Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques

I think I can safely say that I’ve read every book in print with the words “urban sketching” in the title or that I know have an urban sketching focus. Although all of them have much to offer on various aspects of drawing on location, some have left me wanting. My personal urban sketching interest leans toward people rather than buildings or urban landscapes. Some books that focus on architecture relegate humans to the general “entourage” (an architectural term for trees, plants and other stuff surrounding a building) of the sketch. Even as I appreciate the information on architectural sketching (goodness knows I need the help), I’m often left wondering, “Is that all people are? Part of the ‘entourage’?”By contrast, as a regular reader of the blog Analog Artist Digital World, I am dazzled daily by the vibrantly peopled, fully saturated watercolor sketches of Thomas Thorspecken. Compared to most other well-known urban sketchers, Thorspecken’s sketches are unique in that they focus invariably on people and their activities rather than architecture. And the people who populate his sketches are usually not passively sipping coffee or gazing at laptops; they are more often busily dancing, acting or otherwise moving, performing and doing in their community. More than any other urban sketcher whose work I’m familiar with, Thorspecken is interested in documenting the actions of people.Knowing his sketching style, when I read his book, Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques, I was not surprised to hear him emphatically state numerous times that people are – and should be – the center of any urban sketch. “I firmly believe that adding convincing figures to any scene is the most important aspect of any urban sketch,” Thorspecken says. “Remember that no city scene is complete without the human element, so keep an eye open whenever you are sketching buildings to catch people on the street, too.”With the human focus clearly established early in the book, he spends a significant portion of it showing the reader how to capture the gestures and poses of people we see in urban life. Although nude people are rarely seen in the urban landscape, he strongly advocates attending life drawing sessions to practice sketching the human form quickly. In fact, he encourages sketching not only the nude model but the other life-drawing participants as well, since capturing the entire life drawing session is good practice for composing multiple people in a composition. “Although an understanding of some anatomy is important, your job is to catch each person’s individual character with as few lines as possible,” Thorspecken says. “You need to pay attention to how people hold themselves – a person’s slumped shoulders or proud stance will say more about them than their facial features.”The specific techniques he describes for effectively capturing human gestures, stances and movement are invaluable – and rarely discussed in urban sketching books. Thorspecken’s background as a Disney Feature Animation animator becomes clear in this section. In particular, he shows a five-part breakdown of what legs look like when walking, which is probably the single-most-often observed human movement in the urban environment.The second-strongest point I gathered from the book is related to storytelling. “Your goal shouldn’t be to just draw things, but to convey and imply the underlying story,” he says. By posting daily sketches and blogging about the details surrounding his subjects, Thorspecken himself is not merely documenting a scene; he is acting as a reporter. “When you begin sketching events every day in your city or town, you will become a journalist, reporting on the activity of your community. . . . Your art can inform, enlighten and help bring people together.” Indeed, blogs, Facebook and other social media can be treated as news media available to anyone who wishes to broadcast their sketch stories.Another major portion of the book is devoted to composition. Instead of simply drawing whatever is in front of us, we are encouraged to shape the composition to tell the strongest story. Thorspecken does not hesitate to move or remove objects, details or people from a composition if they don’t contribute to the story he sees and wants to tell with his sketch.Throughout the book, Thorspecken includes numerous inspiring examples of his own work and that of many well-known urban sketchers to illustrate the principles he describes.If you need lessons on drawing convincing architectural perspective, I recommend looking elsewhere. Covering the topics of one-point, two-point, three-point and three-point curved perspective (accompanied by thumbnails of converging lines that are so tiny they are useless) – all in 10 short pages – left me dizzy (although the examples he shows of these types of perspective are fascinating to examine).Likewise, if putting people into your sketches is not a primary interest, your needs will not be served by this book (Thorspecken’s position on the importance of humans in sketches cannot be ignored or avoided). Fortunately for me, my perspective of the role of people in the urban landscape is generally the same as his, so my conclusion in reading this book is, “Finally – an urban sketching book for me!”

This book improved my sketching immensly.And the illustrations are very good.

This is a good buy for someone new(ish) to urban sketching.Not only are the examples varied and inspiring, but the author really walks the reader through the main points that can be applied to your drawing. The author covered urban sketching perspective (including 3 point curved perspective) in a very scaled down fashion that made sense. I had a few "oh! I get it now," moments when I've wrestled with other books on their explanations of perspective. His tips on capturing figures was also excellent.I didn't find the section on sharing on social media relevant to my interests (but if that's your thing, he has good tips about finding events, touching up pics with Photoshop, and posting), and the page layout is quite BUSY ( like cover part of the page with a piece of paper so you can focus busy), but other than that, a great and fun reference

Great book! I have done lots of creative things all my life but just now have decided I want to start sketching and journaling (I'm 72). I've looked at lots of books most of which have been so so. I can use "Urban Sketchers" now as a beginner and keep on using it if I ever get good enough to be labeled as an advanced sketcher. The book is loaded with examples and with each one the author gives instruction and follows up with "key points to remember" when sketching in a similar environment. The book is so encouraging that even I believe I can learn to sketch. In fact the book has given me the burning desire to sketch every day. I bought the book in digital form but plan to get a printed copy because it is definitely a keeper.I purchased the printed copy of this book and love having it in my library. Great reference.

This is the best book on sketching I have ever read, hands down. I picked this up largely because of the beautiful visuals within the book and expected to just thumb through because I was attracted to his painting style. Instead what I have found is that the book is filled with amazing tips about how to become a better artist. Thorspecken takes his years of experience and provides detailed instruction about everything from perspective to value to color to composition and beyond. He provides visuals links back to his work and the work of fellow artists to show examples of how each tip maps to an actual sketch. I have been pouring over this book for weeks now and I'm only halfway through it. I will return to it again and again and again as it is the best book I have seen for anyone who wants to learn the art of sketching on location.

This is a beautiful book. The drawings are fantastic and inspiring. There are quite a few helpful tips.However, I'm at a much lower drawing skill level and was hoping for a more beginner's type of book. This seems to be a book mostly for people who are really accomplished artists who just want to get out and sketch in public.Like I said before, there are quite a few helpful tips, it's just that the majority of the book is out of my (current) skill level.

I've been an Urban Sketcher for two years now and have read books by several notable urban sketchers, all of whom are very good, but Thomas Thorspecken's book remains my favorite. I recommend it regularly to anyone who has an interest in Urban Sketching, Sketchbook Journaling , or just want to draw for fun.His pictures and descriptions are engaging and inspiring, and made more difference to my life as an artist than almost any other book. It is one of the five books I would save if my house was on fire!I would like to recommend this book to any level of artist who would love to sketch more!

I really, really like this sketching book. I have owned it for a while, and each time I open it to read some aspect, I discover another idea for my mental arsenal. Anchoring the sketch for when those peskie people, who were standing so perfectly still, wander out of view! People in context. Starting in the middle of a complex sketch. Being set up so you can capture that human foible when it happens in an instant. And not all the examples are beautifully drawn; some are studies for the future, which helps my wobbly self-confidence no end!!

Great instructional book on sketching. Oh to be able to compose a scen and draw it with fluidity of hand as quickly and perfectly as this man.

I am a beginner in water colour painting and trying to find a style that I like. The paintings included in this book, are vibrant and exciting and very tempting to see if I can try out the techniques.

Loved this book

El libro es muy didáctico, en todos los capítulos el autor habla de como le apasiona lo que hace y las técnicas y recomendaciones que él mismo hace. El libro no te enseña a dibujar, es más bien te enseña a como hacer sketching, como seleccionar el tipo de acuarela e incluso como editar las fotos de tu obra.Adicional hay que decir que el libro es muy bonito, excelente edición.Altamente recomendado.