings
and so on. Don’t just draw
flat textures on the wall.

When I add detail I always keep

in mind how it would be used by
people, or how it was built.

Even when I draw small cables,

I keep in mind where and
how they would bend, so I
can emphasize the shape by
drawing some lines across it. It’s
the detail that will add realism
to your work.
 Detailing and texturing is one of the easier parts of the drawing – and the most fun. Use the references above to inspire
your own unique environments using the templates provided.

Use different
shapes to create
interest, and don’t
be afraid to leave
empty areas,
as you can add
texture later. Leave
space for the eye to
rest, too.

Now it’s time to

inject some life.
We’ll go on to add
imperfections and
traces of human
and natural activity
in the scene…
This exercise gives you a chance to utilize everything you’ve learned in the previous steps. This time try to use your own unique
references to create a completely new environment.

download extra templates from

3dtotalpublishing.com/resources
To create your own templates, start Next, place blocks in the 3D space. Try to is overlapping shapes, trying to avoid
with the perspective grid. Try a one- start with a reference: perhaps a photo tangents – when objects are at different
point perspective first: draw a horizon or something you’ve drawn outdoors distances they will barely touch each
line, place a vanishing point on it and while looking at real-world buildings? other on the page. I also use unequal
draw straight lines from the vanishing breakdowns of shapes to help add
point outwards. For the height and I tend to use repetitive shapes in my visual interest and avoid monotony in
width, draw horizontal and vertical lines drawings, as I personally find that my drawings.
across the page, or you could use the different shapes can look random or too
edges of the page, if you prefer. cluttered. Another method I like to use
 The Tutor

Craft complex cityscapes

Build up an urban environment with perspective,
interesting architecture and history locked in its walls
Wojciech Ostrycharz
Lead Concept Artist
www.wojciechostrycharz.blogspot.com

Characteristic
elements like Pay attention to
smokestacks, bicycles the perspective
or flowers appeal bending. Vertical
to the imagination edges will converge
as they tell a story at the top and
about the town and bottom of the page.
townsfolk – viewers
get to see more than
is actually visible on
the picture.

The picture seems

complex because
of simple elements
enriching the scene,
such as hanging
cables. Don’t let them
distract you. Only add
them at the end of
your work to increase
depth perception.

Take a look at the

way the foreground
and background
are presented.
The background is
simplified and very
bright. Details like
brick outlines or
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I will guide you through the most shape and surface design (with environments easily, while still
important elements of an urban a focus on techniques to enrich having fun. During the following
sketch that can make a design them) and storytelling into practice. exercises you’ll find all the necessary
interesting, bringing a cityscape to Focusing on these elements will information to help you create your
life. We are going to put perspective, enable you to draw complex very own detailed cityscape.
 Gridlines and horizon lines are To make your work with a multipoint perspective
helpful, not only to sketch the cubes, easier, you can draw supporting curves first. Use
but they also define the viewer’s Please remember that curves to sketch gridlines and cube lines.
position. If you lie on your side the gridlines are there to
horizon line seems to be vertical. help you. Do not draw
a complex network of
gridlines as you will
lose the overview.
Gridlines should be
drawn very gently
– you can use an H
pencil for this. They
should not distract
the viewer or collide
with the shapes.

Depending on the
position of the horizon
line, we can get a
bird’s-eye perspective
or a worm’s-eye
perspective.

Please note that

when drawing
a cube, it is four
parallel lines
intersecting at one
vanishing point,
while the other four
parallel lines have
different intersection
points. Remember
the vanishing points
are placed on the While drawing a city,
horizon line. don’t over-complicate
your work with
complex 3D structures.
Try to build your
composition based on
the simplest shapes
and cubes.
Hyper-precision is not the most
important thing. Sometimes
it is the composition dynamic
that plays the key role. Don’t You can find perspective lines here that you have to draw in the very beginning of your work.
hesitate to play with gridlines You can also see cube outlines that we are going to use to draw buildings, but let’s start with
and try to bend them. the horizon line. It’s the main line on the picture, as you place the vanishing point along this.
You may plan more vanishing points, but you should always put them on the horizon line.
 Draw your own set of cubes using the gridlines provided and the reference above as a guide.

At this stage we need to define the final

composition. Think about proportions, gaps
between buildings and the space for the
background. Cubes, even when drawn gently, You should now have more confidence in drawing perspective
should be more visible than perspective lines. To and how to play with it. In the next exercise, we will define the
control proportions, you can also sketch a figure main characteristic points and shapes of the composition –
next to the buildings. elements that give the city its identity…
 While designing building shapes, think about the end
effect you want to achieve. The shapes you use should
have the characteristics of a real building, for example:
foundations, gutters, chimneys, roofs, slopes and so on.
It’s good to accent elements important for the overall
city’s look, not only for one building.

Keep the right proportions so that

buildings look realistic, and pay
attention to the position of doors
and windows on the elevation. To
control the proportions, try drawing
a figure next to the building to set
the scale.

Objects like bicycles, flowers, graffiti,

signboards and so on, make your
city more interesting and help to tell
a story.

We’ll now use the simple cubes that we drafted earlier

Focus on surfaces now. To make them
to construct more complex shapes and buildings. Try
interesting, use different materials like leaves,
not to sketch forms that are too complicated, though. All
puddles and litter.
shapes and forms should be easy to read for the viewer.
Our aim is to sketch a city, not a complex building.
Use the templates to build up the cityscape’s details. Don’t be afraid to go out of the cube with your shape, but keep it to a similar
scale as it’s important for the final composition of the entire city.

Follow the rule to keep the foreground darker while the Now that you’ve practiced building up your cityscape using
background remains brighter. Use a soft pencil for the cubes and adding detail in perspective, you can put it
foreground and harder pencils for the backgrounds. altogether next to create a complete cityscape drawing…
In this exercise, you can use the template to put everything you’ve learned so far into practice. Try using different references and
combinations of details to create a unique environment.
To create your own template, start with the perspective grid. Decide on the position
of your horizon line and vanishing point to determine the angle you want, then
build your cubes into the scene to represent buildings. Finally, you can start adding
characteristic objects to help tell your very own story.
 The Tutor

Draw an underground city

Learn how to draw a cavern settlement using
two-point perspective
Marisa Lewis
Illustrator
www.artsthread.com/p/marisalewis

Unless you’re
drawing
something
new and
technologically
advanced, you
don’t want
everything looking
too smooth.
Roughen up the
edges of your
buildings so they
Less is more – look weathered
drawing every and interesting.
minute detail
is arduous and
not important.
Instead, suggest
areas of detail
with some simple
lines or hatching.

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Try outlining foreground

objects with darker lines
and keeping background
objects faint. It helps keep the
important areas in focus. I imagine some goblins live here, and they aren’t very smart – everything’s
ramshackle and collapsed. Windows, bricks, beams and broken sections of
wall add variety to the different structures.

Two-point perspective can lend extra fantasy town using straightforward with details. Once you’ve learned the
realism and dynamism to a scene, guidelines. You will learn how to plan basics, it will be easy to apply the
making buildings and landscapes a setting using two-point perspective, same principles to any scene in two-
look more 3D. This workshop will building it up from simple blocks, point perspective; whether a single
show you how to draw a subterranean then adding texture and character building, a small town, or a big city.
 Many buildings, small and large, can be easy to draw if you think of them as blocks. We’ll begin with some
simple guidelines to establish the correct perspective. You can use them to create blocks of all sizes and
proportions using simple rules ‒ enough to build a whole town.

Two-point perspective
is like standing on a Start with the horizon line and
street corner where add two vanishing points. The
you can see down two scenery will recede towards
roads. Both roads shrink these points: hence ‘two-
towards the horizon. point’ perspective.

Two diagonal lines mark the

top and bottom of one face.
Complete the face with two
parallel vertical lines, and see
a block begin to take shape.

An eye-level view would have diagonals above

and below the horizon; a bird’s-eye view would
have a high horizon line; and a worm’s-eye
view would have a low horizon line.
These templates are incomplete. Fill in the missing lines to complete the blocks and get a feel for two-point perspective.

The steeper the

angle of your lines,
the more dramatic
the perspective
will be. A gentler
angle gives a more
natural look.

To add more blocks (to

create buildings or extend
sections of a building) just
add more vertical and
horizontal lines.

You’ve learned how to compose the building

blocks, but they don’t look like anything yet.
Next we’ll begin adding textures and details…
 A blank wall can seem difficult to fill, and you don’t want your scene to look sterile and empty. Some light
shading and simple details go a long way towards giving your buildings character and a sense of place.

Try sketching bricks lightly and quickly – don’t get caught up

trying to draw every one, though. Sketch in some horizontal and
vertical lines, with a whole brick here and there.

Rocks and
stones can be a
challenge, but
try to picture the
shape of them:
are they round,
flat or both? Add
some speckles
and mottled
areas for texture.

To add a wooden texture to some

planks, shade along the grain of the
wood. Some knots or crookedness here
and there makes them look realistic.

Give depth to a set of steps by

shading the vertical sections
where the side of the step
doesn’t catch as much light.
 Practice your shading and detailing on these simple templates. You can even try adding background and foreground elements.

When shading a whole

building, remember its basic
block shape and where
the light source is. One of
the sides you can see will
probably be in shadow. Apply
your details to the scale of
this house.
Now that you’ve learned the basics and how
to build them up with some texture, we just
need some finishing touches to make the
scenery feel complete…
 Bricks and mortar make a building look solid, but there’s more to a lived-in place than just walls, which can look monotonous
without the extra detailing. Now you can add some roofing, beams and banners to decorate your buildings.

Roof tiles sit on top of

each other, overlapping
slightly, so the line they
make won’t be totally
smooth. Add some zig-
zag to your edges so
Who knows how the tiles don’t look flat.
long this banner
has been hanging
around! Make it look
tatty and stained by
fraying and shading
the edges.

You can brighten

up your walls with
some torches,
but remember to
leave a bright area
around them where
the flames light up
the surroundings.

An unfriendly fortress town needs a wall

Some ramshackle huts can make the place look of sharp stakes. Make them rough and
inhabited and give the bigger buildings a sense of scale. jagged, and add some knots and bumps
They’re not well-built, so a bit of wonkiness doesn’t hurt. so they look like real tree trunks.
Practice some wall textures, tiles and shading on these templates. You can even add some emblems of your own on the banners.

A bit of wonkiness adds character

to your buildings, so keep your
guidelines faint: it makes it easier
to go over them with linework and
shading later. Try miniaturizing your
details to make it work to this scale.

Now you’ve drawn all the parts you need,

in the next exercise you can have a go at
completing a whole scene, adding in your
own textures and details…
The template below includes the horizon line, vanishing points and some key details so you can orientate
yourself. Fill in the rest using what you’ve already learned.
This template is how the original image adding more buildings and scenery
started out. You can build on it using isn’t as complicated as it looks. If you
guidelines of your own. Always start need ideas, try looking at pictures of
with the horizon line and two vanishing real buildings and streets: you’ll see
points, with some parallel vertical lines how they have a horizon and vanishing
so you know where the buildings will points, and can be broken down into
go. Once you’ve established those, paths, blocks and lines, too.
Embark on a sketching journey with the inspirational Beginner's
Guide to Sketching: Characters, Creatures and Concepts.

From gesture drawing and finding simple shapes to mastering

line quality and shading, Beginner's Guide to Sketching:
Characters, Creatures and Concepts is a fantastic companion
that will teach you to sketch confidently while helping you
improve the way you design. Your journey will begin with a
look at drawing materials and techniques, before moving on to
essential warm-up exercises to help you become familiar with
the fundamental basics. Four master projects by seasoned
professional artists will then take you from concept to final
illustration, walking you step by step through poses, designs,
and costumes before culminating in a final scene. Featured
artists include Justin Gerard, Brun Croes, and Sylwia Bomba.

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