13 Tips for Urban Sketching
Take to the Streets With Pen and Brush
Urban sketching isn’t just about drawing buildings. It’s about life and capturing the vibrancy of that life between the pages of your sketchbook. Artists Cathy Johnson and Liz Steel both take to the streets to do just that and have learned tons of urban sketching tips worth sharing.
Take inspiration from their different points of view and be sure to claim your free paper sample giveaway from Winsor & Newton that will jump-start your next urban sketch.
Art in Motion
“People at work, play or repose” — that’s what catches Johnson’s eye when she is out sketching. “It’s about history and progress, opulence and urban decay. Teeming markets, public transportation, cafes, museums, jazz clubs, street performers — all are fair game.”
And if you don’t live near a major metropolis, don’t fear. “There’s no hard rule about what is and isn’t urban,” says Johnson. “Small towns have their urban areas, as do places I call ‘ancient urban’ — like the mission of San Juan Capistrano in California, Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park or Pompeii.”
13 Ways of Urban Sketching
Discover 13 more urban sketching tips developed by Johnson to make your experience both productive and fun. Intrigued? Grab a sketchbook and take to the streets!
1 – Keep it simple
A pencil or pen, a journal or sketchbook, and a small set of watercolors are the go-to choice of many sketchers. Brushes and a water container, or a water brush, will see you through any sketching opportunity.
2 – Be prepared
If you don’t have your kit with you, you can’t sketch when the opportunity arises.
3 – Be flexible
Draw on a paper napkin with a borrowed ballpoint.
4 – Draw what speaks to you
5 – Ask permission
Let your sketching subjects know they are your impromptu subjects, if necessary.
6 – Be alert
Keep an eye on what’s going on around you.
7 – Keep a low profile
If you prefer not to be noticed, wear dark glasses or a broad-brimmed hat, or choose a position in a booth or against a wall.
8 – Find a sketch partner
9 – Don’t worry about the end result
Focus on learning to see what’s around you.
10 – Don’t shy away from mixing media
11 – Stop sooner rather than later
That way you don’t overwork a drawing.
12 – Embrace the rich, varied urban life
Not all urban sketchers are architects, and not all urban sketches are drawings of elaborately lined buildings.
13 – Sketch what you see
Don’t confuse that with what you think you see.
Bonus Tip: Get Your Sketch On at SketchKon
Love sketching? Who doesn’t?! Artists Network and Sketchbook Skool have teamed up to present the first ever SketchKon: a big, unkonventional konvention devoted to drawing, painting, creativity, and friendship with other art-loving individuals, just like you!
Join us for three, fun-filled days in Pasadena, California, Nov. 2-4. SketchKon will include visual presentations, inspirational talks, collaborative art projects, technical demonstrations, sketch crawls and one-on-one advice. So, if you live sketching, painting, drawing and art, then you just gotta come join us! Learn more and register here.
Open Your Sketchbook
Did you enjoy these urban sketching tips? Show us a page from your sketchbook! Share it with us on Instagram by tagging @artistsnetwork and using #everywatercolor.
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Your 13 Tips for urban sketching are great. I will add another tip. I’m old. (the biblical three score year & 10 plus ten – yes!) NOW FOR MY ADDITIONAL TIP……. I carry a folding stool to sit myself down whilst I sketch. I’m too old to stand ……teetering from foot to foot. Lightweight, folding stools are not the comfiest sit-downs but adequate for a fast sketch while distracted by a most satisfying creative endeavour. Mary
Thank you for the tips,it helped me out a lot!
As a former Combat Artist with the USAF in Afghanistan, #6 is, to me, the most important. We call it SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. Cell phones, wallets, expensive sketch materials, cameras, all fair game. In the military we pride ourselves in the knowledge we’re protecting each others backs (watching your’6′), rare in the civilian world, but artists look out for each other – have a buddy with you, keep each other safe.
Thank you for the sketching tips; they are very helpful and has calmed me down about doing this. Looking forwarded to free sample and do more helpful tips and guidelines.
Thank you
Thank you for
li like your comments and directions on sketching/drawing/and paint.