The Devil in the details: How I drew the World of Architecture

This drawing is so far one of my favourites that I have ever done and is probably one that I've spent the most time on, the clear reason being... the details.

Around 15 hours was spent on this drawing over two full days (one of which was a skyved school day so I could get it done before a competition deadline, but let's just slide over that lol). I watched (listened and looked up every so often) about 5 movies over the course of it.

I started with the outline of my chosen buildings, then picked one of the foreground to start shading and detailing.

It was one of those drawings where I wanted to draw every single detail and wasn't satisfied until it was as exact as it could be. I zoomed right in on the photo references just to add every single line, spot, and different shaded patches.

I had to keep my pencil very sharp to get the fine lines.

It was easier to draw the buildings in the background after I had done the foreground images because I knew exactly where the boundaries were.

There was no particular order for shading in the buildings so I just went for whatever I fancied, although I tend to always draw the lefthand side first then move to the right because I'm right handed and wanted to avoid smudging the side I completed first.

I made sure to add every little brick or add some rough shading to add texture and make it as realistic as possible.

I had to search a lot on google to find images to reference from that would give enough detail and be from the perspective I wanted. It also helped to convert them to black and white before trying to draw them.

Usually when I get near the end of a drawing I have a terrible habit of rushing to get it finished, but this was one of the times that I really really really wanted it to be as best as I could so I stuck to taking my time with every detail.

Yeah, I do have to admit it is a bit tedious sometimes, but it is also a stress reliever to just focus all your attention on one thing and forget about all the other stresses in life. Every completion of a certain section felt like such an accomplishment and was so satisfying so it inspired me to keep going.

Drawing with such detail does take a looooong time but I think it's worth it in the end, and it does help to build your concentration and focus.... and your discipline too as you push yourself to sit hours on end drawing brick by brick or column by column.... it makes essay writing seem easy now lol.

I feel like this was one of my greatest drawings so far and it was pinned up in my room for a very long time, but has now been sold on.

If you would like to purchase a print however, visit my etsy page and you can have your own copy to hang in your house like this^^😍

Alternatively check out this merchandise for sale on my red bubble 😍😃

Hope you enjoyed looking at the process of this tedious drawing, and maybe it will help you think about how to go about starting such a complex drawing. If anything though I hope you found this interesting and enjoy browsing my shop. 😀

Do you think 15hrs is worth the time? comment below😉

Love kat xx