Urban Sketching? How do you get into that?

I’m so lucky. Since retiring from teaching in August I’ve begun a new career working in admin for the NHS. My colleagues are great people, so much so that I think of them as my friends now. They seem really interested in my interests, like quizzing and art. Now, I returned to work yesterday following my broken shoulder. When asked what I had been doing with myself, I mentioned about the watercolour challenge and urban sketching.- What’s that? – they asked. I explained and then they said – well, how do you get into it?

I know that I’ve written about this before, but it’s been a while, and so here’s the advice I can give.

Urban sketchers seek to sketch the world around us, one drawing at a time. There’s really not a lot of rules. You can do it by yourself or as part of a group. You can use any medium you like. It’s nice to post your work online, but there’s no law that says you have to. You just have to be there, and sketch whatever you’re sketching on the spot and not from a photograph.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE ANY SKILL! Seriously, you are making your urban sketches for the sheer pleasure of doing so. If you don’t find that you enjoy doing it, then maybe urban sketching is not for you. But try it first. If you do enjoy it, then that’s all the justification that you need.

How can I start?

If you’re not certain about urban sketching, then maybe start by stealth. Maybe try to sketch an object in your house, or if you have one, your garden.

What do I need?

Well, what have you got? You’re better off using materials you have on hand at first, rather than tooling up with a ton of equipment you may only use once. A piece of plain paper, a biro or a pencil will do fine. Away you go. There’s no time limit. Just commit to doing it as well as you can for now. Enjoy letting go of your everyday concerns just while you’re making your sketch. Leave it for a while and then come back and do another one. There’s a lot to be said for making at least one sketch everyday at this early stage. For now, it’s not about results at all, it’s about the process and the enjoyment you get from it.

So, when you’ve made up your mind that you enjoy this kind of drawing, then you can think about what you want to do about it. Maybe the thought of sketching in the open air where you could be seen by members of the general public fills you with absolute dread and in that case you never have to take that step. Keep sketching at home. But if you’re at least willing to give it a go, then there should be nothing stopping you. If you try it and hate it, well at least you had the guts to try and you never have to do it again. But a lot of people find that drawing in public does bring them another level of enjoyment. When you can enjoy sketching in public, then congrats, you’re an urban sketcher!

So I’m an urban sketcher. Does that mean I have to buy a lot of expensive stuff?

No. You don’t have to do anything, other than keep going out and making sketches. But during your first months and years as an urban sketcher it does make sense to try out different materials and media. This will help you learn what brings you your best results and what media you most enjoy working in. This is a good reason to join a local urban sketchers group. In my experience these groups provide a friendly and supportive environment, and you’ll learn a lot from seeing the way that other sketchers approach the same subject.

So, you’ll need something to make sketches with and something to make sketches on. I like sketching in fineliner. If I’m only going to be working in fineliner then I’m perfectly happy to use a cheap packet. On the other hand, if I might want to apply some colour, then I’ll use Uniball fineliners that are waterproof. I carry a small pencil case with half a dozen fineliners most of the time. The other essential for me is a (roughly) A5 sized hard backed sketching journal. Hard backed, in order to withstand the wear and tear of living in my rucksack 99 percent of the time. You may have heard of Moleskine-style sketching journals like this, and looked into the cost. And needed a strong drink to get over the shock. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used Moleskine in the past on sketching expeditions and I’ve enjoyed it too. They’re a very decent product. But there are perfectly acceptable cheaper alternatives, some of which are in my opinion better than a Moleskine. If you look across at my links, I go into details about these on My Materials page.

I often carry a small pocket sized watercolour set. I’m no great shakes with a brush but it’s nice to have them on hand when the mood takes me.

I’ve made urban sketches in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, Malta, Austria, Iceland, Poland, Latvia, Denmark, Portugal, Romania, USA and Norway and thoroughly enjoyed the process. And that’s what it’s all about.

. . . and Alice

I have loved the 30x30 challenge. On a practical level it has really helped me cope with the situation my broken shoulder has put me into. The challenge has given a sense of purpose to the last four weeks. In terms of the paintings themselves, well, they’re the best set I’ve ever produced. I’m still in the early stages of my watercolour journey but I’m loving where it’s taking me. I’ll reflect a little more on the challenge I another post.

Still, having now completed the challenge it really didn’t take me long yesterday to go back to my beloved fineliners. I have already posted the Treasure Island copy. Well, almost immediately after that I made this copy of Ralph Steadman’s illustration of The Walrus and the Carpenter – back to Alice again.

Back to the journal

 I reported earlier today that I have completed the 30 direct watercolours for the 30x30 challenge. One of the results of this is that this afternoon I felt free to pick up my fineliners again. For my birthday on the 15^th my daughter Jess bought me a copy of Treasure Island with the wonderful Mervyn Peake illustrations, which is now a treasured possession. So I took a few hours and made this copy. Nice to be working with fineliners again and nice to be working in my current A5 sketching journal again.

Direct Watercolour Challenge 2025 - day 28 challenge complete!

30 –This is a response to a photo prompt for the Facebook Sketching Every Day group for the 30^th. I wouldn’t say I think it’s the best painting of the set but it will do. So that is it. The challenge is complete. I won’t try to go into detail on my thoughts and feelings about the experience – that will come later. For now I will just say that I have enjoyed it immensely .

Here's most of the paintings together

Direct Watercolour Challenge Day 27

What a whirlwind of a week it has been for me with the challenge. I’ve already made 8 pictures since this time last week, and what’s more, I still like all of them. I have one more to do to complete the challenge. I have already painted the background of number 30. This is a response to a photo prompt for the Facebook Sketching Every Day group for the 30^th. I’ve left negative space in the shape of the building depicted and to be honest, if anything happened and the worse came to the worst I could get away with leaving it as it is and declare my challenge complete.

I’ve designated today as a rest day. Predictably enough even now my fingers are getting itchy and I’m feeling as if I should be setting up ready to paint. I won’t though. Probably. I’m enjoying the wanting to do it, and the feeling that I could do it if I chose to. The pressure to finish is largely gone and it’s nice to feel I can luxuriate and take my time with the last.

Direct Watercolour day 26 - paintings 28 and 29

My plan was to hedge against inertia after finishing painting 27 was to start all 3 of the last 3 paintings. I’d already selected the subjects and each of them were going to require a background painted wet on wet. So I could do one, put it to one side to dry, do another and so on. Now, one of the last 3 is going to be a view of Venice and that was the one I was going to paint first. However at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to continue with another painting of the Roosevelt Island aerial tramway.

28 This is not a copy of anyone else’s painting. It shows the previous type of car, which were replaced a couple of years ago, as I was told last year by the driver/operator I spoke to. I’m pleased with this one, even though I didn’t quite finish it yesterday on the 25^th to put me back 3 ahead. I did a little finishing off this morning and then picked up the Venice picture and got cracking.

29  I was really delighted with the background I had painted for this painting of Venice the day before. It had dried beautifully. The plan with this one was to fight my natural tendency, and try to stay quite loose and not obsess over detail. I’m quite pleased – I think that I’ve gone some way towards what I was trying to do, and let’s not forget that the challenge is a journey. Above other things it did give me a lot of pleasure painting this too, which is kind of the point.

So here we are – 1 painting left to do, and four days left in which to do it. I know what I’m going to paint too. I shouldn’t start to speculate about how I’m going to feel when it’s done until it actually is done – but I can’t help it. In 2023 I felt that I got better and better as I went on, and I missed the challenge so much that I did keep going for weeks afterwards. Well, I certainly feel that 2025 is the best set of watercolours I have ever produced, and I’ve got better throughout the month again. So – who knows what might happen?

Direct watercolour day 25 - painting 27

So I spent about two hours on painting 27 on Tuesday and finished it by mid-morning on Wednesday. The First World War and in particular the great tragedy of it has fascinated me for a long time. The tank was originally suggested by Winston Churchill and was first used in the Battle of the Somme. Being a member of a tank crew was one of the most hazardous things one could be at that time. There’s no official figures, but it’s reckoned that the average life expectancy of a member of a tank crew was probably less than 6 weeks.