Urban Sketching Handbook: Architecture and Cityscapes

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A building is a building. Are there really that many creative ways to

sketch it?

I believe so. Not every urban sketch needs to be loose and,

well, sketchy. If you want to spend 2 hours drawing on location

and add another hour on top of that at home to color the sketch

methodically, why not?

Conventional wisdom may say that you don’t write on a piece of

art, but I like to put the names of the streets on my drawings. I know

a sketcher who includes the outside temperature, too.

As you get out to draw more and more, strive to be creative,

making sketches in a way only you can make, with your own voice

and personality.

KEY VI

CreaTIvITy

skeTch here!

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Architecture and Cityscapes

Sketches convey a message.

When I look at a sketch, I look for meaning. What’s

the message? A creative sketcher will find ways to

connect with the viewer, as Melanie Reim does in

this drawing, limiting her color use to the pack of

taxicabs crowding the street.

Ä MELANIE REIM

Taxi Jam Line

12” x 12” | 30.5 x 30.5 cm;

Pelikan 200 fountain pen with

Noodler’s Manhattan ink on

Cachet studio sketchbook;

15 minutes.

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Key VI: Creativity

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Ä MELANIE REIM

Taxi Jam Line

12” x 12” | 30.5 x 30.5 cm;

Pelikan 200 fountain pen with

Noodler’s Manhattan ink on

Cachet studio sketchbook;

15 minutes.

à Don’t feel you have to

use the same drawing tools

others are using. Find that

special type of pen that

best fits your drawing style.

James Hobbs relishes the

bold linework he can

produce with thick markers.

JAMES HOBBS

Bishopsgate, London

6” x 4” | 15.2 x 10.2 cm; Pentel

NMS50 permanent marker,

Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook

140 gsm; 15 minutes.

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Take artistic license.

Portuguese sketcher Mário Linhares took an

original approach with this sketch. He combined

the building façades of a Lisbon city square into a

panoramic drawing. The result shows the four sides

of the square unfolded into a continuous façade.

Isn’t that clever?

à MÁRIO LINHARES

São Carlos Square, Lisbon

22” x 7” | 56 x 17.8 cm; Copic

Multiliner SP 0.2 black ink pen on

220 gsm Conqueror Stonemarque

paper; 90 minutes.

Create a playful layout.

Sketches of architectural details are fun to lay out

in a sketchbook spread. Think of each sketch as

a piece of a larger mosaic. Organize your layout

around a large central image, and be sure to

include other sketches of medium and small size,

as well as written type.

Ä A great exercise to under-

stand urban spaces is to draw

a map of the location.

JOAQUÍN GONZÁLEZ

DORAO

Catedral Vieja

16” x 6” | 40.6 x 15.2 cm;

Watercolor and marker on

Laloran sketchbook with 200 gsm

Clairefontaine paper; about 3 hours.

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Architecture and Cityscapes

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Key VI: Creativity

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à MÁRIO LINHARES

São Carlos Square, Lisbon

22” x 7” | 56 x 17.8 cm; Copic

Multiliner SP 0.2 black ink pen on

220 gsm Conqueror Stonemarque

paper; 90 minutes.

Ä A great exercise to under-

stand urban spaces is to draw

a map of the location.

JOAQUÍN GONZÁLEZ

DORAO

Catedral Vieja

16” x 6” | 40.6 x 15.2 cm;

Watercolor and marker on

Laloran sketchbook with 200 gsm

Clairefontaine paper; about 3 hours.

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