Lesson (PDF): The Art of Observing (Patreon)

People sometimes ask me how I manage to make my drawings so detailed. This is because over time my observation skills have improved significantly. Initially, I viewed the storefronts superficially and drew simple representations. But as I spent more time practicing observation, I began to look more deeply and noticed more details.

The trick is not to let yourself drown in the details, but to break down what you're looking at into parts.

Take a look at this window, for example. What do you see?

I see the items on the sidewalk, the bench and the pots, I see a small table and two chairs, the reflection of the houses across the street, the sky, and also a lamp. You could get lost in it all, but if you follow this order when drawing, it creates a sense of structure:

1.    First, draw the items that are in the foreground, the ones closest to you as the viewer. So, start with the items outside the store:

 2. Next, look at what’s just behind that, which are the things in the shop window. Of course, you can always add small things yourself if you want, like pots, plants, picture frames, books, etc.

3. Then look at what stands out further, which is in this photo the reflection and the sky.

4. What remains is the dark background, but luckily there's a lamp hanging there (and if it’s not in your reference, just imagine one). So, as you can see your main mission is to leave as little white space as possible.

So if you follow this order from now on, you can fill your paper with the most detailed drawings without it becoming a mess. My drawing of the window of the flower shop turned out like this:

Have fun drawing!

x Astrid