Urban environments provide their own particular challenges for artists. The constant bustle of people and vehicles; the jumble of different textures and colors; the riot of shape, color, and visual noise—all of these elements can make sketching in cities seem intimidating at first. But as you will learn in Everyday Urban Sketching, these features can offer great inspiration for creating richly expressive sketches that can capture the texture of urban life.

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In the 32 lessons of Everyday Urban Sketching, four experienced instructors will show you how to render the buildings, the people, and the different environments of the urban landscape in quick, intuitive ways that are ideal for practicing technique, experimenting with materials, journaling, and even telling stories. Each of the five modules that make up Everyday Urban Sketching focuses on a different approach to sketching that will enhance your appreciation of the places you visit, while also expanding your repertoire of skills in drawing, perspective, color, light, movement, and much more.

Module 1: Urban Sketching in 15 Minutes a Day

Urban sketching doesn’t have to mean spending hours sitting in one spot. You can do it in just a few minutes! Internationally renowned artist Suma CM guides you step by step to sketch a scene in 15 minutes (or less!). Discover simple strategies to quickly convey the essence of a place, moment, or passing scene—whether you’re walking to lunch or traveling in a car, bus, or train. Build your drawing skills as you explore concepts such as proportion, shape, and depth. Plus get Suma’s tips for adding people and watercolor to really bring your sketches to life.

Module 2: Expressive Pages: Journaling the Everyday

Ready to let your imagination run wild? Join mixed media artist Judith Cassel-Mamet and find out how to create your own personalized art journal to record both your everyday and extraordinary experiences. Discover easy techniques and simple, portable tools that will help you activate your pages, turning them into inspiring platforms for creative expression using color, design, found objects, text, and more.

Module 3: Travel Sketching in Mixed Media

Learn urban sketching techniques for pen, ink, and watercolor with guidance from pro artist Marc Taro Holmes. In your first lesson, find out how to create a quick single-line sketch of your surroundings before adding darks to create contrast and dimension. Switch to a brush pen as Marc teaches you how to draw like a painter by working with tone and shape instead of in line. Next, get tips for using your sketchbook to tell a compelling visual story. Take your travel sketching skills even further as Marc teaches you three strategies for making perspective sketches painless. Then, build watercolor skills for capturing shapes, making your focal points pop, and bringing spectacular detail to your work. You'll even learn layering and finishing techniques for completing sophisticated watercolors.

Module 4: The Essentials of Sketching Architecture

You don't need to be an architect to confidently draw architecture! Join sketch artist and popular instructor Stephanie Bower as she guides you through the ins and outs of sketching buildings, no matter the aspects or features. Learn the basics of one- and two-point perspective, how to draw complex features like stairs, and how to capture a number of building materials and surfaces. As you draw different buildings, you will better understand how they integrate into the urban environment and how to use them to the best advantage in your sketches.

Module 5: Sketching People in Motion

Join illustrator Marc Taro Holmes and find out how to draw people in motion. Gain the skills to use pencil, ink, and watercolor with confidence for results that will astound everyone around. To begin, you'll create a gesture drawing, and learn to sketch moving subjects quickly and freely. Up next, add detail with ink as you define the basic shapes of your subject, refine your image, and loosely sketch in shadows. Then, create movement with hatching and get tips for building silhouettes with swift strokes. After that, bring your sketch to life as you apply a watercolor wash, reinforce shadow shapes, and lay down rich color and detail for a fascinating finish. Plus, use fun watercolor techniques to capture fast-moving subjects. And finally, explore fundamentals for infusing storytelling into your visual narrative.

As you will see, sketching is a quick and spontaneous art form that is accessible to artists of any skill level. This compilation of courses offers the unique opportunity to not only improve your proficiency in various sketching techniques and materials, but also to capture moments in time that you can keep forever.