Illustration Tutorial: How to Refine Drawings of Urban Objects and People

Learn the basics of how to enrich an architectural illustration by including different elements like urban objects and people, with Carlo Stanga

Creating an architectural illustration is more than just mastering straight lines and buildings. Being able to fill these compositions with local details, through distinctive objects and people from that place, is key to being able to capture a location’s atmosphere.

In this video, architectural illustrator Carlo Stanga (@carlo_stanga) explains how to prepare and sketch urban people and objects, which you can later include in your final composition. From how to use them to create depth, to why they’re so key in giving life to your illustrations, here he shares his own process for how to create these studies of objects and people to create engaging and unique architectural illustrations.

How to Draw Urban Objects and People

1. Begin by observing a street or neighborhood, and trying to pay attention to what unique elements you see in that place.

These details could be as mundane as the shape of the local trash bins, or perhaps a popular color or item of clothing people from that place tend to wear. If, for instance, your location is popular with tourists, the characters you draw will include styles from all over the world.

If you can’t travel or aren’t able to sketch on the street, using Google Street View can help you study the architecture of a place as well as discover other local details.

2. Make a few basic sketches of an object you noticed, ideally in the moment and on the street.

In Stanga’s case he’s picked light poles, making a quick sketch in the location and then returning to refine it later. As you embellish your object, don’t worry about it being super detailed, since its primary purpose is just to add context to the location.

3. Begin playing with how you can use the element to add depth.

Since things further away appear smaller, a line of light poles decreasing in size can be used to add greater depth along a street. Beyond adding personality and detail to your illustrations, think about how these objects can improve the sense of depth.

4. Keep sketching and trying out various iterations.

Not all of the objects you're sketching will need to appear in the final composition, at this stage the focus is practicing how you observe and might be able to use these elements. You can choose how many to include, and where exactly they’ll go in your composition later on in the process.

5. Beyond thinking about the elements of a city, it’s also important to consider the people who you’ll find on its streets.

Illustrating people is an important way to define a city’s identity, through the colors and clothes they wear to how they interact with their surroundings. For instance, if outdoor cafes are a big part of a city’s life, then it would be important to show packed sidewalks with people socializing.

6. Another trick when thinking about how to use figures to add local flavor, is to also illustrate animals.

It could be a species that’s native to that place, or in a city where lots of people have and walk dogs. Certain locations, like Istanbul, are famous for the cats and dogs that live on the streets there, making any illustration of the city incomplete without a few friendly strays.

7. Allow yourself to get creative.

As you sketch these ideas, using either your memory or photos for reference, remember that you can also use your imagination to embellish your piece with details, as long as you make sure to include and stay true to certain local characteristics.

8. Keep sketching and refining these drawings.

You’ll likely end up with more than you can include in your final composition, which is fine, since at this stage you’re only creating ideas to determine which captures the location best. You’ll decide where exactly these figures are positioned in the final piece at a later stage of your illustration project.

If you enjoyed this tutorial and would like to learn more about how to create architectural illustrations that capture not only a place but also its atmosphere, check out Carlo Stanga’s online course, Architectural Illustration: Capture a City’s Personality.

You May Also Be Interested In:

- Architectural Sketching with Watercolor and Ink, a course by Alex Hillkurtz
- Urban Landscapes in Watercolor, a course by Daniel "Pito" Campos
- Digital Illustration of Architectural Projects, a course by Fernando Neyra Moreta