I am continuing on in my quest to show a variety of simple ways to capture your moments. Another simple way is to draw the skyline. These are actually pretty popular as pieces of art, I have seen them in shops in many countries. Remember that the objective here is to be a bit more involved in the moment, and make some marks that will trigger that in the future.

Here is a stunning photo of the hill and church in Marseille, France. It would of course make a wonderful painting but let’s just pretend we are with friends and do not want to take too long, or we just want to do something simple.

So once again I start with a couple of pencil guidelines, of the church, the only building that will be in the sketch. I did use a ruler to be sure I got the proportions right. In the photo it was 30mm wide, and about 20mm tall.

Next I used waterproof ink to draw the skyline, just one continuous line with no detail – an 02 or 03 Micron, a fountain pen, or a black ballpoint would do just fine. Don’t worry about every detail, just a general shape, and just leave the pencil lines in, they add character.

Next we do something so simple that has a touch of magic in it, we will paint in just the sky.

It is always a bit amazing how just the coloring of the sky makes the sketch stand out. To finish it off I used more Ultramarine Blue and it was done. Then you should add a few notes of the time and place. When you look back on this you will easily remember the time you were there, and it is really easy to do.

I have done skylines like this without the paint. I did one in Lisbon while waiting for a taxi, it still reminds of the time.

Hope you are giving a few of these a try, I will come up with a few more. Just the extra bit of time and involvement captures the moment, and makes the time you are there even better.

As always, keep on sketching.