"’When traveling, I often ask people, ‘why do you like to sketch?’

What I hear from nearly everyone is that it’s all about connections.

Sketching connects us to our place and time. We have to look closely to record what we see and feel, imprinting this moment on our brains like no camera ever could. Sketching connects us to our creative side. It quiets the mind and opens up our creativity and “flow,” rather like a form of meditation. It actually feels good!”



In “The Urban Sketching Handbook - 101 Sketching Tips” by Stephanie Bower





“It’s remarkable how powerful sketching can be. The day that beautiful Notre-Dame cathedral caught fire, those of us fortunate enough to have been there and sketched, pulled out and posted our drawings. This tragedy stirred up emotions for so many people. Why were we in tears? What we sketch becomes part of our DNA and is forever a part of us. We look so closely, feel the air and hear the sounds around us, and more. We learn about what we see. We are so focused and in the flow that we lose all track of time. We drink it all in and pour it into our sketch. Sketching is truly some kind of magic power, and capturing a moment of our life in a sketch is something remarkable. So, whether you draw or paint, work at home or on the road, the final tip of this book is to enjoy your amazing sketching journey. It will change how you experience the world in so many ways. Push through the bad days, as good ones will follow. Accept the struggles as part of the process because that means you are learning and growing. The more you sketch, the more rewarding it becomes, especially if you share the experience with others. It’s not about the destination, it really is about enjoying how you get there.

See your world better, one sketch at a time.”



In “The Urban Sketching Handbook - 101 Sketching Tips” by Stephanie Bower



Bowers uses examples from other Urban Sketchers around the world to make her points. Light and sharp. The chapter on perspective is very summed-up. Read her other volume “Understanding Perspective - Easy Techniques for Mastering Perspective Drawing on Location” also from the “Urban Sketching Handbook 8-volume Series”. Although short Bower does a splendid job of getting a lot of useful, concise information. For more in-depth knowledge, read the other 7 volumes. Along with Taro Holmes’ book, this also one of the tomes to get get back to when it comes to Urban Sketching.

Some of my stuff as I read it:

https://manuelaantao.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-urban-sketching-handbook-101.html ( )

This is one of my favorite books from The Urban Sketching Handbook series. Tips are meant for all level artists, from the very beginner (lucky you, take advantage of all these wonderful tips gathered in one single book) to the more experienced one.

From an intermediate watercolor artist, let me tell you, these tips are gold. Some of them I already knew, gathered from courses, books and interactions with other artists. Many others were new to me or little explored. All of them felt simple and extremely useful. From basic ones (yet important and many times ignored by beginners) like “start with a simple subject”, to more refined tips for the intermediate or advanced like “Shade vs. Shadow in color”.

Each tip has concise and very well drafted explanations and images to illustrate the concept. Good organization, divided in different “keys” (chapters) with themes that progressively advance in complexity and grouping tips into similar subjects. They felt related to previous ones, which made the reading flow.

If you want to give this series a try, I would recommend to get at least this one. I love it. ( )

The Urban Sketching Handbook by Stephanie Bower
101 Sketching Tips
Tricks, Techniques, and Handy Hacks for Sketching on the Go
With illustrations from various artists this book provided 101 tips and tricks as well as ideas for creating interesting sketches wherever you find yourself. It begins with what to take with you when out and about, how to choose subjects, deals with perspective and light and so much more.

I enjoyed the way the book was laid out and found that with each tip I was thinking, “When and where can I use this idea? I would like to have this book and use it daily working my way through each tip a day at a time. I can see using the ideas on perspective and how to make windows pop and thinking about lines and eye level and so much more that I perhaps had not considered before. Living in the Middle East with arched ceilings I only realized when reading through this book that the arches create exes.

This book is packed full of information and I would definitely recommend it to those who are already skilled as well as those just starting out. I definitely learned a few things reading through this book and would love to own a hard copy of my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

As a child I went to a small art school run by a professional for a year or two, but I didn't like the guy, so I quit; it's been years now since I've really attempted much in the way of drawing but recently I got caught up in art stuff and I really want to get back into it. This means I'm essentially starting from the beginning, therefore art books that teach some basics are very much on my radar, and I'd been seeing these Urban Sketching Handbooks around, so I was quite excited to see one listed for viewing on NetGalley and jumped at the opportunity.

After reading through it, I definitely see why the series has such high reviews; it's full of solid yet simple tips, clear and to the point, with a ton of art pieces as demonstration. Some are a literal "do" and "don't" sketch showing why one method works over another, while other tips are showcased in full pieces to see the effect in practice. There's a number of artists who contributed pieces so there's a nice variety of styles included. I can easily see more of this series in my future. ( )