The Urban Sketching Handbook Techniques for Beginners: How to Build a Practice for Sketching on Location (Volume 11) (Urban Sketching Handbooks, 11)

I love Suhita's work, and have been following her blog for years. It was SO exciting to see that she had written a book, and I immediately pre-ordered a copy.The content does not disappoint, but the design of the book is terrible. The main text font is tiny, tiny, tiny, and the font of the captions is tinier still. Plus, the typeface itself is very faint*. My vision is decent, but to comfortably read this book, I'm going to need reading glasses or a magnifying device.(I've produced text materials, and the guideline about bolding tiny fonts for readability holds true. Was the publisher trying to save ink by printing so faintly?)Bottom line: Be prepared to need assistive eyewear with this book.

Often objects or scenery are seen as very complicated. This guide by Suhita Shirokar stresses the importance of simplifying objects into basic components in order to draw them. For me, this is a very important point because I often tend to feel over whelmed by the big picture. Tis approach will be extremely useful as I venture into urban sketching in my community.

The book's title is Techniques for Beginners, and I found it to be a little gem. While it's definitely excellent for those who are just starting out in art, I'd say it's a great little guide for any artist at any level. Suhita covers a lot in this little book! It's got excellent examples of finding and really seeing different shapes and getting things down on paper quickly, and then going in and adding detail, to keep a seemingly overwhelming subject from being so very intimidating. She also gives examples of how just about anything can become a subject for one's art, however simple: places, people, things. And she delves into how to spend time seeing and doing contour drawings, fleshing things out with form and shadows, and how to create textures and patterns within images. She touches on relative scale, she gives examples of perspective and how to make sense out of what you are seeing in front of you, and she helps with thinking through composition and the visual paths one takes through a work of art. There are many artists' pieces to enjoy throughout the book, and good examples of her discussions to help you comprehend what she's describing. I will return to this book often to be inspired and revved up for making art!

I am very delighted with this book on urban sketching. Although it is a basic book, there are nuggets of information for artists on any level of proficiency. I love the way it is formatted in a sketchbook style binding. That alone encourages one to get outside and sketch. I have found this book to be an inspiration for myself to continue to hone on my drawing skills each and every day. Don’t be fooled by the heading that says “For Beginners”—you will want this in your library of reference books.

Suhita is not showing you how to sketch her style.Instead, she encourages you in how to start (or continue) your sketching habit with ideas for how, where, when, all decisions you make for yourself, and showing many sketches of hers and others. ideas for your kit, including colors and sketching tools, are brief and helpful (even for this experienced watercolorist).This lovely, small book has me starting a daily habit of sketching in my home and yard, neighborhood, and it is getting me away from my studio for grand ideas that occur a lot less than daily.

Suhita Shirodkar's book is perfect for my urban sketching artwork. Every page in the book has an example in color!She includes other artists and all information is easy to understand. The book includes tips and suggestions so you'll get the outcome you want in your paintings. The binding of the book is nice and can lay flat using the band which is included. The pages are printed on high quality paper so perfect for me to bring it along and not worry about it getting ruined in my backpack with my supplies. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about urban sketching!

Beautiful inspiring book! Suhita gives practical tips for beginner and advanced sketchers! Great format too!

this book is just too small a print and size and much to stiff to be used practically. I couldn't get beyond that, so I really don't know if it might have helped me.

This is a great book that will interest both beginners and seasoned sketchers. Suhita Shirodkar collaborated with many urban sketchers to write this book, their works help to put into emphasis the different concepts. The variety of sketches makes this book extremely interesting and rich.There are five larger chapters called "Keys" and each one gives precious input about how to start out, how to sketch objects, places, people and then bringing it all together. I'll have fun going through these Keys, observe the sketches and use the advice to make my own.One thing that I enjoy about this book is that Suhita insists that people find their own way of sketching. In the Introduction she writes: "There is no single correct way to learn anything. Experiment with the ideas in the book, play with the concepts and make them your own."To finish, my opinion is that if there is one book to own about Urban sketching in its globality, it is this one by Suhita Shirodkar.

The book is OK .. but most of the information is informative only .. was looking for inspiration .. wouldn't buy another in the series from first impressions.

Me está gustando mucho el libro, y la verdad es que la final hay cosas en las que no caes. De todas formas, resaltar que soy aprendiz en este mundillo. La letra un poco pequeña, pero se lee. Lo volvería a comprar.