How I Create an Aesthetic Street Scene Illustration. Today, I'll share my illustration process through this video.

From selecting a scene to completing a stunning piece of art. Typically, I start by planning which street to walk on for the day.

Then, I wander around the street. Although the streets in Taiwan are a bit intense,

it takes some time to explore and find the right scenes. But if you look carefully, you'll still find some beautiful spots and interesting scenes.

This time, I'll draw a simple storefront: Showa Romantic Ice Room. When I say it's simple, I don't mean it's easy to draw.

It's because this shop is truly unique and visually appealing. It's also a favorite among many sketching enthusiasts.

When gathering references, I don’t use a professional camera. Instead, I use my phone. During this process, the focus isn’t on overall composition,

architectural features, details, or image quality. Depth of field and other photography aspects aren't priorities either, as the end goal is a painting,

not a photographic work. Of course, it’s even better if both can be achieved! After taking the photos, I open my iPad, select the desired angle, and start editing the photos. I usually

begin by correcting the vertical and horizontal alignment. After all, our eyes are very sensitive, and even slight tilts can be noticeable to viewers. Next, I adjust the lighting. For this piece, I want a softer

feel, so I keep the contrast mild and increase the exposure slightly. Finally, I adjust the colors,

reducing the saturation of less important colors, even turning them gray if needed. At this point, you can use photo editing

to achieve your preferred color tone without going back and forth on the canvas or relying on guesswork.

Here’s a before-and-after comparison. Much better! Next, I open an A3 canvas

as a reference and place the photo onto it. Then, it’s time to start! At first, I use a thicker brush to roughly sketch the proportions of the building.

At this stage, I focus on the height of the floors and the position of the windows.

I don't focus on detailing yet. When roughly estimating proportions, I'm more willing to distort and stretch things.

It's easy to make adjustments during this process since sometimes, during the stretching, the resolution starts to decrease. Since this is just a

simple sketch, I focus on getting the proportions right. Key points for sketch planning: 1. Proportion of the floor heights

2. Position of the windows  3. Perspective  Since the perspective of this composition only requires attention to the sign

and the awning on the left side of the frame, it's a relatively easy scene in the sketching stage.

Many experts might start adding color at this point, but I'm not an expert, so I move on to the next stage.

Line drawing. In the line drawing stage, I enable drawing aids to make straight lines faster and easier.

At this stage, I start focusing on the precise height of the building floors, the accuracy of the windows, and the perspective.

In addition, regarding the decorations on the door, the sign, the "open" sign,

and the placement of the text. All of these will be given block-like shapes during this phase.

However, at this stage, I don't focus on the front-back relationships. Many objects are drawn overlapping each other, and I don't clean up the line drawing, because the most important thing at this stage is still the accuracy of proportions.

It's not about making the line drawing look clean and neat. Alright, let's take a look.

Next, I will draw the final line art again. In this detailed line art stage, I don't use absolutely straight lines.

Instead, I let the lines throughout the drawing have a slight hand-drawn feel. Because at this stage, many details need to be added. If I use only drawing aids,

There's a high chance the lines will be very stiff. This will result in a very

rigid final image. By the way, this is also a common mistake among beginners. Sometimes they're afraid the perspective is off, or they're worried about getting the vertical and horizontal lines right.

So they tend to rely heavily on drawing aids to draw the lines. This leads to very stiff lines throughout the drawing,

and as a result, the final drawing ends up not looking very good. Sometimes you might feel

like you're drawing accurately, but wonder why it doesn’t look good. That's because what we need isn’t perfectly, absolutely precise vertical and horizontal lines.

What we need is to first draw the absolutely vertical and horizontal lines in the previous stage. In this stage, we add a bit of

a human touch, that is, the feel of the hand in the drawing. So, I highly recommend using drawing aids

in three stages when doing line art. The final line art will feel more comfortable. It will have a natural hand-drawn feel.

This is what drawing should look like, right? At this stage, for beginners, I highly recommend trying to draw everything and experiment.

For beginners, the most important thing is to develop observational skills. Then, it's about learning to leave out some details and focus on what's essential.

Excellent sketching skills and observational abilities are key to enhancing your coloring. They're truly important.

And really, don't just look at the masters who quickly sketch a few lines and start thinking about coloring.

During their line art process, their brain already has another sketch in mind. This requires long-term practice.

So, beginners, please don't try to imitate the masters. There's a very high chance it will end in failure.

By the way, the three stages of line art can be completed within 30 minutes. In fact, the most time-consuming part is the coloring.

Finally, it's time for the coloring stage. This is so exciting! First, I'll outline the entire building and fill it with a dark color.

It's best to use a brush that has some color variation. You can refer to my other video for this part.

This effect can be achieved with any brush. After painting the wall color, we can start drawing the objects.

I'll begin with the simple door frame to warm up. Because drawing this doesn't really involve perspective.

This is a good starting point to warm up. That's why I like to start here. However, when drawing this, it's important to pay special attention.

In the photo, there are some areas that have a glowing effect. So when coloring, be mindful of the light and shadow relationships.

Even when drawing a simple door frame, I use a color-changing brush to draw the door frame.

That way, even this detail is taken care of, and the final image will look great.

Everyone can give it a try. Next, let's paint the sign. At this stage, I first paint the

red of the sign and the background color. Then, after that, I use a color-changing brush

and a color palette to mix different colors. Because besides the text that will be added later,

the sign itself is quite simple visually. So, at this point, I want to mix a little bit of different colors.

This way, it will make the image look richer. By the way, I enjoy painting this area,

mainly because the owner is very dedicated and careful about decorating every part of the store. The sense is truly remarkable.

And this shop, I could spend an afternoon across the street taking photos for hours,

or sketching from across the street. Anything is fine. It's really that beautiful. There are weathered parts on the wall.

If you use a regular brush to paint this, it will actually be very slow. The effect won't turn out well.

So I'm used to using a special brush to create the weathered effect on the wall. Then, through layers

and blending modes, I use the brush to create finer textures. This way, more and more colors will blend together on the ordinary wall.

As for the vertical and horizontal lines on the columns, they're just slightly off.

Digital painting is convenient. The color of the wall can stay like this for now. The texture is more important.

If I want to make adjustments later, I can do it through adjustments or layer blending options

to change the color. Because we actually don't know whether the wall should be warm or cool in color once everything is finished.

But we can get the texture right at this stage. So, let's not get too hung up on the wall color for now.

Getting the texture right is more important. Here it comes. This window. It'll feel so rewarding once it's finished.

If I weren't so familiar with Procreate, it would be really hard to draw this window.

So how exactly is it going to be drawn? Actually, I make good use of the layer property Overlay.

With this technique, I can make many different layers stack on top of the glass. For example, the windows of the building across from the shop

will appear on the glass window. Using Overlay can easily accomplish this. Next, the windows on the first floor are the real challenge.

I'll first tell myself, 'What will I see first?' For example, the ice cream balloon.

A lantern with the word "ice" on it. Red and white striped fabric. Just these few things.

As for the rest, just give it a bunch of small squares. By using small squares, you can mix a bunch of vertical and horizontal color blocks.

Stack them up. Then, just create the atmosphere. Complete this section using a color-changing brush.

Of course, don't forget to use layer properties to mix different colors. It's just that at this stage,

you really need to put a lot of effort to create the atmosphere. If we have to make everything

extremely clear, it would be very painful, especially on the ground floor glass windows. Just paint the key points that are clear enough to see.

As for the rest, treat it like the view you get when you don't wear glasses while nearsighted.

Handle it in this way. Finally, the text on the glass is solid and clear.

It doesn't have any blending applied. So there's no need to use layer blending attributes.

Just write it directly. Honestly, I spent a really long time drawing this glass. If you ask me how to make it look good,

maybe it's through observation. I don't really know. Maybe it's talent. Finally,

it's getting clearer and clearer. Let's write the text on the sign. Write the text on the doorplate.

Look at this scene. Add some color. Mix some colors. Finally, draw Bosscat sitting on the chair.

Draw it on. Remember, the backlight, the top light should be handled well. That's the rim light.

After finishing the drawing, it's done! How long did it take to complete? According to the Procreate record, it took 9 hours.

What do you think? Is this fast or slow? But no matter what, from the joy of discovering this shop,

to the observational feeling of sketching, to the sense of achievement after coloring, all of it is irreplaceable.

I've drawn this shop three times. The first time was from a side view. The second time was a live sketch.

And the last one is this one. I really love the style of this shop. But after finishing the drawing, I realized...

I've never actually gone inside to eat there! Every time after I finish drawing, I feel very satisfied.

Then I just leave. This is the first time I've shared my detailed drawing process in this way.

It's also one of the few times I've watched myself draw in this manner. It's actually quite fun.

I really enjoy drawing, especially drawing architecture and street scenes. Is there any beautiful architecture or unique street scenes you'd recommend for Nuomi to challenge?

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know! Follow my IG to see more of my works!

從取景到完成！ iPad + Procreate 繪製插畫的完整流程？｜Nuomi諾米

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