Urban Sketching Course

What would you draw?

You wouldn’t have to wait until you had the perfect view in the perfect place with perfect pencils and the perfect light.

Creating a visual diary of the world around you, developing the daily practice of recording the story of your life through sketches, is what’s so exciting about ‘urban sketching’.

But would you be happy with your drawings?

You could say that no artist is ever truly happy with their finished works but learning how to move away from overworked drawings can be a hard stage for many beginners.

But what if your wonky lines and ‘mistakes’ actually turned into an asset?

Learning to embrace the wobble, loosening your style yet still creating a drawing that looks realistic yet sketchy, is what I want to teach you on this course.

You can learn to leave the eraser at home and develop a confidence with line.

By setting up a simple framework of a scene and focusing on the key points in the gesture, your sketches of places and people can come to life.

I’ve developed a this course to show you exactly how I approach my sketches when drawing in the city, the materials I use and how you can do the same thing.

I’ve included an introduction to the materials you’ll need and demonstrations on how to create frameworks for successful sketches using free-hand vertical lines, perspective, and tonal blocks.

The lessons follow a logical progression, from sketching buildings and monuments to capturing the movement of individual figures and groups of people in cafes.

I want this course to demystify the urban sketching process and slowly introduce new concepts, from tackling static buildings and perspective to adding movement of people and capturing crowds.

When you understand the steps to take, it can be empowering to think ‘I think I can do this’.

“Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and it will do you a world of good.”

Cennino Cennini, Artist & Author of The Craftsman’s Handbook, 1437

What’s in the Course?

The course is a mix of real on-location sketching with studio-based lessons and concepts. So you can learn the steps in the studio and then see how they translate to the street.

• Drawing theory
• On-location drawing demonstrations in Cornwall, England & Florence, Italy.
• Studio-based drawing & watercolour tutorials.
• 15 follow-along drawing demonstrations (including watercolour wash drawings).
• 6-downloadable video lessons, split into separate chapters that follow on sequentially.
• Step-by-step instructional videos so that you can follow along at your own pace.
• Downloadable jpeg reference, drawing worksheets and a full materials list.
• Over 3 1/2 hours of detailed video instruction.
• Lifetime access, downloadable on separate devices.