Quick & Lively Urban Sketching

Workshop on the web

Ive included a couple of arty books in this issue as I think they have a role to play and deserve space on the bookshelf. We all love sketchbooks and could benefit from some ideas for them. Thus book on quick and lively sketching has some good ideas for the quick-fire line drawing that translated well into machine embroidery. It comprises a series of lessons that lead through the usual colour and composition in a fairly painless manner but the lesson which considers the factors that bring a sketch to life is a really good one. I love the pages showing the build-up of a sketch, a technique which works really well with people.

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The Artist

March 17

Sketching isn't so much about technique as observation and confidence in your skills and materials, allowing you to get the components of a scene down quickly and efficiently. And that's very much the essence of this rather enjoyable book that manages to add worthwile material to a market somewhat crowded with what seems to be au courant. As the perceptive cover blurb says 'sketching is an act of personal expression'. The book is built round a series of lessons that include carsm buildings, people and landscapes. In truth, rather than a manual, it's a work of general encouragement in the gentle art of sketching (no smartphones, please) that's worth more than a quick look.

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The Leisure Painter

Feb 2017

Architect and art teacher, Klaus Meier-Pauken, shows us how to sketch in busy locations, creating speedy animated drawings. This book is divided into seven lessons: tools, colour, composition, bringing a sketch to life, urban life, landscapes and human subjects and for each of these Klaus shares with us tips, techniques and learning objects to make our drawings better. There's plenty of inspiring illustrations too and creative exercises to build up confidence as well as skill

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John Hoffman

Klaus certainly knows how to get us to learn without realising we are being taught. Before reading I just flicked through the pages ( as you do ) and I could see this was not going to be the usual how to manual.

The book is broken down into 7 lessons with beautiful illustrations. There is NOT the usual page after page of materials and practice this squiggle and this box that we see all too often. Although, there is a page on perspective that made me laugh because his opening line is The very word perspective is enough to make many newcomers to drawing shudder yet it is actually fairly straight forward and that page sure shows it is.

The chapters are set out to build your confidence and have that chapters objectives outlined in the margin with some thumbnail examples.

As you read through its more like you are out having a coffee and sketching day with Klaus and he is showing you a few tricks. There are some well placed exercises in a couple of chapters but the feel to these are as if you are being told to put the book down and play with your pen or pencil and in many cases both.

You soon learn that you do not need lots of equipment to capture a more lively image than a camera could and that equipment can fit into a coat pocket or small bag. Pen , Pencil and small sketchbook and a bag of enthusiasm.

I usually paint en plein air ( outside ) with oils or paint and draw at home and have done so for some time. Although I have a bit of experience Klaus showed me a thing or two that are new to me.

So if you would like to get into the in vogue art of urban sketching whether you are a seasoned plein air painter or beginner, this book will point you in the right direction. It will certainly give you the confidence to get out there and sketch people in cafes , buildings and just about everything around you and in your pockets. You may even join an Urban Sketching group in your area. And if you dont have one you could always start one.

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YarnsandFabrics.co.uk

I always wish I could sketch like a pro. Capture impressions, record your emotions, create a personal sketchbook and try out different mediums to express yourself. You'll find creative exercises and practical tips to help you make urban sketches of buildings, landscapes and people. Use the techniques to create personal sketches. Discover theory and practice to build your confidence and skill base. There is an introduction, a section on line, shading and tone plus seven lessons, each dealing with a different aspect. Amply illustrated with many examples of work. 

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www.artbookreview.net

This relatively short (64 page) book knocks off its subject with commendable alacrity and elan, as is entirely appropriate for a sketch. Working in fast-changing environments is more about observation than technique and requires confidence in your ability and materials.

Although the book is structured as a series of lessons, it doesnt feel like a tutorial and certainly not a demonstration. Klaus explains and shows you what to look for, what to include and, above all, how to achieve a record of your scene quickly and efficiently. In a world overrun with smartphones, he addresses the question of why sketch at all? head on the answer being in the cover blurb: its an act of personal expression. But, as an artist, you didnt need to be told that.

Urban sketching is very much of the moment and its literature is a crowded market. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile addition to the canon and one which doesnt labour the simple point it has to make, which is simplicity.