Step by step tutorial: how to draw a city

2025 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 17:46

Of course, you want to master the basic skills of the urban landscape, since you are already on this page. Well, you are just at the right place. It is here that the most detailed instruction on how to draw a city. Moreover, the first part of the master class is devoted to a two-dimensional drawing, and the second gives the basics of a three-dimensional image, as they say now, in a 3D format.

The secret… in geometry

Have you ever wondered why even the most inexperienced viewer is mesmerized by the sight of a painted city? There is no mysticism in this. The secret is that the human brain loves order, system, repetition of lines. It seems to him bewitchingly beautiful. This rule is fully consistent with the urban landscape: symmetry and asymmetry, the severity of lines, the smoothness of circles and the accuracy of angles. Geometry, in a word. You will do the right thing if, in addition to a pencil, an eraser and a thick sheet of paper (for drawings), stock up on a ruler.

Lesson 1: Skyscrapers

To understand how to draw a city, just follow the illustrations. Repeat the details of each step. Gray lines will "prompt" new shapes that should be drawn at the moment.

Step 1

Only two rectangles of different heights (future skyscrapers) - and the picture begins:

Step 2

Draw a couple more skyscrapers:

Step 3

Add rectangular elements of the facades of the buildings in the background:

Step 4

Draw the most distant pictures of the house from the foreground:

Step 5

Pay attention to the most inconspicuous components of the architectonics of the picture:

Step 6

Draw some small pieces, focus on the details:

Step 7

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:

Step 8

Remove all unnecessary lines. This is what you should end up with:

Do you like it? It's only the beginning! Ahead - 3D graphics!

Lesson 2: How to draw a city from perspective

To achieve a three-dimensional effect, you need to follow the simple rules of perspective. To make the drawing dynamic, first of all, you need to determine the horizon line - the place where the sky meets the earth, and the vanishing point - the area in which objects,decreasing, disappear.

Here, take a look at the sketch of the drawing, in which the perspective "runs away" into the distance:

And here is the drawing and the final version, where the perspective tends to rise:

And the tutorial will show you how to draw a city with two vanishing points:

Step 1

Divide the sheet in half with a vertical line. Mark on the horizon points of convergence, equidistant from the vertical on both sides. Draw plumb working lines from them to the central part, as shown in the figure:

Step 2

With light movements mark barely noticeable auxiliary lines. Add three parallel lines, and the outline of the first, key building will appear in front of you:

Step 3

Pay attention to how the buildings are located, moving away from the viewer to the horizon. Label each:

Now is the time to finish the doors, windows, signs and other significant details. Remember, the more elements (pillars, sidewalks, footpaths, even traffic lights), the more naturalistic the picture. At the end of the work, erase all unnecessary lines, draw the contours well. Add shadows and your drawing will come to life. Do not forget to take into account the direction of the sun's rays when hatching. The most lit areas should be the least shaded.

That's how you learned howdraw the city in volume. In fact, there can be not only two points of convergence, but also more. Five, for example. Then your drawing will look like the city was shot with a fisheye lens. In this case, the image takes on a convex appearance, as if the houses had the intention to jump out of the picture.

Hint

The more unexpected the angle and angle of view of the artist when looking at the urban landscape, the more exciting and lively the picture is. No less interesting are the motives for the future. How to draw a city of the future? There can be no unequivocal answer to this. For the landscape being created is a figment of the artist's imagination. Who can know what pictures stand before his mind's eye? And the basis is one, and we just told you about it, and we showed it. Try, create! And who knows, maybe it will turn out not even fiction, but a prediction…