Featuring illustrations from a variety of artists, this book has 101 tips, tricks and ideas for creating cool sketches wherever you are. It all starts with what to take with you when you go out, how to choose subjects, how to deal with perspective, light and more. The tips can be applied to any type of sketch. The book is well organized and can be divided into four areas: general drawing tips, perspective tips, and watercolor tips. There is good information on composition, brushwork, value, perspective and technique. Easy to read, understand and apply. It was helpful for me as a beginner.

I adored this little book so much I bought the physical copy! It's a great primer for urban sketching, something I'm very interested in. I love the freeflow style of the sketching, and all of the little tips for buildings, people, scale/proportion, etc. Great resource for beginning urban sketchers!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC to review!

Really like this book, well presented with great practical tips and lovely examples which will provide inspiration for anyone who wants to get into urban sketching or even existing artists looking for fresh ideas to improve their own art!

This is one of my favorite books from The Urban Sketching Handbook series. 101 tips 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 and 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 enough to understand and extremely useful. From basics (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 but very well drafted explanations and images illustrating the concept. Well organized book, divided in different “keys” (chapters) with themes that progressively advance in complexity.

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

AUTHOR

Stephenie Bower is the author of The Urban Sketching Handbook. If you would like to find out more, you can read all about the author on her own blog page by clicking here.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE

Anyone with an interest in learning the fashionable new trend in artistic expression known as Urban Sketching will find this text an invaluable addition to their knowledge base. Whilst the work is intended for artists looking to engage in urban sketching and painting, other artist could benefit from the many and varied tips, tricks and techniques. This book is great if you have been considering taking up urban sketching and didn’t quite know what to expect or how to start. This text would also be useful as a reference for any aspiring the artist from beginner to intermediate level.

SYONOPIS

Urban Sketching has grown in recent years and now has a strong global following. This type of art has seen increased participation and is a popular hobby for aspiring and accomplished artists worldwide. Amateurs and professional artists participate together in the enjoyment of the architecture of the built environment.

Bower’s manual is the answer to many uninitiated urban sketchers looking to get a foot hold on the tools, tips and techniques necessary to become competent; or just to have fun and make new friends whist painting or sketching.

The text is brief and concise at only 112 pages, but within these pages you will discover 101 tips to aid in improving your artwork. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations by a variety of artists including the authors own works. It is written in a style that is easily accessible to those who like to read a little or who wish to jump from section to section. Whichever method the reader chooses to peruse this book, it is still comprehendible. The book is comprehensive enough to be useful to intermediate artists and basic enough to inform even the most primary beginner.

Amongst the tips included are: the use of coloring; different painting methods, the variety and uses of brushes, how shading can enhance any work, how different line widths add interest to your work and the use of methods for perspective.

Bower’s book is inspiring and esthetically pleasing. A great book to have in your artist’s reference library.

CONCLUSION

If you were looking for an art theory book based on urban sketching and painting look no further. The text is full of utility, and this tiny book is jam packed with skills, techniques, and tools to get you started in the new and exciting world of urban sketching. Beautifully illustrated throughout and with helpful dialogue to assist the reader for Improving their creative skills. Bower’s work leaves the reader believing that they too, with time and application, can become as accomplished as those artists featured within the book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincere thanks go to the Author, NetGalley, and the Publisher, for affording me the opportunity to review The Urban Sketching Handbook: 101 Sketching Tips.

Ms. Bower has written a book with 101 tips for artists, ranging from high level to concrete detailed suggestions. This is a book that can be read through but would probably be better sipped tip by tip. The tips are split into sections, so one could jump from section to section as well. There were example pictures for each tip -- many from the author but also many from multiple other artists throughout the book. If I had any change to suggest it would only be that in the more concrete tips a suggested exercise to try out that specific tip would complement the tip well for beginners such as myself, however the book would be well worth buying for the tips and the beautiful pictures.

The Urban Sketching Handbook is a fantastic art book that would make a great gift for the holidays. Great advice and techniques.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: 101 Sketching Tips by Stephanie Bower and contributors is chock full of tips and tricks for sketching. It is not a step by step guide book for sketching a picture. What it is, however, is an instructional guide for do's and don'ts to improve your sketching game while capturing experiences. The author and contributors have provided examples of making pieces your own, while adding life to the sketch., I enjoyed learning ways to make my sketches pop and ways to let the energy flow. I appreciated the tips that this book provides and will reference back to it often. Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarry Books for the opportunity to review an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

This is another great drawing book from Quarto, one of my favorite publishers for all things art. The author covers the major techniques as well as some more motivational ideas to get you sketching what you see in the world outside your door, no matter who's watching. I especially liked that she featured works of other artists as well as her own, so you get a chance to see a greater variety of ideas and techniques. Some works felt way beyond my abilities, but there were others that inspired me to try something similar.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

Seeing some of the originals with the drawings inspired from them, will show you a vision of how your drawings can be. The examples are from the artists all over the world. Many techniques and suggesitons on making your art better,

This is a useful book with great information on art theory and techniques, but I must admit to being underwhelmed by the complex artworks used throughout the book which, in my opinion, seem to be aimed at a different artist than would be looking for the information provided. I felt they were trying to show off how great they were at drawing rather than using the artworks to support the text.
I received a free digital copy via NetGalley, but the opinions expressed are my own.

When you feel intimidated to draw urban scenes, get this book! It is jam-packed with tips to get you started. From the tools, skills like perspective and shapes. And how to use lines to create shades and use hues of watercolor to create depth. Almost everything is covered.
This book is an excellent starting point for a beginner, but also helpful for artists who want to expand their art outside of the studio. Even my husband, a photographer, found some great insights about perspective and leading lines.
Don't feel intimidated by the beautiful examples of art in this book; study them!

Packed full of helpful tips to get you started sketching outside. From the tools you need, to the skills like perspective and shapes. Great for a complete behinner, but also helpful for artists who maybe want to expand their skills

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

Get out your sketch pad
Stephanie Bower divides her book "The Urban Sketching Handbook: 101 Sketching Tips. Tricks, Techniques, and Handy Hacks for Sketching on the Go", published by Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry, into seven keys (e.g., "On Your Mark Get Set", Compelling Composition", or "Good Bones"). In the introduction she states that some of her favorite and fun sketching "ah-ha" moments have to do with relating complex subjects to thing we experience every day. She shares her top tricks, techniques, and insights with the readers in order to help them to see familiar things in new ways and to guide them toward their own "ah-ha" moments. Bower includes vocabularies (e.g. of Line Weights or Hatch Marks) and various its (e.g., "Key points to consider when shading" or "Tips for creating a strong focal point"). She closes the book with some challenges for the readers and reference to those who have contributed with images.
The book is presented with a great design, images, and drawings and is very informative. It is challenging for beginners because of the examples that are complex, but can be a real help to all artists to learn about the techniques Bower uses. I really appreciated that she is not only sharing examples from her own artwork but also from other artists. I highly recommend the book for beginners and advanced artists. It would also make a nice gift for them.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#TheUrbanSketchingHandbook #NetGalley

A really fun book on sketching, with lots of practices and without any inhabitions. This book has 101 tips on how to improve your sketching experience with some of the topics covered being line, tone, composition, perspective, and watercolour.
I found this book really fun and very helpful to just picking up a pencil and sit down and just sketch what you see.

The Urban Sketching Handbook is a tutorial and instruction guide for sketching in various media. Released 5th Nov 2019 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 112 pages and available in flexibound and ebook formats. This is the 6th book in the Urban Sketching series.

This is a well written, accessible, and useful book for beginning to intermediate artists who are looking for guidance to improve their technique. The book begins with a very short introduction. Tools and specific methods and use of color and negative space aren't covered (but this information is easily accessible with the briefest online search). Instead, the page content is densely filled with good 'bite sized' tips (101 of them in fact) which cover coloring, shading, specific tips on varying drawing speed, line shape and density and other tips for adding interest to the reader's sketches.

Five stars. Definitely a worthwhile addition to the artist's library.

I really like the premise of this book containing 101 tips for sketching but, in reality, it felt very much like a 'dos and don'ts' book which made me feel as if I were in school and being told what to do (and not do). I would have much preferred 101 sketching tips being provided alongside key exercises which would enable me to explore, develop and grow my own creativity based on that tip. Nonetheless, it is a good starting point

Some really good practical tips on urban sketching. I really like the layout of the book and how it goes into detail on some of the finer points of how to get the right angles etc. I like the drawing guides it gives as well. I got to see a digital ARC to review (thanks netgalley!) so I dont know the physical properties of the book but I do have a few other from this series and they are a great size to bring along with you when you travel to destinations to sketch.
Urban sketching is something I really appreciate and this book makes me a little less fearful to go out there and give it a try!

"The Urban Sketching Handbook" provided 101 drawing tips with a focus on urban drawing. The author provided tips that would be helpful to an absolute beginner at drawing as well as some tips that would be helpful to someone more experienced who wanted to learn to draw urban environments better. She started by talking about what materials to use for urban drawing and the basics about drawing lines and shading. She gave some very good tips on determining and including perspective in your drawings. She also gave tips on composition and how to use watercolor with your drawings. Overall, I'd recommend this book to artists interested in learning how to make more expressive and accurate urban drawings.