Course Overview

Dive into urban sketching with four experienced artists as they teach you how to capture the people, places, and energy of the city. Everyday Urban Sketching helps you overcome the challenges of drawing on location, from the movement of people and vehicles to the complex textures and colors of urban environments. Across 32 lessons, you’ll learn various approaches to sketching buildings, lively scenes, and journaling your urban adventures with intuitive, expressive techniques using ink, watercolor, and more.

Video Lesson List

Module 1: Expressive Urban Sketching with Suma

1. Introduction and Materials

Meet instructor Suma and review essential materials. Practice quick exercises to boost your sketching confidence on the go.

Duration: 13 min

2. Vignettes

Learn the “Read It, Frame It, Draw It” approach for choosing compelling scenes and sketching their essence swiftly and effectively.

Duration: 10 min

3. Sketching on the Move: Play, Pause, Rewind

Master Suma’s method for sketching while in motion, marking moving objects and capturing stories from daily urban routines.

Duration: 35 min

4. Adding People: Symbols, Not Statues

Bring your sketches to life by adding people as quick symbols. Learn basic proportions, clothing, and watercolor skin tones.

Duration: 22 min

5. Nature: Sky, Ground, Middle

Render natural elements in urban scenes using the “Sky, Ground, Middle” method—create landscapes quickly without formal perspective.

Duration: 17 min

6. Watercolor: Tips for Fast Sketching

Enhance your sketches with energetic watercolor techniques for unity and vibrancy.

Duration: 15 min

Module 2: Urban Journaling with Judith Cassel-Mamet

7. Getting Started

Discover Judith’s journaling philosophy, necessary tools, and how to make two types of art journals.

Duration: 30 min

8. Activating Your Journal

Infuse blank pages with energy using color, design, and even coffee or wine stains.

Duration: 24 min

9. Text as a Graphic Element

Use text artistically with headers, accents, and calligraphy for creative journal pages.

Duration: 22 min

10. Incorporating Ephemera

Learn techniques for including found materials and natural ephemera in your urban journal.

Duration: 24 min

11. Sketching Shortcuts

Find quick, effective ways to sketch your surroundings and use your camera as a visual aid.

Duration: 22 min

12. Completing Your Journal

Organize and secure ephemera, layer various materials, and add finishing flourishes to your journal’s spine and cover.

Duration: 32 min

Module 3: Travel Sketching with Marc Taro Holmes

13. Single-Line Sketching

Practice single-line sketches for speed and simplicity while traveling, and learn how to add contrast.

Duration: 30 min

14. Draw Like a Painter

Apply brush pen techniques to group light and dark forms, then translate the method to complex street scenes with water-soluble ink.

Duration: 30 min

15. Tinting Drawings in Watercolor

Layer watercolor washes over line sketches using wet-in-wet effects for vibrant urban scenes.

Duration: 27 min

16. Sketch Collecting

Plan your visual storytelling with themed sketchbook montages and create a travel log like a documentary filmmaker.

Duration: 21 min

17. Painless Perspective

Simplify perspective challenges with Marc’s methods, making urban angles easy to draw.

Duration: 24 min

18. Watercolor Sketching

Use negative painting and charging-in techniques to make focal points pop in watercolor sketches.

Duration: 21 min

19. Working in Layers

Master layering in watercolor to add midtones and finishing details for a professional look.

Duration: 17 min

Module 4: Architectural Sketching with Stephanie Bower

20. How We See Buildings

Refresh perspective basics and Stephanie’s three-step sketching process for capturing architecture.

Duration: 21 min

21. Architectural Elements

Sketch doors, windows, columns, and arches accurately in perspective using practical guidelines.

Duration: 26 min

22. Building Materials

Depict different building materials and textures, adding realistic depth and focus to your sketches.

Duration: 28 min

23. Sloping Surfaces

Easily draw stairs and roofs using simple techniques and accurately find roof centers.

Duration: 20 min

24. Tips & Techniques

Get tips for composition, lively mark-making, and boosting the energy of city sketches.

Duration: 18 min

25. Sketching Buildings on Location

Apply new skills in the field, sketching buildings on location and adding color for extra impact.

Duration: 23 min

Module 5: Figures and Storytelling with Marc Taro Holmes

26. The Pencil Gesture

Learn to quickly capture people in motion with loose, gestural pencil sketches.

Duration: 17 min

27. Adding Ink

Build on pencil gestures by refining forms and shadows in ink without losing energy.

Duration: 31 min

28. Brushwork & Hatching

Use brush pens and hatching for focal points, texture, and dynamic silhouettes.

Duration: 21 min

29. Adding Color

Finish with a portable watercolor palette, reinforce shadows, and add expressive color detail.

Duration: 26 min

30. Advanced Techniques: Water-Soluble Ink

Capture faster-moving subjects using water-soluble ink and blend for expressive effects.

Duration: 19 min

31. Advanced Techniques: Direct to Watercolor

Paint dynamic urban scenes directly in watercolor, focusing on large shapes and silhouettes, then add details.

Duration: 20 min

32. Capturing Multiple People

Tell stories through your sketches by arranging figures and using color to create captivating sequences.

Duration: 15 min