Urban Sketchinghttps://urbansketching.ukA small publication for a world worth drawing.The street is already a studio.https://urbansketching.uk/read/start-where-you-are/https://urbansketching.uk/read/start-where-you-are/A notebook, something that makes a mark, and a place to pause. You can begin before you feel ready.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Move your feet before the pen.https://urbansketching.uk/read/choose-your-view/https://urbansketching.uk/read/choose-your-view/Composition is easier to change while it is still a choice of where to sit.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Perspective without the panic.https://urbansketching.uk/read/perspective-without-the-panic/https://urbansketching.uk/read/perspective-without-the-panic/Eye level, a corner and a few honest comparisons. The street need not pass an architecture exam.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A line does not have to explain everything.https://urbansketching.uk/read/line-weight-and-lost-edges/https://urbansketching.uk/read/line-weight-and-lost-edges/Contour, overlap and a few useful silences. Give the pen a job beyond outlining the world.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100People who won’t stand still.https://urbansketching.uk/read/people-who-wont-stand-still/https://urbansketching.uk/read/people-who-wont-stand-still/A gesture, a direction and a place to put their feet. No one owes your sketchbook a pose.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Colour with a job to do.https://urbansketching.uk/read/colour-with-a-job/https://urbansketching.uk/read/colour-with-a-job/Three washes can say more about a street than twenty carefully painted windows.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100One corner. Twenty minutes.https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-corner-twenty-minutes/https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-corner-twenty-minutes/A short outing with a beginning, a middle and a sensible place to stop.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The weather is part of the drawing.https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-in-the-rain/https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-in-the-rain/Shelter, changing light and a page that remembers what the day felt like.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Before the tea goes cold.https://urbansketching.uk/read/cafe-before-the-tea-goes-cold/https://urbansketching.uk/read/cafe-before-the-tea-goes-cold/Tables, chairs and the small architecture of an ordinary interior.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A bag you will actually carry.https://urbansketching.uk/read/pocket-kit/https://urbansketching.uk/read/pocket-kit/The useful kit is the one that lets you leave the house.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100One place, three ways of looking.https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-place-three-drawings/https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-place-three-drawings/Keep the location. Change the question. Discover what your first drawing missed.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The city between the landmarks.https://urbansketching.uk/read/the-city-between-landmarks/https://urbansketching.uk/read/the-city-between-landmarks/Delivery doors, waiting places and the streets that do not expect to be drawn.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Sargent: the building is a pattern of light.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sargent-architecture-in-shapes/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sargent-architecture-in-shapes/A close look at Abriès, and a lesson in deciding which edges deserve the brush.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Morisot: an interior is a place too.https://urbansketching.uk/read/morisot-an-interior-is-a-place/https://urbansketching.uk/read/morisot-an-interior-is-a-place/Sewing near the Window makes attention, light and everyday work a serious subject.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Cotman: a building before the brickwork.https://urbansketching.uk/read/cotman-walls-and-water/https://urbansketching.uk/read/cotman-walls-and-water/Farm Building by a Pond and the strength of a few joined shapes.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Posada: the street has something to say.https://urbansketching.uk/read/posada-the-street-in-print/https://urbansketching.uk/read/posada-the-street-in-print/The Skeleton of the Buses puts people, transport and printed words on the same crowded page.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Velasco: look beyond the next building.https://urbansketching.uk/read/velasco-a-city-in-its-landscape/https://urbansketching.uk/read/velasco-a-city-in-its-landscape/A view of the Valley of Mexico asks how a place sits within a larger landscape.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Liz Steel: looking is the work.https://urbansketching.uk/read/liz-steel-looking-is-the-work/https://urbansketching.uk/read/liz-steel-looking-is-the-work/A contemporary sketcher’s encouragement to begin, and a small exercise in paying attention.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Teoh Yi Chie: give a busy scene a structure.https://urbansketching.uk/read/teoh-yi-chie-complicated-scenes/https://urbansketching.uk/read/teoh-yi-chie-complicated-scenes/Learning from a generous public teaching practice, then trying the problem in your own street.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A sketchbook is a record, not an audition.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketchbook-as-record/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketchbook-as-record/Dates, corrections and the value of keeping a page that did not go to plan.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A worldwide movement. With a folding stool.https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-worldwide-movement-with-a-folding-stool/https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-worldwide-movement-with-a-folding-stool/How a shared sketchbook became a global community—and why “urban sketching” sounds like an invitation to get involved.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The throwdown is not an exam.https://urbansketching.uk/read/the-throwdown-is-not-an-exam/https://urbansketching.uk/read/the-throwdown-is-not-an-exam/Putting sketchbooks together without putting yourself through the wringer.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A bad page is still a page.https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-bad-page-is-still-a-page/https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-bad-page-is-still-a-page/What to keep when the perspective has wandered off and the wash has followed it.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The street will not wait for you.https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-the-changing-street/https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-the-changing-street/A small visual record of places that are being repaired, altered or quietly replaced.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100One page. One good question.https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-page-one-good-question/https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-page-one-good-question/A more useful sketchbook habit than waiting for inspiration to clear its diary.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Three values. No committee meeting.https://urbansketching.uk/read/three-values-before-colour/https://urbansketching.uk/read/three-values-before-colour/Sort a complicated street into light, middle and dark before the palette gets involved.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The gap is doing half the work.https://urbansketching.uk/read/negative-space-does-the-measuring/https://urbansketching.uk/read/negative-space-does-the-measuring/Use the spaces between things to check shapes without an architectural survey.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A pencil can measure. Loosely.https://urbansketching.uk/read/measure-with-a-pencil/https://urbansketching.uk/read/measure-with-a-pencil/Comparing proportions with the tool already in your hand.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100One street. One vanishing point.https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-point-street/https://urbansketching.uk/read/one-point-street/A straightforward way into the view down a road or corridor.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The window department is closed.https://urbansketching.uk/read/windows-without-counting-every-one/https://urbansketching.uk/read/windows-without-counting-every-one/Suggest a façade’s rhythm without individually interviewing sixty-four windows.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Your coffee is not a pointed oval.https://urbansketching.uk/read/ellipses-for-cups-and-tables/https://urbansketching.uk/read/ellipses-for-cups-and-tables/Drawing rims, bowls and tabletops with a little more confidence.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The shadow knows where everything sits.https://urbansketching.uk/read/shadows-that-hold-the-street/https://urbansketching.uk/read/shadows-that-hold-the-street/Use connected darks to give a street structure and weight.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Let the wash do the weather.https://urbansketching.uk/read/wet-in-wet-street-weather/https://urbansketching.uk/read/wet-in-wet-street-weather/Soft edges, damp paper and knowing when to leave the brush alone.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A second wash, with a reason.https://urbansketching.uk/read/glazing-without-the-mud/https://urbansketching.uk/read/glazing-without-the-mud/Build depth through dry layers without stirring the entire painting back to life.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Green is not one colour.https://urbansketching.uk/read/greens-that-belong-in-the-street/https://urbansketching.uk/read/greens-that-belong-in-the-street/Make trees and planting belong to the same light as the buildings.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100You do not owe the wall every brick.https://urbansketching.uk/read/brickwork-without-the-brick-count/https://urbansketching.uk/read/brickwork-without-the-brick-count/Use texture selectively so the building remains a building.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The water has not brought tracing paper.https://urbansketching.uk/read/reflections-without-the-mirror-trick/https://urbansketching.uk/read/reflections-without-the-mirror-trick/Observe broken reflections without mechanically copying the skyline upside down.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Park the car on the page.https://urbansketching.uk/read/cars-as-three-useful-shapes/https://urbansketching.uk/read/cars-as-three-useful-shapes/A roof, a body and a shadow before you worry about the badge.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A bicycle is mostly air.https://urbansketching.uk/read/bicycles-start-with-the-gaps/https://urbansketching.uk/read/bicycles-start-with-the-gaps/Draw the relationships between wheels, frame and empty space.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Give the tree somewhere to stand.https://urbansketching.uk/read/street-trees-with-structure/https://urbansketching.uk/read/street-trees-with-structure/A canopy, a trunk and the few branches that explain how the whole thing holds together.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A crowd needs a ground plane.https://urbansketching.uk/read/people-at-different-distances/https://urbansketching.uk/read/people-at-different-distances/Keep people in the same space without making everyone the same size.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The sign can say less and still speak.https://urbansketching.uk/read/signs-and-lettering/https://urbansketching.uk/read/signs-and-lettering/Lettering, shopfronts and the decision to leave some words implied.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Bring another tool. Give it a job.https://urbansketching.uk/read/mixed-media-with-a-purpose/https://urbansketching.uk/read/mixed-media-with-a-purpose/Pen, pencil, paint and opaque marks can share a page without holding a meeting.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Your first sketchwalk. No entrance exam.https://urbansketching.uk/read/your-first-group-sketchwalk/https://urbansketching.uk/read/your-first-group-sketchwalk/Find the meeting, bring a small kit and make the first page manageable.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Mind the gap. Draw the waiting.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-in-stations/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-in-stations/A station study built around structure, repetition and people between journeys.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The market will not hold a pose.https://urbansketching.uk/read/market-morning/https://urbansketching.uk/read/market-morning/A canopy, a cluster of people and the rhythm of things changing hands.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100After dark, the windows do the talking.https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-after-dark/https://urbansketching.uk/read/drawing-after-dark/A night study that begins with the lights you intend to leave alone.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Cold hands. Smaller plans.https://urbansketching.uk/read/winter-short-sessions/https://urbansketching.uk/read/winter-short-sessions/A short winter outing that does not confuse endurance with artistic commitment.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Three stops beat twelve intentions.https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-sketchwalk-with-three-stops/https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-sketchwalk-with-three-stops/Plan a small route with enough time to actually make the drawings.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100A museum is a place, too.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-in-museums/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-in-museums/Draw the rooms, visitors and viewing arrangements as well as the objects.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100When someone peers over your shoulder.https://urbansketching.uk/read/when-people-watch-you-draw/https://urbansketching.uk/read/when-people-watch-you-draw/A friendly answer, a comfortable boundary and permission to keep working.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The window seat counts.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-from-a-window/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sketching-from-a-window/A useful location study for days when staying inside is the sensible plan.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100The holiday is not a drawing quota.https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-travel-sketchbook-without-the-checklist/https://urbansketching.uk/read/a-travel-sketchbook-without-the-checklist/Build a record of a place while leaving enough time to experience it.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Gabriel Campanario: the drawing reports.https://urbansketching.uk/read/gabriel-campanario-the-drawing-reports/https://urbansketching.uk/read/gabriel-campanario-the-drawing-reports/A founder’s work offers a useful question: what does the page tell us about this place?Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Shari Blaukopf: colour has structure.https://urbansketching.uk/read/shari-blaukopf-colour-has-structure/https://urbansketching.uk/read/shari-blaukopf-colour-has-structure/Look at the whole arrangement before getting distracted by a lovely bit of paint.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Suhita Shirodkar: people doing things.https://urbansketching.uk/read/suhita-shirodkar-people-doing-things/https://urbansketching.uk/read/suhita-shirodkar-people-doing-things/A figure becomes more informative when it has a relationship with the place.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Stephanie Bower: space before detail.https://urbansketching.uk/read/stephanie-bower-space-before-detail/https://urbansketching.uk/read/stephanie-bower-space-before-detail/Perspective becomes useful when it explains a place you actually want to draw.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Marc Taro Holmes: let the brush begin.https://urbansketching.uk/read/marc-taro-holmes-brush-first/https://urbansketching.uk/read/marc-taro-holmes-brush-first/Explore direct watercolour as a different set of decisions, rather than a shortcut around drawing.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Maru Godàs: colour gets some room.https://urbansketching.uk/read/maru-godas-colour-and-permission/https://urbansketching.uk/read/maru-godas-colour-and-permission/A reminder that an observed place can support more than one visual language.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Lapin: the page can wander.https://urbansketching.uk/read/lapin-the-page-can-wander/https://urbansketching.uk/read/lapin-the-page-can-wander/Follow a subject across a sketchbook without forcing everything into one polite rectangle.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Winslow Homer: let the paper be light.https://urbansketching.uk/read/homer-let-the-paper-be-light/https://urbansketching.uk/read/homer-let-the-paper-be-light/Fishing Boats, Key West offers a lesson in white shapes that have something to do.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Thomas Girtin: small figures, big place.https://urbansketching.uk/read/girtin-scale-without-the-drama/https://urbansketching.uk/read/girtin-scale-without-the-drama/A castle, a cliff and a few people who quietly explain the scale.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Turner: give the distance some air.https://urbansketching.uk/read/turner-distance-through-colour/https://urbansketching.uk/read/turner-distance-through-colour/The Lake of Zug and a useful question about how much information a distant shape needs.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100Sargent: sketching the sketchers.https://urbansketching.uk/read/sargent-sketching-the-sketchers/https://urbansketching.uk/read/sargent-sketching-the-sketchers/In the Generalife shows people, place and the act of looking sharing one page.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0100