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Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques
While most sketching guides leave the artist with static bowls of fruit and flower vases to develop their skill, Urban Sketching takes its inspiration from the living, breathing world around us! Contents include the nuts and bolts of sketching and drawing as well as a range of techniques specific to this artistic genre. Readers willRules on perspective that will aid inn capturing landscapes, buildings, and objects accuratelyTips for capturing the essence of people in sketches when subjects are on the moveThe art of adding notes, commentary, and even speech to sketchesChapters on sharing sketches through social media, joining the international urban sketching community, digitizing work, and more make this new guide the quintessential resource for anyone interested in joining the exciting art movement. More than 350 full-color illustrations throughout.
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 23, 2017
Lovely artwork, but definitely for people who already know what they're doing.
March 23, 2021
When, this morning I - again - thought 'maybe I'll force myself to read a little more' of this book, I finally also asked myself 'why am I forcing myself to read any book?!?'. And, so now I am putting it down, moving on to something else, and feeling happy that I can return this book to the library from whence it came.
I am saddened and disappointed that I could not read this book and that I could not give it a better rating or review. I think, when I could dig it out, the book actually has some useful information and tips in it. But, having to force myself to read it speaks volumes, and there is no shortage of this type of book out there that I can just plain-old read with no forcing involved.
Some of the issues that bothered me:
>The pages are really busy and visually cluttered making them, for me, difficult to read
>Thorspecken seems to have some very decided ideas of what urban sketching is and what the process involves, and seems to very much have a 'his way or the wrong way' perspective about it all
-I disagreed with much of his way and that is right for me (unlike Thorspecken, I would never presume to speak for an entire community)
>I disagreed with Thorspecken's idea that because I want to sketch urban areas I also necessarily have some type of obligation to report on it, and to do so regularly (daily!) on social media
-I believe in *going outside* rather than spending my time on social media
-I believe in *enjoying my time outside* and in *doing my art* rather than feeling obligated to a bunch of strangers on the internet who may or may not even care about my work anyway
-I believe in doing art when I want to not because someone else has decided I must do so
-I have a life and work outside my art and could not spend that much time creating and posting art even if I wanted to, which I never have
-I spend no personal time at all on social media because I find that it is a huge time suck and I don't enjoy it, and I can definitely (and do) spend my time in much better ways, including going out and making art
-I have real, live actual friends that I show my art to periodically if (and only if) they indicate that they are interested in seeing it
>I took exception to Thorspecken's claim of there being two types of urban artists: those who draw buildings and those who draw figures
-Me, I draw the trees, gardens, and other greenspaces and green features
-yes, and also the wildlife
>I wondered at the whole 'go to a figure drawing class and draw the other students' idea
-why pay for a figure drawing class to draw your classmates, when you could do the same type of exercise for free by sitting in on a university lecture, a talk at a local library, a coffee shop, a council meeting at city hall, etc., etc. etc.? (yes, I have sketched the people at all of these settings and more)
-it seems like Thorspecken in trying to prove that he is oh so clever ('look at me, I outsmarted the teacher and my classmates!') really just showed he is not so smart after all
>Building on the above point, Thorspecken comes across as a smarty pants and one of those people I would try to avoid a the office holiday parties because he would not just take the time (lots and lots of the time) to tell me why he is expert in his stuff, but would then also explain to me why he knows more about my stuff than I do
-i.e. I think he would be the blowhard in the room
Again, I feel upset that I did not enjoy this book more and that I was not able to give it a better GR rating and review. But, it is what it is and I refuse to try and force myself to read anymore of its pages. I will return it to the library with good wishes to future readers that they get more from it than I did. In the meantime, I have already moved on to other reads.
I am saddened and disappointed that I could not read this book and that I could not give it a better rating or review. I think, when I could dig it out, the book actually has some useful information and tips in it. But, having to force myself to read it speaks volumes, and there is no shortage of this type of book out there that I can just plain-old read with no forcing involved.
Some of the issues that bothered me:
>The pages are really busy and visually cluttered making them, for me, difficult to read
>Thorspecken seems to have some very decided ideas of what urban sketching is and what the process involves, and seems to very much have a 'his way or the wrong way' perspective about it all
-I disagreed with much of his way and that is right for me (unlike Thorspecken, I would never presume to speak for an entire community)
>I disagreed with Thorspecken's idea that because I want to sketch urban areas I also necessarily have some type of obligation to report on it, and to do so regularly (daily!) on social media
-I believe in *going outside* rather than spending my time on social media
-I believe in *enjoying my time outside* and in *doing my art* rather than feeling obligated to a bunch of strangers on the internet who may or may not even care about my work anyway
-I believe in doing art when I want to not because someone else has decided I must do so
-I have a life and work outside my art and could not spend that much time creating and posting art even if I wanted to, which I never have
-I spend no personal time at all on social media because I find that it is a huge time suck and I don't enjoy it, and I can definitely (and do) spend my time in much better ways, including going out and making art
-I have real, live actual friends that I show my art to periodically if (and only if) they indicate that they are interested in seeing it
>I took exception to Thorspecken's claim of there being two types of urban artists: those who draw buildings and those who draw figures
-Me, I draw the trees, gardens, and other greenspaces and green features
-yes, and also the wildlife
>I wondered at the whole 'go to a figure drawing class and draw the other students' idea
-why pay for a figure drawing class to draw your classmates, when you could do the same type of exercise for free by sitting in on a university lecture, a talk at a local library, a coffee shop, a council meeting at city hall, etc., etc. etc.? (yes, I have sketched the people at all of these settings and more)
-it seems like Thorspecken in trying to prove that he is oh so clever ('look at me, I outsmarted the teacher and my classmates!') really just showed he is not so smart after all
>Building on the above point, Thorspecken comes across as a smarty pants and one of those people I would try to avoid a the office holiday parties because he would not just take the time (lots and lots of the time) to tell me why he is expert in his stuff, but would then also explain to me why he knows more about my stuff than I do
-i.e. I think he would be the blowhard in the room
Again, I feel upset that I did not enjoy this book more and that I was not able to give it a better GR rating and review. But, it is what it is and I refuse to try and force myself to read anymore of its pages. I will return it to the library with good wishes to future readers that they get more from it than I did. In the meantime, I have already moved on to other reads.
December 27, 2014
great book, reads well on Kindle for iPad too
Great book on urban sketching. This technique book is packed with detailed information on sketching in live environments, both indoors and out. This book approaches sketching from the perspective of getting out in your community and documenting life rather than a tired art book on how to draw realistically. The book has some of the best advice I've seen on perspective drawing, tips on capturing an active science with moving people, populating your drawing with people (when people have moved on or you need to add more action). I love the example art as well. I read the book on iPad and it doesn't suffer from blurring when you zoom in and it is formatted in a way that you can access all the materially easily.
Great book on urban sketching. This technique book is packed with detailed information on sketching in live environments, both indoors and out. This book approaches sketching from the perspective of getting out in your community and documenting life rather than a tired art book on how to draw realistically. The book has some of the best advice I've seen on perspective drawing, tips on capturing an active science with moving people, populating your drawing with people (when people have moved on or you need to add more action). I love the example art as well. I read the book on iPad and it doesn't suffer from blurring when you zoom in and it is formatted in a way that you can access all the materially easily.
March 1, 2022
one of the key catalysts of me pursuing Urban Planning. I have so much love for this book and I owe so much to it ^u^
it has beautiful examples and I bought this book after borrowing it at the library bc I loved it so much
it has beautiful examples and I bought this book after borrowing it at the library bc I loved it so much
January 13, 2023
Excellent book on the upcoming art practice that is beginning to sweep the area of West Michigan and national and international places where artists want to create timely sketches of everyday life ordinary and extraordinary in colored pencils, inks, pencils , markers and watercolor.
June 4, 2018
This book features many interesting sketches. However, it is not really a complete guide.
April 21, 2020
A very helpful book. The author gives great examples of the techniques and processes used in urban sketching. Each spread is a delight for the eyes.
April 11, 2024
This book is daunting. Yikes!
May 20, 2016
Lot of very specific advice for his style of sketching and sharing his artwork with an audience (social media information, etc.), and less info on technique. Author really writes from a point of view of sharing one's sketches and how best to do that, and getting "gigs", how to find the best "events" to sketch, how to set up a Facebook page for your art, etc. It wasn't my cup of tea--if that's your thing, this might have some helpful tips, but for the private artist, or casual urban sketcher, there are a couple of other urban sketching books out there with WAY better content (just a simple search for "urban sketching" in the title field here on Goodreads will turn up some alternatives.
Also, for whatever reason the author/artist's color palette REALLY bothered me. SO saturated, especially with orange hues, in every single sketch. It's a very, very recognizable and distinctive style, so for someone who is about publicizing his sketches I suppose that works, but I disliked how inaccurate a lot of his color tones were, and how repetitious his images were. Ever single indoor event started looking the same, with the same three colors and orange skin tone for every single person in every single image ever. I understand sticking to a limited palette in the field, but personally I didn't care for his color choices.
And I didn't like how he showed how to digitally alter sketches and "improve" them after the fact, even though he said he rarely does it (why even include that in the book then?)--I really believe in keeping field sketching/urban sketching authentic to that moment, and letting go of the need to 'perfect' sketches. They are JUST sketches after all, and in the end, I felt this book was a very different take on urban sketching than what I am looking for. My artistic vision and philosophy just really don't line up with the author's, and that's fine, but I am sure other people may find some of the same drawbacks in this book as I did. If you are an aspiring artist and thinking of purchasing this book, request it from the library or check it out in a bookstore first. It may not cover the things you are looking for.
Also, for whatever reason the author/artist's color palette REALLY bothered me. SO saturated, especially with orange hues, in every single sketch. It's a very, very recognizable and distinctive style, so for someone who is about publicizing his sketches I suppose that works, but I disliked how inaccurate a lot of his color tones were, and how repetitious his images were. Ever single indoor event started looking the same, with the same three colors and orange skin tone for every single person in every single image ever. I understand sticking to a limited palette in the field, but personally I didn't care for his color choices.
And I didn't like how he showed how to digitally alter sketches and "improve" them after the fact, even though he said he rarely does it (why even include that in the book then?)--I really believe in keeping field sketching/urban sketching authentic to that moment, and letting go of the need to 'perfect' sketches. They are JUST sketches after all, and in the end, I felt this book was a very different take on urban sketching than what I am looking for. My artistic vision and philosophy just really don't line up with the author's, and that's fine, but I am sure other people may find some of the same drawbacks in this book as I did. If you are an aspiring artist and thinking of purchasing this book, request it from the library or check it out in a bookstore first. It may not cover the things you are looking for.
April 30, 2014
I enjoyed this book. Thorspecken has taken on quite a challenge to complete and post a drawing every day to his internet blog. He is a skilled artist and his book is a combination of his own work alongside the work of numerous other sketch artists. The book is also very complete and has a ton of information about materials, locations, approaches to sketching and drawing styles.
My one problem with the book (and with Thorspecken's work in general) is the amount of Photoshop tweaking he does to his drawings. He justifies it by saying it makes his drawings more saturated and more colorful, but to me they all seem to come out a bit too garish. There is a "Vegas / Disney" quality to the color that simply seems unreal to me. Perhaps it comes from his living in Orlando, Florida.
Despite this quibble, there is a lot of very useful information in this book.
My one problem with the book (and with Thorspecken's work in general) is the amount of Photoshop tweaking he does to his drawings. He justifies it by saying it makes his drawings more saturated and more colorful, but to me they all seem to come out a bit too garish. There is a "Vegas / Disney" quality to the color that simply seems unreal to me. Perhaps it comes from his living in Orlando, Florida.
Despite this quibble, there is a lot of very useful information in this book.
September 11, 2015
I read a lot of art books and this is nothing special in regards to instruction and in fact, I think it is pretty lacking if that you are really looking for insight on improving technique. I think the book was an inevitable outcome from the popularity of the authors other Urban Sketching books and blog. I'm sure he got lots of requests for a book like this. The reason that it got more than one or two stars in my books is because of the plethora of his drawings on each page. It is a very busy book and may be the only book I have ever read that I would say benefits from being busy. I will say that there is one thing that you will learn/read about in this book that I have not seen in other art books and that is techniques to use Photoshop or other programs to improve your artwork for display.
November 3, 2014
This is not just a how-to-sketch book, it's a manifesto for the sketch artist as citizen journalist. It's packed with practical advice and examples of great sketches. After reading this, I shelved notions of buying a fancy camera to capture the world around me. I just need some pencils, paper and a spot of water colours (and a fold-up chair) and I'm good to go. This is inspiring stuff, the best of the three how-to art books I've read this year.
April 20, 2015
This is one of two books about field sketching that I've just finished reading. Love this. I'm finally making time for this again, field sketching is just so great for strengthening plain old drawing skills - haven't done it since I was single.
The author's use of Photoshop seems to defeat the point of sketching like this, but then again, it all depends on what the end use of the sketch is for. The drawings in the book are wonderful to look at and very inspiring.
The author's use of Photoshop seems to defeat the point of sketching like this, but then again, it all depends on what the end use of the sketch is for. The drawings in the book are wonderful to look at and very inspiring.
May 19, 2014
Very useful. If you are looking for a manual to help you planning your sketches this is what you need. Lots of good advices, many beautiful sketches and a logical structure divided into themes to let you know in a minute everything you should know when planning any kind of sketch.
September 27, 2015
Minus one star for using the term "flesh tone" in reference to Caucasian coloring. Other than that, great, motivating guide to urban sketching. Looking forward to diving into water colors, and who knew 'water brushes' were a thing?! Awesome.
February 11, 2016
I think this is the best guide of its kind!! Read it. Study it. Learn from it!
Filled with good ideas an excellent lessons. The book exceeded my expectations. I learned a great deal from reading it.
Filled with good ideas an excellent lessons. The book exceeded my expectations. I learned a great deal from reading it.
October 27, 2014
This book was inspiring, with some "how to" instructions (or rather, "how I do it"), and many samples. It made me want to get busy and try it.
August 8, 2015
I really enjoyed reading this all over the place, and it's tremendously motivating. I always want to sketch when I read this book, and managed to jump back into it a bit this summer.
July 13, 2016
wonderful art book! just loved reading it! I follow the Urban Sketchers on their blog.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews