From Sketch to Screen: Crafting Urban Railway Scenes in Digital Art

Where Steel Meets Sky: A City's Pulse

Initial outline sketch of the NYC 7 Train on elevated tracks, capturing the early phase of this urban artwork.

Queensboro Plaza Station, Queens, NYC

You know that moment when you're standing on an elevated platform in Queens, and suddenly everything clicks? That's how this piece started. I was watching the 7 train curve through the morning haze, steel tracks cutting through concrete and glass, and thought: "Damn, I need to capture this."

The Thing About Train Tracks

Here's what they don't tell you about drawing curved train tracks - they're a total pain in the rear. Seriously. I must've redrawn that curve twenty times before it felt right. But there's something almost hypnotic about getting lost in all that industrial geometry. One minute you're cursing at your iPad because the perspective is slightly off, and four hours later you're still there, obsessing over the way sunlight hits a steel beam.

When Digital Meets Gritty

Let me tell you a secret: I nearly scrapped this whole thing halfway through. The problem with drawing urban scenes is that they're messy. Real city life isn't clean lines and perfect angles - it's rusty bolts and weather-stained concrete and that one weird shadow that makes no sense but is definitely there in real life.

Procreate is amazing, but sometimes you find yourself fighting between what the perfect digital line wants to do and what actually looks real. You know what saved it? Embracing the chaos. Once I stopped trying to make everything perfect and started throwing in those little imperfections - the slightly worn edges, the uneven paint on the train - suddenly it started feeling alive.

The Morning Light Cheat Code

Here's my favorite trick with urban scenes - early morning light makes everything look cooler. It's like Instagram filters for real life. Those harsh industrial lines? Throw some dawn light on them and suddenly they're poetic. That's not me being artsy - that's literally what happens when you catch the 7 train during golden hour. The whole city transforms.

Real Talk About Process

You want to know how this actually went down? Picture this:

3 AM: "Just one more tweak to that window"

4 AM: "Why am I still drawing rivets?"

5 AM: "Oh look, the sun's coming up... just like in my drawing"

Also 5 AM: questioning all life choices that led to becoming an artist

But that's the thing about urban scenes - they get under your skin. You start noticing details you never saw before. Like how the VRP signage throws these weird shadows in the morning, or how the whole structure seems to breathe when trains pass by.

NYC 7 Train illustration in progress, showcasing elevated tracks and surrounding urban architecture, capturing the evolving complexity of the city scene.

NYC 7 Train sketch featuring the application of base colors, beginning to bring the urban cityscape to life with foundational tones and detailed line work.

NYC 7 Train illustration progressing through detailed coloring, with vibrant hues and intricate details that bring the elevated train and New York City architecture to life.

NYC 7 Train final artwork, vividly illustrating the bustling elevated tracks and cityscape with rich colors, intricate architecture, and the lively spirit of New York City.

An artistic depiction of the iconic NYC 7 Train on elevated tracks in Queens, capturing the industrial architecture and urban atmosphere of the city during sunset.

The NYC Thing

Look, every artist in New York probably has their own take on the subway system. It's like a rite of passage or something. But the 7 train? That's different. It's not just transportation - it's this massive steel snake weaving through the heart of Queens, telling stories about everyone who's ever looked up and thought "huh, that's kind of beautiful."

Want to know the real reason I spent so many hours on this piece? It started with this reference photo I took back around 2012. You know how some images just stick with you? This was one of those. There was something about that particular morning, that specific angle, that kept nagging at me to revisit it years later.

And yeah, maybe I'm a bit obsessed. It's funny how memory works with places like this - the photo captures the geometry, but then your mind fills in all these other details: the rumble of the tracks, the screech of the wheels on that curve, the way the whole platform would vibrate when trains passed. Even though I haven't stood on that platform in years, working on this piece brought it all rushing back. That's what I'm trying to show you - not just what it looked like, but how it felt to be there.

When approaching a complex urban scene like this, it's essential to think in layers, both literal and conceptual. Each element needs to not just exist, but contribute to the broader narrative of the space. Let me break down how this composition came together, layer by layer.