Free drawing lesson

How to draw a city street in 15 minutes

For those who have tried before · 15 minutes

A quick street sketch against the clock. It teaches you to see the main thing and not get stuck on details.

What you need

1
Timer and place
Set a timer for 15 minutes. Pick a view: two or three houses and a road. Decide fast, the first impression matters most.
2
Composition, 3 minutes
With a thin pencil draw the horizon line and put a vanishing point on it. Draw perspective lines fanning out from that point: the houses and the road will sit along them. Two verticals mark the height of the tallest house. Draw large, with one light line.
3
Main shapes, 5 minutes
Draw the houses as blocks. Make sure the roof and window lines converge to one point.
Lessons like this one, step by step, are also in the SketchMap Atlas app: Home → Art courses & workshops. Open this lesson in the app
4
Line and shadow, 4 minutes
Go over the most important lines with liner. Put shadows as patches of hatching, don’t draw every window.
5
Colour and signature, 3 minutes
Add colour with a light watercolor wash: a few patches, no fussy details. Sign it and add the date. Stop when the timer ends even if it’s unfinished: that’s how the hand learns.

Spending ten minutes on the first house: stop each step on time, even if it is unfinished.
Drawing every window. Hatch shadows as patches and keep only the key edges.
Roof and window lines that do not meet at one vanishing point: draw the horizon and the point first.