Pete Scully

5-Minute Sketching People

Super-Quick Techniques for Amazing Drawings

$19.95

  • Published in 2016 by Firefly Books.

  • 128 pages.

  • Softcover edition in English.

  • Printed in China.

  • Note: The first 100 copies sold include a custom-designed bookmark.

This approachable handbook teaches you to quickly capture people through simple shapes, basic proportions, and fast sketching techniques you can use anywhere.

Charming street scene with cobblestone paths, lined by historic buildings. Cafe tables are set up outside, where people are enjoying drinks. Vintage lamps hang above, and colorful neon signs illuminate the alley. Trees and plants add greenery to the urban landscape.

Quick Sketches

5-Minute Sketching People: Super-Quick Techniques for Amazing Drawings by renowned Urban Sketcher Pete Scully offers a well-organized approach to capturing people on location. Every chapter is broken down into easy-to-follow steps in this approachable guide. With chapters like “Fast texture,” “Speedy scribbling” and “Hasty hatching,” this book is a fun and inspiring resource. Pete covers fundamentals while also delving deeper into capturing people, with his own artwork alongside illustrated examples from other artists.

5-Minute Sketching People is one edition in the 5-Minute Sketching Series, a collection of four compact references on techniques and advice for sketching landscapes, animals and pets, architecture, and people.

Pictured: Brussels Rue des Bouchers by Pete Scully.

Relish the challenge of capturing a loved one’s smile or the energy of a crowd in just five minutes!
—Back cover quote, 5-Minute Sketching People
A man with glasses and short hair stands next to a bookshelf, smiling while holding a book titled "5 Minutes Pour Dessiner Les Gens." He is wearing a black and white sports jersey.

About the Author

Pete Scully is an urban sketcher from London who currently resides in Davis, California, where he hosts a monthly sketch crawl called “Let’s Draw Davis.” Since 2008, he has been the Davis correspondent for Urban Sketchers, and his work is featured in The Art of Urban Sketching by Gabriel Campanario, the founder of Urban Sketchers.

Pete’s first book, Creative Sketching Workshop, was published by North Light Books and Apple Press in 2015. His second book, 5-Minute Sketching People, was published in October 2016 by Firefly in the US and Apple Press in the UK.

Learn about Pete’s work at petescully.com.

Explore

Multiliner SP Pen

Copic

Multiliner SP Pen

A smooth, refillable pen.

Nib Size:

Explore

Explore Palette

Art Toolkit

Explore Palette

A versatile, 12-color palette.

An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

Art Toolkit Newsletter

Sign up to hear about our latest supplies, tips and techniques for field art, and special offers.

Join now and we’ll send you our free Tools for Observation mini-series. Follow along with Maria as she shares supplies, tips on contour and gesture sketching, and inspiration for composition!