Drawing the City Urban Sketching Workshop by Irina Portnyagina

Have you ever wanted to sketch the city around you but didn’t know where to start? This full-day workshop with artist and architect Irina Portnyagina is designed to guide you through the process step by step.

No previous drawing or sketching experience is required. The workshop is suitable for complete beginners, as well as for those who already sketch but struggle with perspective, proportions or architectural subjects.

Starting with simple construction, you will learn how to look at a complex city scene and understand its structure before putting it on paper. Irina will show you how to measure proportions, find perspective, identify the main shapes and arrange them into a balanced composition.

You will learn how to:

• build a city sketch from the first simple lines
• understand and use perspective without getting lost in technical theory
• measure proportions and relationships between buildings and architectural elements
• simplify complex architecture into clear shapes
• choose a strong composition and fit the scene onto the page
• decide which details are important and which can be left out
• work confidently with ink and develop a lively, expressive line
• create depth, rhythm and character without drawing every single detail

By the end of the workshop, you will have a clear method that you can use independently whenever you want to sketch architecture, streets and city scenes.

Weather permitting, we will work en plein air in Amsterdam, drawing directly from the city. In case of bad weather, the workshop will take place at Nest Aquarel studio, working from architectural references.