This book is one I truly wish I had more time to review. I have always been fascinated by Urban sketching but I am not very good at it.

This book had wonderful practical steps to help learn and improve Urban drawings. And it is styled towards beginners so it's easy to follow and replicate the drawings.

This is a great book for any beginner and even those good at drawing may find useful tips and techniques.

When you read “urban sketching” what do you think?. Sketching buildings and outdoor spaces?. Yes? Well, that’s what I always thought. Sketching at home felt more comfortable than exposing myself to people and their potential interest in my activities. Now I have stronger reasons for not going out and, ironically, I’m craving for it. Oh the irony. However, after reading Suhita Shirodkar’s The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners: How to Build a Practice for Sketching on Location, I found options and great techniques for -finally- keeping a sketch on location habit, even if it is from home!.

This book is aimed at beginners and those struggling with the challenges urban sketching can bring. In the first chapter or “key”, you will learn about tools you can choose from, sketch kits and how to keep it simple, watercolor palettes, solutions to the “first blank page” struggle, finding the right subject, place and time slots to fit sketching into your schedule. The next 3 “keys” are packed with tips, techniques and examples of different sketching styles, tools, composition, perspective, texture, value and a complete chapter dedicated to drawing people. The last pages contain challenge ideas to kick-start your sketching practice.

I love how this book series always shows you examples of work from multiple artists, each with their very unique style and approach to sketching. It’s always exciting to discover artists I know and admire. This time I noticed Chris Carter, Liz Steel, James Gurney and Renato Palmuti.

While this book is meant for beginners, this is not a step-by-step or “follow this method” type of book. There’s no right or wrong way of doing things, but a variety of approaches, tips and techniques that will, hopefully inspire and help you discover your very own style.

Do you, as a beginner, want to learn more sketching techniques?
Artist and teacher of urban sketching, Suhita Shirodkar is presenting "The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners. How to Build a Practice for Sketching on Location", one book in the "The Urban Sketching Handbook" Series published by Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry. Shirodkar defines urban sketching as "drawing on location from direct observation. Most urban sketchers work in sketchbooks. These books become stories told over time. They hold memories and meaning, a visual record of sketchers‘ lives and the world around them,7. (p. 7). The book holds seven keys: 1) Starting Out, 2) What to Sketch: Objects, 3) What to Sketch: Places, 4) What to Sketch: People, and 5) Bringing It All Together. In these five keys she offers descriptions and information. She is not only offering samples of her own work but also from the work of other artists which is really inspirational. For some of her explanations Shirodkar uses a step-by-step approach which is also very helpful for the beginning artist.
According to Shirodkar the book is for people who maybe are just starting out on their sketching adventure, or want to get back to the basics of observational drawing. Perhaps they are looking for solutions to particular challenges that come up with drawing on location. They have drawn architecture forever, but drawing people intimidate them. Or they will happily draw people and faces, but the word perspective might sound scary. She states: "If any of these sounds like you, this book is for you. Because aren’t we all beginners in some way? Beginning something new,
beginning to see better, beginning a new sketchbook, a new sketch . . . (p. 7)". So I highly recommend this book for beginners, but also for advanced students who want to "fill in the blanks" in the area where they still lack knowledge of skills.
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.
#TheUrbanSketchingHandbookTechniquesForBeginners #NetGalley

'The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners' does exactly as it is says in the title! It is full of tips and techniques for all ages, abilities and experiences, to begin keeping their own urban sketching sketchbook. Beautifully inspiring images.

This is a great book, well explained and beautiful illustrations, and photography. Well worth reading.
Thanks to Netgalley and Quatro Publishing for the ARC.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series, and this book was no exception. This is a good intro book for those getting into urban sketching, and gives a lot of tips and inspiration. I would recommend this installment in the urban sketching handbook series.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners How to Build a Practice for Sketching on Location by Suhita Shirodkar is aimed at beginners, with lots of descriptions and information on how to gain techniques.

It comes from the point of view of several artists, which is good for showing different styles.

The Urban Sketching Handbook is a series, and so if you find this one helpful, you might want to have a look at the others!

  The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners How to Build a Practice for Sketching on Location  was published on 3rd November 2020, and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop .

You can follow Suhita Shirodkar on her  website .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Quarto Publishing .

This book is filled with helpful information that should be helpful for anyone starting out with sketching locations or drawing people. Besides providing simple ways to start and simplify objects around us into more basic shapes (for ease of drawing and so it isn't all that overwhelming). There are also basic information about form, colour and perspective. What I really liked are the different examples from many different artists that are laid out and explained so that a clearer picture is given on what the author is going on about. Although overall, this book is not much different from many other art resources out there, when considering it on its own, it is a good, simple start for beginners.

An informative guide to many aspects of urban sketching. This book teaches different techniques for sketching a variety of things, from buildings to people. This would be a great resource for beginners looking to develop their skills in observational sketching.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing this ARC.

Having majored in art a couple of decades ago, I have unfortunately drifted away from drawing, focusing more on collage / mixed media in my recent work. Therefore, I was excited to be given the chance to review this art book in the hope of being inspired to dust off my pencils and get back to the basics.

While the title says that this Urban Sketching Handbook contains techniques for beginners, my personal assessment is that this would still be a bit much for an actual beginner with no experience in drawing. It does flow nicely, building upon techniques and pulling it all together in the end, but if you are looking for lots of step-by-step exercises, this book does not have that.

The author explains the basic concepts: Line, Shape, Contrast, Form, Value, Perspective, Proportion, etc - displaying other artists' beautiful urban sketches as examples, but doesn't really go into any depth for any one concept. The examples are beautiful but I found the text to be on the small size and hard to read without zooming in on my computer (if you are viewing this as a digital copy).

I particularly liked the section on perspective where the author went into a bit more detail on one-point and two-point perspective. The author also did a good job breaking down the basics on how to draw people - explaining basic proportions and how to tackle people in various positions by concentrating on the basic shapes. If you want much more detail on how to draw people, I would suggest a book focusing mainly on that subject.

Lastly, the author discusses supplies and lists examples of different types that can be used but doesn't list actual recommended brand names or provide a resource section. Telling a beginner to use a sketchbook "with thinner paper if using dry medium" or mixed media paper if unsure of the medium you might use is a fail in my opinion. One of the hardest things for a beginner wanting to start out is knowing what to buy and being overwhelmed by all of the art supply choices on the market. Picking the wrong type of material could end up discouraging a beginner because, if the material doesn't behave as it should, they could think it was their lack of ability or technique and walk away completely frustrated and disheartened when in reality it was because they were using the wrong type of paper or supply. The book lists basic "tools of the trade": pencil, sketchbook, watercolors and pens but doesn't give much more information further than that. The author doesn't explain techniques on how to achieve different looks using these materials but, rather chose to focus on the basic drawing concepts instead. So, if you are a beginner and you need more guidance and information into these areas - this book may not be for you.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners is a nice enough book - but feels like a strangely placed addition to the Urban Sketching Handbook family. We're about ten books in (I believe) to the Urban Sketching Handbook series, and only now do we get a "Beginners" book. Unfortunately that makes it a little difficult to judge "Techniques for Beginners," if you've read or purchased any of the previous ten books like I have. If you have read the other books in the series, especially the more general ones, then this book is well tread territory of the basics of sketching materials, form, perspective, locations/objects to draw, and drawing prompts. If you haven't read any of the other books, then this is a good place to start and see some of the highlights of what the Urban Sketching Books emphasize. It's not a bad book by any means, but it's harder to define it as the ultimate "beginner" book in the series when you could alternatively pick up "Sketch Now, Think Later," "101 Sketching Tips," or "The Complete Urban Sketching Companion," which already exist in the line. Ultimately Suhita has a difficult job with standing out here -- given that all the books introduce basic concepts, and 3 books seem to already be "generalist" and thus good options for beginners already. At this point, I feel like I'm quibbling a tiny bit - I do like this book! It's enjoyable (though the netgalley digital copy is woefully out of proportion and that's probably because the printed versions are already a bit too narrow to begin with). I'd definitely pick it up for a friend just wanting to start sketching. I wish it had come out much earlier in the line up, and I also wish that we would stop tossing in full on still life oil paintings (even if they're only "studies") and acting as if those are urban sketches. Pick this up if you want to introduce someone to urban sketching, but not if they're already several books into the series.

This is a great book for people who want to sketch and paint. It includes a few steps and a finished painting for several different images. I like how it is presented and it has plenty of ideas. It's probably better suited for adults and older children, maybe not for young beginners.

. Who better to learn urban sketching or art journaling from than sketchers who seem to live and breathe this art from the urban sketchers community.

The Urban Sketching Handbook : Techniques for Beginners is a new addition to the series and once again, I am loving it! This is another book I could look through again and again and still not get fed up. I am not a new art journaler but I find I am still inspired and refreshed by the techniques and tips provided by the author and the many contributing sketchers from all over the world.

The book is divided into 4 main chapters, and each chapter touches on the essential elements of objects, places, people and putting it all together. I think it's really good that each chapter starts with an exercise so beginners will never be at a loss at what to draw or paint.

It is not strictly a step-by-step instructions kind of book, though you can see some short step-by-step that shows how you could draw and paint a building, for instance.

Definitely a great title from which to launch the addictive and wonderful art of urban sketching.

I hope to own hardcopies of all the titles from this excellent series soon!

This is my honest opinion based on the review copy I received from the publisher.

The books back up their steps with real painting from urban sketchers, and focuses more on the just paint point then excessively trying to teach you techniques. It gives you a couple pointers on the basic, but puts more effort on how to start instead of "Here are these perfect paintings you will never be able to reproduce-step by step tutorials". I would recommend this book exactly because of that: it will be useful for inexperienced beginners or artist that want to start urban sketching, all of them get the right pointers to just start painting.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners is a tutorial and style guide in the Urban Sketching series - this volume is by Suhita Shirodkar. Released 3rd Nov 2020 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 112 pages and available in flexibound format.

The introduction and tutorial sections are arranged logically with accessible and understandable text. It's illustrated throughout in color with numerous sketches by several different artists (not just the author), showing a variety of styles. The tools and supplies are basic and easily acquired without much expense. Most of the supplies will already be available for most readers. Each of the small mini-tutorials show process pics and how they develop along with some explanatory text.

The study tutorials are arranged thematically:objects, places, and people. The overall feel of the book is rich in technique, useful, and varied and I saw so many things which got my fingers itching to jump in and start drawing. I think most (non)artists are a lot more shy about drawing on paper/media and this book has a lot of good suggestions for picking up materials and making a start.

Five stars. I really liked this book and will definitely use it going forward for my own drawing sessions. I would recommend it to artists of all levels. It could also make a valuable text for more formal classroom/group type instruction. There's a *lot* of information included here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Urban Sketching Handbook is an introductory book on the materials and techniques for this area. The author explores different methods and offers a variety of different styles and examples. The instructions are too sparse to follow step by step but they give you a feel for what can be achieved and encourages beginners to explore and find their own style. I really enjoyed flicking through the pages and being inspired. You will want to grab your drawing equipment and get out there.

110 packed pages, all you need to know to start Urban Sketching. I found the sections on values and shadows very helpful Show example of lots of different styles of sketching. Well worth buying