Last weekend I was hunched over a tiny sketchbook in Strasbourg, happily drawing wonky buildings while my (very patient, non-sketching) friends waited. As my pen zigzagged across the page, completely ignoring the rules of perspective I spent years learning as an architect, I started thinking:
Why does sketching feel so free — while realistic observational drawing can feel like homework?
The answer has transformed how I teach drawing and how I create art. Let me break it down for you.
Sketching vs. Observational Drawing: What’s the Real Difference?
At its core, the difference comes down to this:
Observational drawing tries to describe reality as accurately as possible — every window, every shadow, every proportion.
Sketching interprets reality. It’s a personal response to what you see, filtered through your eye, your hand, your mood, and your favourite colours.
One is a document. The other is a conversation.
Neither is better. But for urban sketching — out in the field, in public, often on the move — sketching gives you a freedom that pure observational drawing rarely does.
Why Perspective Rules Kills Sketching Joy
I see this constantly with my architecture students. They freeze in front of a building, paralysed by questions: How many windows does it have? Is that vanishing point right? Did I get the scale correct?
That mindset made perfect sense when they were drafting projects or a drawing exam. But it kills the joy of sketching. It takes you to the Left (rational side) of your brain!
Three teachers helped me escape that trap: Ch’ng Kiah Kiean, Ian Fennelly and Betty Edwards. Their shared insight was simple but radical:
“Just look at what direction the lines are going. Stop counting the windows. Splash colour and move on.”
That’s the sketching mindset in a nutshell.
How to Develop Your Own Sketching Style (And Why Colour is Your Secret Weapon)
Your sketching style is made of two things: your linework and your colours. Think of it like your handwriting — totally unique to you, even if you’re drawing the same street as someone standing right beside you.
Here’s how I approach it:
- I draw what I find beautiful or interesting, not everything that’s there. A complicated facade? I simplify it. A dull corner? I leave it out.
- I use my favourite colours, even if they’re not ‘accurate’. If the building is grey but I love warm ochres and dusty pinks, I’ll use them anyway. It’s my sketch, not a photograph.
- I look at my palette first. If I don’t see my favourite colours in the scene in front of me, I just… add them where I like.
This personalisation is what makes a sketch feel alive rather than just correct.
Breaking Your Own Habits: How to Keep Your Sketching Practice Fresh
Even experienced sketchers can fall into routines — the same tools, the same compositions, the same process every time. I deliberately break my own habits by layering materials:
- Colour pencil over watercolour for texture and depth
- Wax crayons for bold, waxy marks that resist watercolour washes
- Gouache for opaque highlights on top of dark washes
- Water-soluble graphite for soft, smoky line work
- graphite and color pencil for branches of vegetation
There’s no correct combination. Add whatever you’re curious about. Your sketchbook is a place to experiment, not to perform.
The Permission Slip You Didn’t Know You Needed
If you’ve been holding back from sketching because you can’t draw ‘properly’ — this is your permission slip.
Sketching isn’t about copying reality. It’s about creating
your own version of it.
The wonky buildings in Strasbourg? They’re more ‘me’ than any precisely measured architectural drawing I could have made.
That’s the whole point.
Over to You
Are you more drawn to sketching freely, or do you prefer the precision of observational drawing? Have you ever tried mixing the two? Tell me in the comments — I’d love to hear where you are in your drawing journey.