Welcome to Sketching Retreat 2023: The #1 Online Event for Interior, Architecture, and Landscape Sketching

Are you passionate about sketching, perspective drawing, architecture, or interior design?

If so, you're in for a treat! Imagine having the opportunity to learn from your favourite instructors, artists, architects, and designers during a six-day online event that's absolutely free.

Welcome to Sketching Retreat 2023, the #1 online event in the field of interior, architecture, and landscape sketching!

This year, I will be teaching perspective drawing: “1-Point Perspective Made Easy: Sketching the Iconic Neuendorf House”. I can’t wait to see you on the inside!

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What is Sketching Retreat 2023?

Sketching Retreat 2023 is a remarkable event that brings together creative minds from around the world to explore the art of sketching in various domains. This six-day online extravaganza is a treasure trove of more than 30 workshops, each tailored to enrich your knowledge and skills in architecture, interior design, and landscape sketching.

What Will You Learn from the Workshops?

At Sketching Retreat 2023, you'll immerse yourself in an abundance of knowledge and creativity. Some of the techniques and applications you'll master during the workshops include:

- Pen & Pencil Drawing: Unlock the secrets of creating intricate sketches with the simple tools of pen and pencil.

- Colour Markers: Explore the world of vibrant colors and learn how to bring life to your sketches.

- Watercolour Painting: Dive into the world of watercolors and transform your sketches into colorful masterpieces.

- Morpholio Trace: Discover the power of digital sketching with the Morpholio Trace app.

- Procreate: Unleash your creativity with the popular digital art app, Procreate.

- Concepts: Explore innovative sketching techniques and concepts that will elevate your skills to new heights.

These workshops will be led by a diverse array of instructors, including artists, architects, and designers, each offering their unique style, techniques, and mediums.

Meet the Host: David Drazil

Sketching Retreat 2023 is hosted by my friend, the talented David Drazil from sketchlikeanarchitect.com. David is architect, content creator, speaker, and book author. David's passion for sketching and design is incredible, and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the event. I am sure, his expertise and vision will undoubtedly inspire all participants.

How to Register:

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to enhance your sketching skills and learn from some of the best in the industry. To register for Sketching Retreat 2023, simply follow this registration link:

Sketching Retreat 2023 is not just an event; it's an experience that has the potential to transform your creative journey. Whether you're a seasoned sketch artist or just beginning to explore the world of architecture, interior design, or landscape sketching, there's something here for everyone.

Embrace this opportunity, and join us at the #1 online event for sketching in 2023. Register today, and let's embark on this artistic adventure together. Unleash your creative potential like never before!

I can't wait to see you at Sketching Retreat 2023!

Olga Sorokina

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Read other articles on my blog:

My 5 tips if you want to draw architecture sketch commissions in Procreate

In my today’s article, I simply welcome you to watch this quick 16 min live stream I did on Instagram:

🤓✍️ “My top 5 tips if you want to become a sketch artist and draw architecture/interior sketch commissions in Procreate”.

WATCH NOW (16 min)

Here is my latest architecture sketch commission I did for my client from the US:

✍️​ Quick links to my latest resources:

1. Online course on Procreate interior sketching for beginners: here

2. THE CLUB, my membership platform (Bringing sketching back to interior design)​, here

Guide "Top 10 Creative Ways for Architects and Interior Designers to Boost Their Income"

1. Sketch Artist and Commissions: Leverage your artistic skills by offering sketch commissions. You can create custom sketches of architectural designs, interior layouts, or even personalized artwork for clients.

2. 3D Architectural Visualizations: Use your expertise to create high-quality 3D architectural visualizations for real estate developers, builders, or individual clients looking to visualize their projects before construction.

3. Saatchi: Open an online shop on Saatchi, Etsy, or a similar platform, to sell artworks or prints or of your architectural or interior design drawings, creating a passive income stream from your art.

4. Public Speaking: Share your knowledge and experience by speaking at conferences, seminars, or webinars. You can charge speaking fees and even generate income from sponsored talks.

5. 1-on-1 Coaching: Offer personalized coaching services to aspiring architects or interior designers. Provide guidance, portfolio reviews, and career advice to help them succeed in the industry.

6. Group Mentoring/ Masterminds: Organize group mentoring sessions or mastermind groups where you can mentor a small group of individuals collectively. Charge a fee for participation in these exclusive sessions.

7. Online Courses: Create and sell online courses on platforms like Teachable, Udemy, Coursera, or your own website. Share your expertise on topics like interior sketching, architectural design principles, interior design trends, or software tutorials.

8. Admissions Consulting: Assist students in preparing their portfolios and applications for design universities. Many aspiring architects and interior designers seek guidance to secure admissions, and you can charge for your expertise.

9. Freelance Design Work: Take on freelance design projects outside of your regular job. You can work on residential or small commercial projects, helping clients with interior design or architectural planning.

10. Design Blog or YouTube Channel:  Start a design blog or YouTube channel to showcase your work, share design tips, and monetize through ads, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, or merchandise sales.

Remember that success in these endeavors may require some marketing and networking efforts to build a client base or audience. Additionally, staying updated with industry trends and continuously improving your skills will increase your earning potential as an architect or interior designer.

P.S. Please share this article with your friends.

By Olga Sorokina

Contact: olga@schoolofsketching.com

Instagram @schoolofsketching

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School of Sketching by Olga Sorokina was named an expert on Redfin for interior design.

Check out the article we were featured in:

11 Timeless Beige and Neutral Home Decor Ideas| Redfin

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Learn more about my online sketching courses, book, and 1-1 coaching here:

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Read other articles from my blog:

11 Reasons Why Interior Designers and Architects Should Sketch

“When architects draw, they experience architecture, they are walking through the space in their minds.”

Interior design and architecture begins with an idea, and drawing is a fantastic tool to define it, to give form to this abstract concept that exists only in the designer's head for a while. Based on my experience, I can ensure you that sketching is the fastest way to design, yes, even though you've mastered all the design soft like 3DS Max, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit, and all other programs. Sketching is natural for designers.

11 reasons why we do it:

• to think,

• to discover,

• to express & manifest

• to understand ideas in our heads,

• to give form to something,

• to structure thinking,

• to communicate ideas and examine them,

• to present,

• to record and document, 

• to understand the world,

• to understand oneself (yes, I know it sounds quite philosophical, but that's true)

“Sketching is the process of discovery; it is like breathing, meditating, or exercising, just let it flow”

Most important, in my opinion, we do it to think, to evolve ideas during that process of freehand sketching. You transfer and translate your ideas into our world through the visuals. An experienced architect or interior designer make a drawing first thing almost automatically, instinctively. Well-made drawing establishes credibility with clients from the first meeting.

A professional dancer thinks through the act of dancing. His/her body literally «thinks» during that beautiful process, and creates choreography. It's thinking in motion. That can't be more true, that we, as designers, and architects think through the act of drawing to uncover and reveal and to draw something out that sits inside of our brains. 

“A good idea will generate a good drawing.”

What is the best drawing form for you?

Drawing may take many forms, and it's important you find your favourite, the most comfortable for you. It can be a freehand sketch on a piece of paper or digital drawing on the iPad in Procreate. Maybe it's a quick Photoshop concept sketch or a mixed technique that suits you best. For example, I noticed that very often interior design students create a hand drawing, then scan it and colour on a computer later. As one architect said: “Drawing is the first visible thing of the form of the thought, the changing point from the invisible powers to the visible thing. It's a special kind of thought, brought down onto a surface”.

“Drawing is the first visible thing of the form of the thought, the changing point from the invisible powers to the visible thing. It is a special kind of thought, brought down onto a surface”

Different stages in the interior design process require different kinds of drawing: expressive and quick early sketches are followed by more precise perspective views, layouts, and sections to scale. It all starts with a sketch first, even though very often these early, nearly abstract, exploratory drawings hold meaning only for its maker. It's the beginning of everything.

Remember, the best way to make good interior sketches by hand is to make a lot of them, quickly and spontaneously, until it becomes natural for you. Do you want to master interior drawing from scratch? Welcome to my Online School of Sketching.

P.S. Hope you enjoyed this article, please share it on your social media so more people can learn about perspective drawing and freehand sketching. Thanks in advance and good luck with your sketches!

© Olga Sorokina, 2023

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"BASE": a Course Which Teaches All the Basic Techniques You Need to Implement Sketching in Your Interior Design Practice

(For Interior Designers & Architects)

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Featured in:

Check out the recent Redfin article we were featured in:

11 Timeless Beige and Neutral Home Decor Ideas | Redfin

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Read other articles on my blog:

My YouTube was awarded "Essential Design Voice" by @morpholio

Famous Morpholio announced the top YouTube creators for Architecture and Design, so honored my channel was also on that list.

You can read more about “12 Essential Design Voices“ on their blog: here.

Let me share with you my top three playlists from the channel:

1. Interior sketching with markers

2. Architecture sketching

3. Perspective drawing

My three most popular Shorts from the channel:

1. Top 3 exercises to train your hand

2. Interior drawing magic

3. Why it is important to sketch: 4 reasons

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The 6 principles of two-point perspective in interior sketching

In my previous blog article, I covered the principles of one-point perspective in interior sketching.

Today we will talk about the second most used and popular in architecture and interior drawing — the two-point perspective. It is also referred to as an oblique view since here we are viewing the object, interior, architecture from a corner, we literally see that corner.  

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So, these 6 principles of two-point perspective in interior sketching are: 

1. All the diagonals in your drawing recede either to one or the other vanishing point.

2. All vertical lines are perpendicular to the horizon line

3. There are no horizontal lines except for the horizon line and the lines of the objects which are precisely at its high

4. The closer the pieces of furniture or decor elements to us, the more details we can see.

5. All objects decrease in size as they recede into the distance.

6. All furniture and other interior design elements along the converging lines (or the lines of convergence) become foreshortened.

“Perspective is the key to what you see in our 3D world. Mastering perspective will improve your sketching skills and make your drawings look professional. ”

— Olga Sorokina

My interior drawing in two-point perspective and oblique view grid from THE CLUB

Resources:

• I covered the basics of one, and two-point perspectives in my free course, learn more about it here.

• If you want to dive deeper and become a professional in interior drawing, join my online course BASE.

• In this lesson of my educational membership platform for interior designers THE CLUB, I cover one-point perspective: link

Read also related blog article: “What is perspective in drawing“.

P.S. My dear Creative, I hope you enjoyed this article, please share it on your social media so more people can learn about perspective drawing. Thanks in advance!

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"BASE": a Course Which Teaches All the Basic Techniques You Need to Implement Sketching in Your Interior Design Practice

(For Interior Designers & Architects)

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READ OTHER ARTICLES ON MY BLOG:

© Olga Sorokina, 2020

The 9 principles of one-point perspective in interior sketching

One-point perspective (also referred to as frontal view) appears when we look at the object, interior, building, or street straight on, we face it.

It is the simplest type of perspective since we have only one vanishing point and one of the most used in interior drawing.

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So, these nine principles of one-point perspective in interior sketching are: 

1. All the lines in your drawing are either horizontal, vertical, or recede to the vanishing point.

2. All horizontal lines are parallel to each other.

3. All vertical lines are parallel to each other.

4. The horizon line runs at your eye level, which is usually 1,5-1,7 m high.

5. All horizontal lines are parallel to the horizon line, and all vertical lines are perpendicular to the horizon line.

6. All diagonal lines to recede to the vanishing point, these are referred to as converging lines.

7. The closer the objects to us, the more details we can see.

8. All objects get smaller and smaller the farther away they are from us.

9. All objects along the converging lines (or the lines of convergence) become foreshortened, and their lines will reach the vanishing point if we prolong them.

“Perspective is the key to what you see in our 3D world. Mastering perspective will improve your sketching skills and make your drawings look professional. ”

— Olga Sorokina

With the last 3 principles, think about the railway: rails will recede to the vanishing point on the horizon line, and the space between sleepers will get smaller as they recede into the distance.

Perspective is the key to what you see in our 3D world. Mastering perspective will improve your sketching skills and make your drawings look professional.

Resources:

• I covered the basics of one, and two-point perspectives in my free course, learn more about it here.

• If you want to dive deeper and become a professional in interior drawing, join my online course BASE.

• In this lesson of my educational membership platform for interior designers THE CLUB, I cover one-point perspective: link

My interior drawing in one-point perspective and frontal view grid from THE CLUB

Read also related articles on my blog:

“What is perspective in drawing“

“Perspective Drawing Explained: 7 Types of Perspective in Interior Sketching”

“The 6 principles of two-point perspective in interior sketching”

P.S. My dear Creative, I hope you enjoyed this article, please share it on your social media so more people can learn about perspective drawing. Thanks in advance!

© Olga Sorokina

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Check this 1-min time-lapsed video of a one-point perspective drawing:

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Check my live stream on YouTube schoolofsketching:

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"BASE": a Course Which Teaches All the Basic Techniques You Need to Implement Sketching in Your Interior Design Practice

(For Interior Designers & Architects)

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Read other articles on my blog:

What they do not teach you at Interior Design Schools or myths about an interior designer

Some of you may get upset when I dispel the myth that the interior design profession is only about beauty and romantic appeal, but you better know the truth if you want to avoid a “blind date” disappointment.

Part of this blog article I took from the text of my best-selling book,

“The SKETCH. Interior Design Drawing”.

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Who is an interior designer?  

Let's uncover the truth, interior design is not about pleasant meetings with customers in glamorous restaurants and elegant offices, reflecting on the subject of interior styles, choosing that ideal shade of taupe for the tiling in the bathroom, artistic inspiration, and perpetual joy of creation. Well, some of it is, but it sums up to no more than 5% of the overall project scope. The rest of it, 95% is hard work.

The rest of it is the arduous daily routine: designer supervision at a construction site, bare concrete walls, breathing all this cement dust hanging in the air, speaking to builders, managing orders, dealing with everyday challenges, chasing suppliers — all these generally putting out fires on a daily basis.

“Interior design is only 5% about pleasant meetings with customers in glamorous restaurants and elegant offices, reflecting on the subject of interior styles, artistic inspiration, and perpetual joy of creation. The rest of it, 95% is hard work.”

To give a complete image: an interior designer is an all-round craftsman, multi-armed, multi-legged, and multi-brained. He/she has to bear in mind plethora of diverse information: starting with yesterday’s conversation with the customer, requests from his wife, children and his dog, visits to a tile store, sanitary equipment showroom, lighting shop, negotiating with construction supervisors, and rows about missed deadlines. One other aspect that is rarely mentioned is the futile struggle to foster a good taste in some of their customers trying to persuade them that rhinestone and crimson velvet from a luxurious Italian palazzo look like unabashed kitsch in the context of a city apartment.

At the same time, you will need to find time and energy to visit a great many interior design exhibitions, many of which take place at least twice a year, in order to be well-versed in new technologies and materials. As you can see, it is a very vibrant and eventful life. The most exhausting part of it all is constant multitasking, and we now know that it is the least efficient way of getting things done and by far the most draining. Creativity was supposed to fit in all this somehow and be the essence of the designer’s occupation, given that he/she is an “Artist of an Interior” (as it is inscribed in my diploma).

The fact of life is: a designer is often a project manager, a director, an author, a supervisor, and a diplomat, all rolled into one. This definition also applies to self-employed designers, owners of a small design studio, freelancers, or any other professionals who work for themselves, rather than a company.

“An interior designer is often a project manager, a director, an author, a supervisor, and a diplomat, all rolled into one. ”

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, when you have this, that or the other place to rush to, dozens of appointments to keep, panicking clients to calm down and meetings with a builder, your energy dissipates very quickly and your stamina very soon wanes, days are slipping away imperceptibly, and almost nothing is done. Does that sound like the way things are sometimes in your case? Cheers! This means it is the right time for you to get away from it all, take it easy, recharge your batteries and discover a new way to spur your creativity and awaken your inspiration.

In fact, this is precisely where perspective drawing and my online interior sketching courses will help you. Concentrate on your creativity, and you will see the progress straight away along with rapid professional growths. Being a creative person, a designer wants to always feel that he or she is continually developing and growing professionally.

I think it is of paramount importance to a designer or an architect — the ability to express ideas on paper using just a pencil. Having graduated from the best Arts Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, I was astonished to find out that some designers were utterly incapable of drawing, and many of them have never even tried to, commenting that the main thing was the ability to use appropriate computer programs, knowledge of building principles, regulations, and materials. It is beyond doubt that it is essential to be an expert in your craft, a professional in your field. And in real life, it is also vital to be good at maintaining relations with customers and construction workers and to have a leadership talent.

“There is nothing that proofs your professionalism and creativity further than if you draw a sketch right in front of the client during a meeting. ”

You gain respect in your clients’ eyes when he or she sees a complex interior being artfully created by you and there is nothing that proofs your professionalism and creativity further than if you draw a sketch right in front of the client during a meeting. It does the trick 100% of the time!

Ask yourself: what is it precisely that I want to do? What is missing from my creative process? What would be my ideal creative process? If you are a computer geek — there’s no problem. However, if you are perturbed by the feeling that something is missing, that you are disconnected from your work, that you no longer enjoy coming to the office and that everything became a routine, it means you need to discover a new way and acquire new knowledge and skills. You need to find a way to re-introduce elegance spontaneity and joy back into your profession.

So welcome to my online courses for beginners and advanced, I can’t wait to see you on the inside!

P.S. My dear Creative, may I ask you to share this article on your social media so more people can learn about interior sketching. Thanks in advance!

© Olga Sorokina, 2020

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An online course which teaches all the basic techniques you need to implement sketching in your interior design practice:

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Read other articles from my blog: