r/urbansketchers

This piece is set in Albany Park, a working-class neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago. During Chicago winters, residents follow an unwritten social code called “dibs.” After heavy snowfall, whoever takes the time to shovel out a parking space claims it as their own. People mark these spaces with chairs, cones, crates—anything that says: this spot was earned.

“Dibs” is more than parking etiquette. It reflects labor, survival, and territorial respect in a city shaped by harsh winters and dense neighborhoods. The idea parallels the life of pigeons in the city—claiming space, adapting to difficult environments, and defending small pieces of ground in an unforgiving landscape.

dirtycitypigeon.

Drawing people deeply engrossed in their phones is one of my favorite subjects. It’s great because I don’t have to worry about awkward eye contact. Plus, these people often sit incredibly still for such a long time, which gives me plenty of time to observe them carefully.

A fun one on a long coach journey

Proportions on people are wild. Tried to lean more toward gestural here. Work to do!

From a photo I took during a recent trip

Santorini looked like a town in school uniform. White walls, blue domes, narrow lanes, all standing neatly under the Mediterranean sun. While sketching in Oia, I noticed the beauty was not symmetry but small imperfections. Tilted buildings, uneven steps, fading shadows, and bougainvillea spilling quietly across the cliffs

Getting back into sketching after more than a year of nothing.

A Café entrance, seen through the rear view mirror. Had to rush and couldn’t finish the top part.

Today was International Museum Day which meant free admission. I took the opportunity to do a little sketching with the Urban Sketchers Philadelphia group while I was there. The rules state ‘nothing that can’t be erased’ so I was limited to graphite on site. I’ll add color later.

Wanted to change the angle and try something new.

Hi All ! Here are a couple of sketches of Hong Kong in pen and wash, based on photography by @cloudy_little and @matt_raquage over on Instagram.

I’ve not posted here in about a year. I’ve been trying Instagram (same account name as Reddit) but frankly I’ve found it soul destroying and rather than inspiring me to sketch more the lack of engagement and feedback has been really demotivating.

I hope you enjoy them!

Since we walked nearly 20k steps four days in a row and, honestly, aren't really used to that kind of thing, we thought we’d take a rest day. So, early in the morning, I did some drawing for about an hour, then went back to sleep until we decided around 1 p.m. to grab some food and head over to the second Warhammer store. There, I picked up a pack of grass and a pack of mushrooms for my boyfriend’s crafting, and a Goblin mini for my dad so he could paint it too. Other than that, we just sat in the park and watched the doggos and the fountains. And since we took the tram there and back, I wanted to sketch that as well :) Honestly, public transit in Prague was sooo convenient—with our Deutsche Bahn in Germany, we can only dream of that 😭