I've been doing a bit of journaling recently and have been wanting to add sketching to the process for even longer. This book really goes over a lot of information, which is really helpful if you're a beginner. It's not thorough because that would be a lot, but the book uses a lot of art examples to explain things quickly (a show vs tell). There are also some useful tips and prompts to do. Useful!

Love this entire series! Helpful books that provide easy to follow information for a variety of approaches to different techniques. Can't go wrong

A spotlight on Nature
Author, designer, and sketcher Virginia Hein and architect, illustrator, educator, and urban sketcher Gail L. Wong present "The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature. Tips and Techniques for Drawing and Painting Nature on Location", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry. After the introduction the book is divided into five keys: 1) How We See Nature, 2) How We Draw Nature, 3) Finding the Character of a Place, 4) Finding Nature in the City, and 5) More Ways to Represent Nature. The authors state as their goal: "In this book we want to show you how spotlighting, or even
simply suggesting, nature in a sketch is key to showing what is unique to a particular region or location. So much of urban sketching focuses on human-made structures and humans themselves, but what we’ll explore here is the role nature plays, how it shapes our natural environment and enhances our urban environments" (p. 7). About nature they say: "Nature invites us to carefully observe, so we hope you’ll enjoy exploring and discovering new ways to express yourself in capturing nature around you!" (p. 7).
This is the 8th "Urban Sketching Handbook" which I read. I appreciate the examples and drawings of the various artists, the tips and workshops through the book, and the fact that the authors list which medium were used for a specific painting / drawing (e.g., gouache, watercolor, ink, ...). I also appreciate the teachings about many topics such as "skies and clouds", "wet-on-wet technique", "the seasons", or "random nature". The book closes with a galley, with challenges for the readers, and a list of the contributors of the drawings / paintings. I highly recommend the book to beginners as well as advanced artists.
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.
#TheUrbanSketchingHandbookSpotlightOnNature #Netgalley

Great installment in the Urban Sketching Handbook series!
This installment in the series did not disappoint. I'm a landscape artist first and foremost so this was especially interesting for me. Lots of good tips and tricks for inserting nature into urban sketching. I believe some techniques can also be used for watercolor painting (vs. sketching)

another great book in the urban sketching series - I really do enjoy looking at the process and getting tips on sketching and the different approaches used

I always wanted to learn how to sketch especially some of the beautiful nature in large urban parks. With the advice for planning and drawing, I went out to try it. My sketch was pretty good for the first time doing it. I am encouraged to try again and will do so. I don’t expect to compete with the artists in this book but I will try some of the ideas for sketching. If you want to try, this book is a good place to learn. The tips are very helpful.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature by Virginia Hein & Gail L. Wong from Net Galley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry, in order to read and give an honest review.

… If you are interested in learning or brushing up your skills this book is for you…

After taking a hiatus from urban sketching for a long time I recently began delving back into it and was lucky enough to be introduced to the The Urban Sketching Handbook Series a collection of wonderful and comprehensive guides on learning the art of urban sketching. The newest entry into the series The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature, is no exception offering a wonderful way to take your sketches to the next level. The authors perfectly describe the storytelling aspect behind urban sketching and how to incorporate nature into your visual stories in a way that captivates viewers. The book starts by giving readers the basics of composition, proportion, shape and structure then goes on to give detailed instructions on drawing natural elements, color theory, the concept of notan and the tools artists will need to create their masterpieces. The book also offers workshop exercises and challenges to help you put each skill into practice.

Overall, I love this series for the simple fact they are all no nonsense, well-written and wonderfully illustrated guides that are packed with tools and techniques suitable for both the novice and expert urban sketchers. I read through The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature a few times and played with a few concepts, but I look forward to putting some of the tricks I’ve learned into action with some serious sketches on my next trip out. If you are interested in learning or brushing up your skills this book is for you, I highly recommend it!

What a lovely book, full of gorgeous art to get inspired from, good tips, and challenges you can try yourself!
I like that there are lots of different artists and different styles as examples, the authors always show you that for each goal you have, there are different ideas/styles/techniques you can try and the book encourages you to experiment and play.
I wouldn't have been against a tiny bit more technical explanations (ex: more techniques about pencil drawing maybe), but there were a few of them and some useful concepts.
It was a great little book to read and I'll be working on the challenges. I've done one so far and it was great! And most importantly, I feel inspired to get out of my comfort zone and experiment more with my sketches. And to try to translate some tips into my digital art practice.
The book felt relaxing to read, as if I was in the flow from drawing, by just analysing the art and thinking about the tips.

I want to thank Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful book that got me excited about my upcoming summer road trip! I will be keeping the advice given in this book in mind when I hopefully go out in the hot weather to paint some urban nature. I love that this book is not as much about technique, but how to frame and highlight nature in a composition. I enjoyed looking at the different styles of sketches in this book, especially because there are a lot of different mediums used.

Many cities now have quite a bit of nature around so it's nice to see how the authors chose to frame those views. Great examples and ideas. Clear dialog of why they decided on the view with plenty of thumbnails to show the process.

Woops! Got to this Netgalley book a little late, mostly because I lost track of time. Anyway, very solid art tutorial book with lots of interesting examples and some solid art challenges sprinkled throughout after each section. I did think it interesting that the guide to color and notan were put at the very back of the book, which I feel would have made more sense at the front, but that is a very minor quibble and overall I enjoyed reading this.

Will I go out and paint from nature now? Maybe, but not in humid, hot, southern USA weather in the summer for sure . . . . :D

Useful tips and techniques for artists exploring nature in an urban setting. Through the use of different materials and insights from the different artists this book offers a refreshing perspective to explore urban sketching.

This is a solid and helpful guide with lots of full color illustrations with a variety of styles. Another good addition from this publisher.

I love the Urban Sketching books and this one is no exception. This particular one focuses on drawing nature. It has different sections focusing on incorporating nature into your sketches, teaching you how to draw specific elements of nature and then lots of inspiration and examples. It has a lot of technical examples and walkthroughs for drawing different trees, etc. As someone who really enjoys drawing nature, I've loved having both the inspiration and the technical instruction in this book.

with gratitude to netgalley and Quarry Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once you have down the basic skills of your medium, and are tired of working on your brushstrokes, the next step is how to decide what to paint or draw. What makes a good picture or painting? How do you work the angles, or frame the main focus of the work. This book covers all that! It is a perfect reference for every artist of all experience levels. Its size means it can you into your kit for working on the go!

Nature gets the spotlight this time in this new instalment of the excellent Urban Sketching Handbook series. And it is another worthwhile title!

Because this is drawing and painting nature in an urban sketching context, the main focus is on incorporating nature in a scene, and not so much nature in close up that you might see in nature journaling (though there are a few of that.) Major chapters include finding the character of a place and also finding nature in a city. Tips and techniques abound and are great information for beginners and good refreshers for the more experienced urban sketcher (typical of this fantastic series.)

I enjoyed looking at all the sketches in the book (just as I did for all the previous titles in the series.) Loved looking up the instagram accounts of some of the artists featured (something I loved to do from the previous titles too.)

I wonder what the publishers will come up next for this wonderful series. Can't wait! I’m fast running out of superlatives as this series gets bigger and bigger!

The perfect handbook for artists travelling to unfamiliar cities. This book focuses on structures and less on floral, providing tips on how to sketch and paint (watercolour/ink) buildings and lamps and stone pathways.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice book on sketching and painting!

The book covers how to choose your subject, how to frame it, and how to put together a good picture. There is also a list of "challenges" or things you can do to help improve your art in the back. There are helpful examples throughout the book where Hein breaks down some of the technical pieces of deciding how big something is and what your perspective will be.

This is a surprisingly technical book on making art.

The Urban Sketching Handbook Spotlight on Nature s a reference and tutorial book encouraging you to make the most of nature in on-location drawings and paintings. There are tips, tricks, fundamentals and basics, and step-by-step examples to follow. Different aspects of nature are tackled from landscape, urban parks and more detailed examples. It is suitable for all levels however there are no detailed step by step tutorials so complete beginners might need a little more direction. Overall a really interesting and helpful book.

As a person who can’t draw but always makes it look okay if I try, I found this book very helpful. All the tips on how to draw certain things with examples from different artists actually helped me a lot. I also really like the list of challenges to do, which is provided at the end of the book. I’ll have to spend some time in summer trying to do all of them 😊