The Complete Urban Sketching Companion

I found this book really helpful. I have always struggled with perspective but here it all seemed to make sense. I also found the page layout kept me interested. A good book to keep close at hand for quick reference and inspiration.

This is such a lovely book, both succinct and creative. Especially useful if you major in architecture or interior design. I wish there were more focus on pencil/coal sketches (my favourite mode of drawing), but regardless, I enjoyed it all the same. The way the concept of perspective is explained in the book makes this complicated concept easier to manage. With committed practise, I believe some of the sketches in the book are easy to replicate. I loved the worksheet at the end of the book. A few more of those, arranged as levels, would have been nice.

A clear and well-presented primer for the budding architectural artist, or for anyone interested in sketching or painting the built environment, or painting generally.

This book is a delight. It is lovingly presented and starts from the very basic (what to carry if you want to sketch or paint on the go), building up gently through more advanced (did you know vanishing points go in all directions?), to give the learner (or the more advanced artist) the building blocks to paint the urban environment.

The examples are carefully picked to give an insight into both the techniques they illustrate, and the rough times to aim for (though the Eiffel Tower sketch is a challenging one to contemplate!). They are mainly either drawn or watercolours and although my pdf copy was a bit blurry at close magnification (I read a review copy), the pictures are taken from a number of artists’ portfolios and are uniformly superb.

The author is clearly passionate about the subject and although the book can be read in one sitting, the reader is encouraged to go out and sketch, with exercises which are set widely enough so the reader can pick his or her own environment to sketch. I picked up new ideas and learned from every page.

I will certainly be buying this book when it comes out as it is both an excellent teaching aid, and a piece of art in its own right.

I will be adding this book to my personal collection. I enjoyed its illustrations, clear writing and its ease of use. It does not intimidate me even though I am a beginning artist to sketching.

This book is really excellent for art enthusiasts and even for architecture and design students.

The content really goes in depth to explain the different techniques needed to make landscape drawings and paintings, in an urban setting.

It starts off with the supplies needed and etiquettes of making art, and includes well thought out, detailed chapters on cityscapes and architecture, perspective, people and motion and working with color. It is really quite comprehensive.

I particularly liked all of the illustrations, as they were so well done, and detailed.

This is certainly a must have for artists who want to sketch and paint urban architecture. Not only does it teach you to draw the buildings, it also has complete chapters on drawing people and even how to color/ paint your work.

Thank you to the artists/authors, publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

The Complete Urban Sketching Companion is exactly that: a companion for you or an artist you may know that gives helpful reminders of refining art technique as one freely sketches the world around them. This isn't a how-to book per se, but more of a helpful guide to inspire creativity and further mastery of pictorial arts. The flow of the book makes sense, the hints and reminders are helpful, and overall this book would make a great gift for yourself or a growing artist that you know.

A comprehensive guide to many aspects of urban sketching. A huge range of technical aspects are focused on like perspective, proportion, architecture, color, etc. This would be a great resource for artists of all levels.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing this ARC.

The Complete Urban Sketching Companion is a tutorial guide for multiple techniques for sketching "in the wild". Due out 18th Aug 2020 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint the book is a compilation of previously released material (from the other books in the Urban Sketching series) plus some additional commentary and content. It's 256 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a concise and well made book covering some essential concepts for sketching backgrounds in an urban setting. The emphasis is on speed, fluidity, building technique and consistency, distilling often chaotic and kinetic reality down in the sketchbook reliably and aesthetically. Although the book is aimed at moderately advanced students to professionals, there are takeaways here for artists of every level.

The layout is logical; the first section introduces the tools, supplies and techniques, including a valuable subchapter on etiquette and valuing one's own work and growth as an artist.

The study tutorials are arranged thematically: architecture & cityscapes, understanding perspective, people & motion, and working with color. The overall feel of the book is rich in technique, useful, and varied and I saw so many things which got my fingers itching to jump in and start drawing. I think most (non)artists are a lot more shy about drawing on paper/media and this book has a lot of good suggestions for picking up materials and making a start.

Five stars. I really liked this book and will definitely use it going forward for my own drawing sessions. I would recommend it to artists of all levels. It could also make a valuable text for more formal classroom/group type instruction. There's a *lot* of information included here. The books from which the information in this volume was distilled are: The Urban Sketching Handbooks--Architecture and Cityscapes, Understanding Perspective, People and Motion, Working with Color . The authors have also included a useful checklist of personal goal challenges to tick off as they're achieved (draw an alley, a skyline, draw stairs going up and down from the vantage point, draw a meal as if the dishes were transparent, draw on paper which isn't white, draw people in a bar, sketch the same scene at different times of day, and many more). The challenge checklist could also make a nice starting point for assignments in a classroom or lecture setting.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Flipping through this book was such a big pleasure for me! Not least because I am a big fan of all three of the authors/artists and have been following them and admiring their work on social media for a long time.

Almost every tip is accompanied by a beautiful sketch as an example and, I can tell you, I ogled at practically every one of them!

I had reviewed Shari Blaukopf’s Working with Color which now forms part of this collection of four books from the Urban Sketching Handbook series. I really enjoyed that title and these four books formed into one is pleasure multiplied by four for me.

The information and pictorials are great for a beginner sketcher (or art journaler of which I am one) and also for more advanced sketchers who want to pick up a book for inspiration now and then.

Thank you Netgalley and Quarry Books for the review copy. This is my honest opinion.

I was taking an Urban ketching time while reading this book. The book had a very in-depth explanation of perspective and did a good job of focusing on urban sketching and the need for portability, quickness, and ability to choose what details to focus on while drawing. This a good beginner guide and also for more a more advanced artist.

I consider the Urban Sketching books to be the best combination of eye candy and fantastically valuable information and this very comprehensive guide is no exception. In fact, if you've never read any of them and aren't sure where to start, I'd say this is the best one to start with.

It's comprehensive and covers buildings, cityscapes and people. It has color concepts, perspective, motion, depth, and so many other fundamentals of sketching in urban settings. It breaks down the sketch step by step so you know where to start, how to build, and how to put the finishing touches.

It also has all the delicious eye-candy I've come to expect from these books. Fantastic sketches, wonderful variety, and it's sure to make you itch to go out and sketch. If only one could master sketching just by reading books!

with gratitude to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I got this one hoping it was not above my art skills. It was. But I still found it useful.

I generally draw faces and cutesy animals.. City scenes are beyond me. But if you do urban sketching I think this will be very useful, not matter your skill level. More a reference book than a how to, so you do need some skills if you really want to benefit from this. There are some blank pages for sketching on. Probably the topic covered most extensively is color but there are also sections of things like composition, perspective, etc in this book.

At the very end of the book there is a page of challenges in four different categories:
Architecture and cityscapes has 26 challenges including “draw a skyscraper.”
Understanding perspective has 25 challenges including “draw rounded lampshades from below.”
People and motion has 19 challenges including “draw a friend.”
Working with color has 21 challenges including “take artistic license, painting the sky anything but blue or gray.”

This would be a great gift for any budding or experienced artist. Contains everything you need to to know about drawing buildings and people in city settings. Includes a host of ideas on perspective, composition, color, motion, and more. A treasure trove for the artist on the go!

Pub Date 18 Aug 2020

Grateful to the Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry and NetGalley for the early copy, in exchange for my honest review.

#TheCompleteUrbanSketchingCompanion #NetGalley

Master Urban Sketching Skills

If you already are a fairly decent artist comfortable with your mediums, this book could help you consider and drill down to some very specific considerations when working with buildings and cityscapes, perspective required for urban settings, people and motion, and color. This book is not for the beginner who is just learning to do urban sketches. It compiles some essential concepts from shorter books in The Urban Sketching Handbook series. This companion is divided into four sections, one for each of these books, giving tips and techniques on four or five topics from those books. The authors certainly have provided a lot of things to consider as you pull together a sketch and ultimately the finished piece from it. Highly recommended if you like drawing urban settings.

This is a very attractive and complete book for the urban sketcher. The authors offer their own examples with excellent instruction as well as the same from other artists. This is a very complete treatment of this specific form of art and the illustrations are enticing and inspiring. Helpful for novice and experienced artist.

This is an absolutely beautiful book, full to the brim with gorgeous sketches to illustrate the points each section makes. It is a very detailed and comprehensive guide to the different aspects to consider when sketching, from perspective to colour theory. It’s also fantastic that it provides spaces for the reader to practice what they learnt in each chapter. As with most art books, they can sometimes be a bit vague as to where to start or what constitutes a “bad” sketch. This is definitely not a beginners book, and it assumes that the reader is already familiar with the Urban Sketcher premise. The quality of the drawings within could also discourage some starting out, who might deem them as “unattainable” to beginners.
Overall, this is a stunning book, perfect for the casual artist who wants to build on their skills.