The Power of the Free-Hand Sketch: Part 6
Let me illustrate the steps I took to make the sketch of Hong Kong’s Yau Ma Tei’s Reclamation Street Wet Market. This is the sketch that is in my Blog “The Power of the Free-Hand Sketch: Part 5”.
- The umbrella in the foreground sets the scale for the overall sketch and works as the “frame” for the scene.
- The hanging dried fruits and the details of the stall under this umbrella bring the vanishing points and horizon into play.
- Moving into the middle ground of the sketch, the “focus” of the composition, new umbrellas create depth by relating their scale to the first umbrella.
- Overlapping umbrellas further create depth to the sketch, while the boxes and tables under these umbrellas bring life to the sketch
- Next comes the building in the background. Details here are critical because the perspective of the building must co-exist with the virtual perspective lines established before.
- I switched back and forth between the middle ground and background to keep a sense of scale on both layers.
- Additional details on the building façade create a 3D depth to the building.
- Finishing details are then added to the stalls under the umbrellas including outline of shoppers and merchandise. All photos by Chan Yee Man Daphne.
Finally shade, shadows and details give the overall sketch as sense of reality. The sketch took about 45 to 50 minutes to complete.
Sketchingjourney's Blog 
I had no idea that Daphne were taking these progress photos. I was kindly surprised when I discovered them, as you can see that they were shot from behind me. They serve as good reference of the time that one of my sketches take. I am always guessing at such times. The photos also illustrate the process that I take. Actually, in doing most of my sketches, once I draw the initial object I can immediately visualize the entire sketch on the sketchbook page.