Sketch the World | Learn Architectural Illustration for Beginners

Come sketch with me as we create a watercolor illustration of an iconic bookshop in Paris, all from the comfort of my kitchen table! Today, I’ll walk you through my playful approach to architectural illustration, using Google Street View as inspiration. We’ll talk about perspective, artistic style, and how to embrace imperfection in your work. Plus, I’ll share my thoughts on an important question: what matters more in art-style or technical ability?
📌Want to use my sketch as a guide for your own painting? Download it on Patreon!
/ 121208397
** Get More Shayda Content! **
Download MY SKETCH! Become a Patreon member: / 121208397
Check out my WATERCOLOR ECOURSES: bit.ly/2P6ARmS
See The Bookstore On Google Maps: maps.app.goo.g...
---------------------------------------------------------------
SUPPLIES
Shop my watercolor set on Amazon: amzn.to/3Vg1SHp.
Shop my watercolor set on Blick: bit.ly/41c26mO
Brush Set: amzn.to/2WzSIKr
Watercolor Paper: amzn.to/42BdvNu
Fine liners: amzn.to/3RLNyVW
White Gouache: amzn.to/4hnkSNm
Shayda Campbell makes a commission from sales made through the above links.*
---------------------------------------------------------------
COLORS USED
Dark Hooker’s Green + Payne’s Gray + Magenta (for the bookshop facade)
Naples Yellow + White + Brown (for the sign)
Light Blue Gray (for windows)
Magenta + Light Red (for doors)
---------------------------------------------------------------
ADDITIONAL TUTORIALS
50 Ways to Fill a Sketchbook | Pear Watercolor Illustration: • 50 Ways to Fill a Sket...
How to Draw a Cherry Blossom | Illustration for Beginners: • How to Draw a Cherry B...
---------------------------------------------------------------
CONNECT W/ ME
Patreon: / shaydacampbell
Website: www.shaydacampb...
Facebook: / shaydacampbell
Instagram: / shaydacampbell
Shop: bit.ly/ShaydaShop
---------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT CAMERA AM I USING?
Camera: amzn.to/2YIRFGE
Camera With Lens: amzn.to/2ZqsvvB
---------------------------------------------------------------
*Disclaimer: Shayda Campbell is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Archer & Olive affiliate program. Both affiliate advertising programs are designed to provide a means for individuals to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com. archerandoliove.com and affiliated sites. The cost to you for these products is the same, but Shayda earns a small commission and that keeps the channel alive. Win win!

[@Petra-1000]

I really love this style of illustration. Would like to see more architectural sketching and painting ❤

[@ShaydaCampbell]

On it :)

[@gigih.9254]

Great instructions. Thank you! Loved your "you are not a camera, capture the image in a way that is unique to you."

[@ShaydaCampbell]

That's what it's all about! 😊

[@lauriedunn6198]

I like both paintings. The different perspective brings us closer to the building. adding the flowers in the pot out front does seem more you, but maybe that is because I have watched so many floral painting videos by you.

[@luisafranco5454]

I think that even the first one represents your style in some way. Love your art Shayda ❤❤ 😊

[@aishazel]

This video is so peaceful to watch and I love both of the paintings... Excited to see more like these...It's true how the style of an artist makes their work unique..

[@dawny.9101]

LOVE this style of illustration so much, Shayda! 💕 It's so nice to watch your process and hear your thoughts along the way. Many thanks!!🩷

[@ShaydaCampbell]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 🙏

[@teddybeeandme]

I agree with Chris.. The first one is slightly nicer but they are both beautiful

[@debbyleiper8367]

Omgsh! I love this! It’s brought me back to urban sketches! I’m excited 😅❤ I think I redo a lot of stuff! Why not?😍

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Go for it! Have fun

[@TheMadmonica11]

I love it!! The first one has a full world to it, but I like how the second one had the bookstore up front and center 😊

[@KathleenMcKinstry]

I also love this style of painting and would love to see you do more. Please! You are very good at it!🥰 I think it’s a good idea to do more than one, think of it as the first one as mapping out your idea. In the second or even third painting you can see what you liked or didn’t by looking at the first. Both of your paintings were lovely but I liked the second one especially because of the pot of flowers you added!

[@OrientalGriffin]

This is fantastic! Would love to see more store/shoppe/urban watercolor videos! While I think both are important - when it comes to art, style wins.

[@jylfearn4840]

Absolutely amazing ❤👏🏻👏🏻

[@louannroach1826]

Both beautiful, but I liked the first one better. I think it's the simplicity that I like.

[@lauriedunn6198]

I love this whole idea. I use a thin palette knife to slide around and get my paintings off the block without tearing, but I still have to be careful it doesn't slice or tear it.

[@iiizuuu]

Gorgeous, Shayda! 🎉

[@lynnmarshall4689]

Both are beautiful. The first one is more loose than the second one. But it’s hard to choose between the two, as I like them both! Second one not as loose and whimsical as the first. I love doing whimsy.

[@grannyslick1829]

You're the third artist I've heard mention Google street view this week. I never thought to use that for art. Your work is just beautiful!

[@WatercolorKari]

Oh, this makes me so happy (as does your sweater)!! To answer your question here in the beginning, style is so much more important than technical ability, IMHO. :) I've wanted to paint my hometown as well (no worries, I'm far, far away from you both in physical location and artistic ability, lol). Your style is gorgeous and heartwarming. Wonky perspective = ❤❤❤

[@WatercolorwithMegan]

Hello friend! I would love to see videos of you painting your town! 😃😍

[@WatercolorKari]

@WatercolorwithMegan Megannnnn! I appreciate that! I love watching all of your painting and listening to your cheerful, funny self as you paint!❤️

[@bfranklin1052]

I like that you broke out of the confines of the street view photo and made a piece with your artistic adjustments. To me, that's where the life is. Your piece feels like my POV is sitting at a cafe across the street vs taking a snapshot. It feels more relaxed and dreamy. Love it!

[@ShaydaCampbell]

I like that! Lets say that's exactly what I was going for :P

[@theresaavery4670]

I like them both but prefer the second. Thanks for showing us the drawing step. So important and you make it look so easy!

[@alanplummer]

It’s amazing the number of techniques you mentioned and explained in this video. Thank you very much for such an enjoyable and helpful tutorial!

[@jessicarabbit1164]

Landscapes and Architectural Illustration are the subjects that I am the most interested in!! 😍💜

[@WatercolorwithMegan]

I love the addition of the flowers to the second one. It's a lovely composition. I just finished painting my favorite tea shop 3 times and had a similar experience. The colors of that building were very different from my preferred color palette. I thought changing that would make it unrecognizable, but really it just looks like the tea shop but in my style. 🥰 Interesting topic today!

[@anniebadyal5028]

Oh my gosh, i LOOOOVE this!!! This is my dream to learn whimsical architectural drawing and you are one of my absolute favorite artists/teachers/social media people! I have been a Patreon member for a long time!!! I HAD TO take a month or 2 hiatus but i am going to have to join again, STAT!!! Congrats on your own watercolors!!!!! Loooooove this!!!

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thank you so much!

[@jerrygill4828]

Everytime I see you, you look different. I almost missed you, but I love this look, especially the hair. I just wanted to ask about your mixing tray…looks like what I’ve been wanting to get.

[@Arts.and.garabatos]

hello, I'm not stealing your idea but I did start this year doing architecture illustration in an expressive way. I'm creating one every day, so as of today. I have 32 house sketches :). Yours are so cute as well. I will try to find photos from google street view because I still have a lot to paint :).

[@jessihill7817]

LOVE!

[@TheClutterLady]

Whaaat?! Two of my favorite things: Shayda and architectural watercolor! Thank you for doing this. 🥰

[@ShaydaCampbell]

You are welcome! I’m so glad you like it.

[@territatroe2989]

I never thought about painting an image and making it mine. Thank you! You've opened up a world for my sketchbook! ❤

[@ShaydaCampbell]

I'm so happy to hear that!

[@loomonda18]

I'm absolutely OBSESSED WITH THIS!! I WANT TO GO BUY A WATERCOLOUR PAD/SET IMMEDIATELY

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Hope you'll try it out :)

[@Escudera_de_Roble]

😍👍💕📚🖌️ So beautiful!! I totally love both versions!! But if I had to chose just one, it would probably be the Shayda one, because the closer view and perspective make it more subjective: you're not just seeing the place, you are actually into it! Loved the floral addition as well: so very Shayda, and a clever way to add depth!👌😊 Thank you so much for combining two of my favourite things (bookstores and painting) into this wonderful video! 🙏😉👏👏👏🤗🥰😘

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Yay! Thank you!

[@watercolorpaintingintheaft9142]

I like the second one! I think your style is however you feel like painting that day. If you want loose, paint it loose. If detailed... same. I do both depending on how well I'm concentrating. (And btw, loose takes more concentration!) Thank you for showing us the process. As you wouldn't write an essay once and turn it in, neither should you paint a worthy subject once and walk away. There's always room for editing!

[@ShaydaCampbell]

So true! There's always room for improvement!

[@kimbumgarner1]

thanks! learned a lot with this one. I like your 2nd one better, but I don’t know why exactly!! I am going to try it again, and I’m doing 2nd ones more and more, since I’m a beginnner, my first effort is kind of too much, or not loose enough. Please do more like this!

[@star_7776]

Beautiful work girl, thanks for the video

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thanks for watching!

[@elysshabrooke9755]

I am loving this! 🤍

[@lora9664]

I love your watercolor set. It’s amazing.

[@gayane_igityan]

This is awesome i love architectural drawing... i like the first one better because i like the narrow elongated look in this type of drawings, and i opt for that, but that's just my personal preference. Both are pretty ❤. Thanks for the video and all your tips.

[@g.970]

I love this. The bookstore was on the top of my ‘to do’ list when I went to Paris last year. Unfortunately the queue to get in was so long that I was unable to get in. The rare book annex was empty so went in there. Still not getting into the actual bookshop was very disappointing. Seeing this painting inspires me to do one too . Thank you

[@ShaydaCampbell]

oh no! I'm sorry you missed it. Hopefully you can make it back again one day

[@mariemyriam5616]

magnifique... thats amazing Shayda...both painting are beautiful ...this video is what i was looking for :) thank you for sharing this with us :)

[@WatercolorKari]

So interesting seeing you redo it. And fascinating that you weren't 100% feelin' the first one. I absolutely love both of them! Gosh, you are SO inspiring! (And I'm just now remembering that I purchased your Domestika course last month and never went back to it. I do that all the time, lol. That's it... I'm going to go through your course TODAY!!!) You motivate me to work more towards being a better artist. I'm kinda messy now, trying to find a style that I love. Having a blast, but I so appreciate your videos that teach me so much. 💖

[@思思的藝想世界]

this is really an wonderful art work❤❤

[@dora-u2v]

Love both although the 2nd one does add more depth with the planter in front. I think it will give it even more depth if you do a cast shadow from the planter. I don't paint much but use alcohol markers and colored pencils for my artwork. Very rarely will I redraw something, occasionally but only when I'm going to give as a gift. Otherwise I try to learn from what I didn't like and move on. Shayda, you are one of the 1st people that I started watching on YT and really love your content. Thank you for all that you do!

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thanks for being a long-time supporter!

[@jadeintheparke1]

Oooh this is exciting! Way out of my comfort zone

[@ShaydaCampbell]

That's the best way to learn! 😊

[@mebythesea5]

Love this! 💗

[@joleneflamm761]

I really like that. I have done that and I'm happy you are. I would like to do that with my pictures.

[@jayathibuddhireddy1967]

I love this tutorial 😘😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thank you!!

[@carolyndaughton3373]

Shayda, this is really beautiful!

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thanks!

[@helenwang6940]

❤️ this!

[@marrykardux1812]

The pictures are beautiful! Recently I did draw a Dutch street scene with old buildings and a little bridge. I just did it how I saw it in my mind. I always look forward to your videos. The setting is so cozy and really makes you want to paint and color right now. Could you do something like this and then use pencil colors? Hello from BC

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Great idea!

[@donkap8689]

This is georgeous. ❤ I love your watercolour set colours. Is it going to be sold on Amazon UK by any chance?

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Should be there soon!

[@charlotteragan6583]

This is the picture style I like. Hard to find street views, thanks for the idea for Google maps Street View.

[@ShaydaCampbell]

It's a great way to get a sense of place for your drawings!

[@SweetheartFountain]

❤❤❤

[@deirdrelewis1454]

I would love to be able to do architectural drawings but I don’t have the technical ability. So that would be far more important for me than a style.

[@ShaydaCampbell]

It’s all about practice and patience!

[@almalopez1831]

🎉❤

[@Angela27red]

Your link to the fineliners doesn’t work. It says page not found. What’s the brand of fineliners that you are using that you love?

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thanks for letting me know! Its the Molotow Black Liner: amzn.to/3nEGwA7

[@bethcarroll5988]

Love both of them. Will give it a try with photos of my mother's house. Thank you.!!!❤‍🩹❤‍🩹

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Have fun with it! 🙏

[@TheDenisejh]

How do I find MY style? I’ve been watercolor painting for a couple of years, but usually follow tutorials online.

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Try having fun and experimenting with it.Try painting something multiple times like this. I do talk about it more in my e-course www.shaydacampbellcourses.com/p/flower-power

[@EraLuna13]

Really enjoyed this. More urban art tutorials, please. It's my fav. 🩷

[@ShaydaCampbell]

Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind!