Urban Sketching Notes: Record Your Viewpoint and What You Left Out

Start with the place you viewed the scene from

The same lane can make a different composition depending on where you sit and which way you face. Note your viewpoint, such as “Looked toward the entrance to the lane from the bench opposite.” If a precise address is unnecessary, a recognizable place nickname and the subject you faced are enough.

If you photograph the view, stay somewhere safe and follow the location's photography rules. Do not step into a road or block a passage to match your drawing. If you have no photo from the session, describe the viewpoint you remember rather than presenting a later picture as the scene from that day.

Connect the edges of the drawing with the real scene

If you chose the part of a street where a roofline overlaps a tree, describe where the edges of your drawing fall in that scene. You do not have to copy the entire width of a photo. A sign or vehicle visible in the picture but absent from the drawing can be an intentional omission.

A fictional editorial example is “Included the shop roof and tree as seen from the bench / Left out the parked vehicle on the right / Noticed the boundary between the bright wall and the tree.” Note both what you observed and what you changed for the composition, without describing an invented feature as a fact about the location.

Light and movement do not remain fixed while you draw

If clouds covered the sun or a vehicle moved during the session, every element in the drawing may not come from the same instant. Record a change you actually saw: “There was a shadow at the start; it had softened by the end.” One photo does not establish constant light throughout the session.

If you simplified a person or moving subject, note what you used as a reference as far as you know. Avoid filling the scene with guesses about other people's conversations or private circumstances. The useful connection is between your observation and drawing, without needing to collect the identities of people nearby.

Keep the observed scene and sketch together

1. 1

   Briefly describe the subject and your viewpoint from a safe place.

2. 2

   Group any permitted scene photo and a photo of the sketch as material from the same drawing session.

3. 3

   Note the chosen frame, omitted elements, and changes you directly observed while drawing.

4. 4

   Keep the state you reached on location; if you add more at home, record those additions and their timing separately.

Separate where you stopped on location from additions at home

If you only drew the linework on location, you can photograph that stage. If you later add color from a photo at home, label it “Colored at home using the photo.” A drawing begun entirely at home from a photograph should not be described as work completed through direct observation on location.

You do not need to hide the record because you finished elsewhere. Make clear where direct observation ended and which material you consulted later. Color added from a photograph does not come with a guarantee of accurately reproducing the colors you saw with your eyes during the original visit.

Write why you chose the view beside the work photos

Try putting the scene and sketch in one Pogaem entry with a title that identifies the work. The note can begin with the viewpoint and omissions that mattered to this drawing, rather than a paper-size or equipment list. Refer to the same work name in a later dated entry for additions made at home.

The cover shows a workbench with several hobby photographs; it is not a photograph of the field session described here. This method also does not imply that the app analyzes composition or drawing skill. You use photos, text, and dates to revisit the difference between your own observed scene and your drawing.