The Urban Sketching Handbook Architecture and Cityscapes: Tips and Techniques for Drawing on Location

by Gabriel Campanario

Award-winning illustrator Gabriel Campanario first introduced his approach to drawing in The Art of Urban Sketching, a showcase of more than 500 sketches and drawing tips shared by more than 100 urban sketchers around the world. Now, he drills down into specific challenges of making sketches on location, rain or shine, quickly or slowly, and the most suitable techniques for every situation, in The Urban Sketching Handbook series. It's easy to overlook that ample variety of buildings and spaces and the differences from city to city, country to country. From houses, apartments and shopping malls to public buildings and places of worship, the structures humans have created over the centuries, for shelter, commerce, industry, transportation or recreation, are fascinating subjects to study and sketch.

In The Urban Sketching Handbook: Architecture and Cityscapes, Gabriel lays out keys to help make the experience of drawing architecture and cityscapes fun and rewarding. Using composition, depth, scale, contrast, line and creativity, sketching out buildings and structure has never been more inspirational. This guide will help you to develop your own creative approach, no matter what your skill level may be today. As much as The Urban Sketching Handbook: Architecture and Cityscapes may inspire you to draw more urban spaces, it can also help to increase your appreciation of the built environment. Drawing the places where we live, work and play, is a great way to show appreciation and creativity.

Genres: Art, Architecture, Drawing, Nonfiction, Design, Reference, Picture Books

112 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2014

Reviews

[Chantal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book with some usefull tips. Wished that some concepts would have been explained more for a better understanding. A quick read for beginners.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a simple book filled with helpful tips that you can use if you want to go and draw buildings , landscapes etc. The example drawings in it are very nice. The tips are concise and helpful. All in a very compact book that would be easy to throw in a messenger bag or backpack and refer to. 4 enthusiastic stars.

[Nikolina Dancheva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Това е един симпатичен наръчник, който много бързо и стегнато дава насоки как да се подходи със скицирането на сгради и архитектурни елементи. Към книжката не трябва да се подхожда като към учебник, защото всички концепции са разгледани в много опростен вариант. Тя по-скоро служи да запознае хората с идеята на градското скициране (urban sketching) и да даде начален тласък и вдъхновение на неопитните да излязат навън и да се пробват сами да сътворят нещичко. Наръчникът е полезен и за по-напредналите, защото по страниците на книгата могат да се видят скиците на над 40 художника, а това винаги е вдъхновяващо и интересно.

[Mms Mamdouh Al Shamy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simple introduction, to composition, scale, depth, line and creativity
more details needed

[Arantxa Orig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a bit sparse, and sometimes a cash grab, as some of the tips were pretty obvious 😅😅😅 Although if you're like me and don't mind being reminded of art fundamentals, then I guarantee you'll still find value in this book 😁👍

I highly appreciate Gabriel Campanario's succinct writing on the different topics tackled—because of this, reading the handbook was a breeze ✍️ The sketches featured are phenomenal as usual (Youtuber Teoh Yi Chie's artworks are in this book!) and a good source of inspiration if you're in sketching slump 👍 All in all this is a great companion to the handbook on understanding perspective (which is still the best urban sketching handbook of the bunch imo) 😤😤😤

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid resource with great tips on perspective drawing. Campanario includes both the 'simple' topics, like one-point perspective as well as more complicated views such as 'bird's eye' and 'worm's eye' and dealing with rising and falling landscapes, as well as domes, arches, and unusual shapes.

I got this book from my library but have added it to my 'to buy' list so that I can refer back to it and do the exercises at a more leisurely pace.

One downside: the font is in a grey that is difficult to read on the white pages in less-than-fully-bright light (as I did), and which is almost painful to read when included in the coloured boxes. It surprises me that an artist would opt for colour combinations that make the text difficult to read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that wants you to get outside and draw immediately. It's small and slim, perfect for stuffing in your bag for the day. Each page has a very short paragraph of advice (e.g., "warm up with thumbnail sketches") with a few sketches from various artists showing how they put that advice into practice. There are a few little sidebars on misc topics, like materials or ways to practice perspective, but they are very quick and dirty. The advice is helpful, easy to try out in practice, and not overwhelming for beginners. The book also includes some galleries of pencil, pen, and watercolour sketches, which are really the highlight for me.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This small handbook goes through several elements of urban sketching : composition, scale, depth, contrast, line, and creativity. Within every chapter, there are little tips, a toolbox, and useful habits. Loads of sketches from the author and other artists also help to realise the diversity of style. Really helpful. Next step : get out and draw.

https://redheadwithabrain.ch/index.ph...

[Michael Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple book, interesting, not very detailed, with good tips, and is a quick read. Having read four of these US Handbook books, I wonder whether I’d have done better and more inexpensively to find one book with the information I found in four of these. Oh well, sunk costs — I got these cheap, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

[Daniel Tol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give it 3,5 Stars rounded down to 3.

A fine book that you can breeze through in a couple days.

Though it is by no means going in depth or with useful exercises that will make you improve quickly I find it a good supplement when doing a video course on something like perspective, composition or proportions.

I’m glad my library had this book in their catalogue.

[Marit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful handbook with lots of examples illustrating the most important aspects of urban sketching.
It's a handbook so it is a general introduction to the art of sketching architecture and citiscapes, not an exhaustive guide.

I've scanned the whole book now and expect to use this many times in the future to look at my sketches critically, figure out what is missing or can be done better.

[Allen Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m screening art books from the library before deciding what to purchase for detailed study. This little book goes into the “possibly/maybe” list. Good review of drawing and observational techniques for urban environments. And a great list of challenges on the last page.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book delivers what the title says: good beginner tips for sketching. It's a good inspiration for anyone who's getting into it, not just for urban artists, as the points made apply to a wide range of illustrations. Liked it and will probably use it as a reference again in the future.

[kimyunalesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers basic lessons about urban sketching,lots of pictures and examples. Easy to understand and quick read.

[Avinash Hindupur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't know what to expect from this, but was pleased that I chose to pick it. A clean and clear way of teaching useful tips coupled with beautiful sketches from around the world!

[Misaki Lenomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

<3 love it

[Bet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, easy to digest for absolute beginners. It’s not really an instructional book, but more of a book of useful tips for learning urban sketching. Drawings are inspiring.

[Bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kudos to Campanario for co-founding urbansketchers.org. A simple book for beginners, didn’t like the sketches much, though.

[Gerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a quick book to read which I actually appreciate. I enjoyed the different styles by different artists included here. Would love this book more if it was a little bit more technical and informational, but overall a good book to inspire beginner urban sketchers

[Pat Loughery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seattle's Gabriel Campanario is well known as the Seattle Sketcher whose work is published in the Seattle Times newspaper, giving us artistic looks at life in and around the city.

This handbook, the first of a pair, is a brief but helpful look at sketching architecture and cityscapes. It's creative, simple and straightforward enough for new sketchers but useful for more advanced creatives.

Perhaps the most helpful page is 111, which lists the 40+ contributing artists and their own sites. It will be very useful to go look through their work as I continue to practice my own urban sketching.

[Reuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy, small-format, brief, focused primer for sketching urban architecture and cityscapes. Read initially Dec. 25,2014; reread 11/9/2015.

7 Nov. 2015. Read The Urban Sketching Handbook: People and Motion. Like its companion volume, above, it is a handy, small-format, brief, focused primer--this one, of course, about drawing people on location. (The Goodreads has conflated theses two titles, so when you type in this second book, you get the first one.)

[Dvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book about urban sketching in the shape of a Moleskine sketchbook.
It is packed with sketching tips focussing on buildings and architecture with example sketches from different artists all around the world.
It offers a good introduction to urban sketching, but if you are looking for something more in depth, this is not it.

[melydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A how-to book on drawing buildings using lots of gorgeous on-location sketches from around the world as examples. Worth picking up for that even if you're not interested in the mechanics of perspective and shading.

[Magpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable companion for urban sketchers, Gabriel is the real deal and co founder of the current movement

[Criss · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of great tips and inspiring illustrations for any aspiring urban sketcher.

[Jasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY ON REPEAT!