What if you could capture the essence of a scene in only 15 or 20 minutes of drawing? Think about how much more you could capture in your sketchbook. Being able to sketch quickly can help you capture more of the world around you, which is one of the essential points within the urban sketching …
Have you wondered what the term ‘line and wash’ means? I suppose it says it right there in the phrase but it took me a while to really understand what the term referred to, much less how utilise this sketching technique. Turns out I have pretty much always been using a line and wash method, …
Would you like to learn to capture the magic of an architecturally insane building, like the Duomo Cathedral in Milan or Notre Dame in Paris, or Westminster Abbey in London? Do you think there’s absolutely no way you could capture those complicated details on a piece of paper with a pen? Then read on dear …
In the context of urban sketching, we could be talking about two major angles when discussing people sketching: In this post, we shall discuss point 1, where the focus of the sketch of a person or people, rather than including figures in an urban sketch of a scene. For a more in-depth discussion of point …
In this post, we will explore how to use watercolour paint as an urban sketcher. Urban sketching with watercolours is a unique skill and while many of the ideas in this post can be applied to using watercolour paint traditionally too, we will focus on the essential tips that will help you when painting on …
Essential Watercolour Painting Tips for Urban Sketchers Read More »
Have you ever wanted to delve further into the subject of colour theory and how to apply it to your urban sketches? Colour theory is a huge topic, but I wanted to think about how it can be specifically applied for urban sketchers. In this post will we look at the fundamentals of colour theory. …
In this post, we are going to take a look at how to make a mixing chart from the colours you have in your watercolour palette. This is an amazing but also vital way to get to understand your colours and how they behave with each other as well as creating ain invaluable reference tool …
What is Urban Sketching? The act of urban sketching certainly existed long before the actual term or label of ‘urban sketching’ came about. Urban sketching essentially means sketching on location. Rather than drawing from reference material, such as photos, inside a studio or house, for example, urban sketching is the activity of sketching from life …
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What is a Sketchbook Spread? Urban sketchers use their sketchbooks in various ways. Some sketchers like to do a big sketch per page of their book. I think I fall into this camp 90% of the time. However, some sketchers create a series of sketches on one page, or across a double page. This creates …
We have covered how to start a sketchbook with various ideas to kick things off but let’s drill down a little further. Some of you may be asking, “how do I start an urban sketch”? How Do You Start an Urban Sketch? There are many ways to start something creative like a sketch. This is …
