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Sketching Techniques for Artists: In-Studio and Plein-Air Methods for Drawing and Painting Still Lifes, Landscapes, Architecture, Faces and Figures, and More
Learn dynamic sketching and watercolor techniques for creating cityscapes, landscapes, figures and faces, still lifes, and more, enhancing the story you want to tell with form, line, and color. Discover incredible methods and tips for creating dramatic street scenes and vivid landscapes, and capturing dynamic figures and graphic architectural details. Artist Alex Hillkurtz—a top Hollywood storyboard artist, international workshop instructor, and Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society—presents fundamental concepts of sketching with pencil and pen for a number of popular genres. Discover simple ways to jot down spontaneous ideas in pencil, capture rough details in ink, and add watercolor for extra depth and interest. Make sketching more enjoyable by adopting innovative techniques that will make a difference in your practice, and your artwork. No matter your experience or skill level, you’ll benefit from Compositions that draw the eyeHow to avoid common sketching mistakesWays to create light and shadow to define shapes and add interestSuccessful ways to use negative spaceThe importance of perspective in creating depthEasy color washes that create dramaGet started today, and fill your sketchbooks with unique drawings and paintings you will be proud of. The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2021
98 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 5, 2021
Alex Hillkurtz is an amazing sketcher, but I guess that’s not enough to write a good book on sketching. It’s about everything, but in the end turns out to be really about nothing. There are some handy tips in there, but they are all kinda obvious (I mean, if you ever tried to sketch at all), and none of the chapters goes in depth of its topic. Also, there are quite a lot of style problems, but that probably is editor’s fault. Anyway, it’s an enjoyable read with a selection of great sketches, printed beautifully on a quality paper. But for those looking for a solid read on sketching, I still recommend “The Urban Sketcher” by Marc Taro Holmes, it’s the best I’ve read so far.
May 19, 2022
Wonderful. I’ve never tried watercolor with my drawings but I can’t wait to try!
I’ve never thought about adding watercolor to my pencil drawing, but after reading this, I’m anxious to try. Thank you for such a well explained way of how to water paint. I’m a graduate of an art school and admit fully, I had little idea on how to do that. We were taught using acrylics.
I’ve never thought about adding watercolor to my pencil drawing, but after reading this, I’m anxious to try. Thank you for such a well explained way of how to water paint. I’m a graduate of an art school and admit fully, I had little idea on how to do that. We were taught using acrylics.
January 1, 2021
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
In-Studio and Plein-Air Methods for Drawing and Painting is a new technique volume written by Alex Hillkurtz. Due out 12th Jan 2021 from Quarto on their Rockport imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.
The author is a skilled and well known storyboard artist who uses cinematic visuals to convey story and context. There is a useful amount of philosophy and technique contained in the instructions here to help artists not only render what they *see* but to tell the story of what they're seeing at the same time. Guided directions help the student convey who, what, where, when, and why in their renderings.
The layout is straightforward and easy to understand. The introduction includes a survey of the tools, materials, and basic techniques. The following chapters progress through exercise lessons in composition and perspective to give the reader a basic understanding and facility with visual storytelling, contrast, thumbnails, and different perspective views (and which to choose for specific situations).
The rest of the book provides specialized tutorial lessons grouped roughly thematically: still life, landscape, architecture, figures, and a final chapter showing several watercolor techniques. The book wraps up with an afterword from the author, abbreviated resources and influences lists for further reading, and a short author biography.
The overall feel of the book is technically rich, useful, and varied and I saw many things which got my fingers itching to jump in and start drawing. I'm not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination, but there were a number of takeaways here which I will certainly incorporate in my drawing practice going forward.
Five stars. This would make a superlative selection (possibly bundled with drawing supplies?) for gift giving, as well as as a good support text for more formal drawing instruction/learning. The perspective tutorials were especially apt and well written.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
In-Studio and Plein-Air Methods for Drawing and Painting is a new technique volume written by Alex Hillkurtz. Due out 12th Jan 2021 from Quarto on their Rockport imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.
The author is a skilled and well known storyboard artist who uses cinematic visuals to convey story and context. There is a useful amount of philosophy and technique contained in the instructions here to help artists not only render what they *see* but to tell the story of what they're seeing at the same time. Guided directions help the student convey who, what, where, when, and why in their renderings.
The layout is straightforward and easy to understand. The introduction includes a survey of the tools, materials, and basic techniques. The following chapters progress through exercise lessons in composition and perspective to give the reader a basic understanding and facility with visual storytelling, contrast, thumbnails, and different perspective views (and which to choose for specific situations).
The rest of the book provides specialized tutorial lessons grouped roughly thematically: still life, landscape, architecture, figures, and a final chapter showing several watercolor techniques. The book wraps up with an afterword from the author, abbreviated resources and influences lists for further reading, and a short author biography.
The overall feel of the book is technically rich, useful, and varied and I saw many things which got my fingers itching to jump in and start drawing. I'm not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination, but there were a number of takeaways here which I will certainly incorporate in my drawing practice going forward.
Five stars. This would make a superlative selection (possibly bundled with drawing supplies?) for gift giving, as well as as a good support text for more formal drawing instruction/learning. The perspective tutorials were especially apt and well written.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
January 1, 2021
Alex Hillkurtz's Sketching Techniques for artists is not really a "generic" sketching book, but rather one that I feel falls into the genre/trend of "Urban Sketching." That's not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but because of that, it's definitely worth knowing going in that this book will feature more landscapes, buildings/architecture and city scenes than it will say, figure sketching (which does appear, but is brief). And you won't see any life drawing sketching here either. Instead, this book follows a very standard formula of "urban sketching," - basic introduction to pens and pencils with a clear preference for what's most portable, and then the addition of watercolors, followed by discussing all the necessary techniques for choosing and crafting your sketch subjects on location. I feel the most valuable additions Hillkurtz gives to this format is his emphasis on the "gesture" of architecture and buildings in relation to one another, followed by his developed eye for composition and talking about where to position oneself for the best view -- clearly inspired by his time as a storyboarder.
December 14, 2020
I love how the author approaches drawing and painting from the perspective of someone who has a background in storyboarding and illustrations for film. For example, one of his headings is Using the language of film to tell a story, and still-life can be a “poem made visible.” He presented fresh ways of looking at sketching and painting such as “draw a verb, not a noun” and watercolor is a dance in which we must be ready to adjust if the paint begins to improvise.
There are useful tips and techniques for composition, perspective, still life, landscapes, architecture, figures, and watercolor. In other words, all the essentials.
Because of the above reasons, I really enjoyed this book. I wish each chapter was longer with more material though. As it is, this is a small volume with about 73 pages.
Great for learning urban sketching, either for the beginner or the sketcher who wants to enhance their art.
After reading this book, I hurried to follow the author on social media!
There are useful tips and techniques for composition, perspective, still life, landscapes, architecture, figures, and watercolor. In other words, all the essentials.
Because of the above reasons, I really enjoyed this book. I wish each chapter was longer with more material though. As it is, this is a small volume with about 73 pages.
Great for learning urban sketching, either for the beginner or the sketcher who wants to enhance their art.
After reading this book, I hurried to follow the author on social media!
February 16, 2021
Wow. Very good and original book about sketching that makes you want to begin isntantly. After the usual materials you find a very interesting approach: you have to tell a story. So you have to answer the questions: What, Where, How, When, Who. You learn the essential about composition, perspective. The next chapters are dedicated to the subjects: still lifes, landscapes, artchitecture and figures and finally the tecnnique of the watercolor. Well written, beautifully illustrated, well presented.
January 2, 2021
It is an advanced course book for artists.
First of all its illustrations are wonderful and soulful.
It goes in depth to cover all important aspects of realistic drawing especially of nature.
It sheds light on perspective while drawing, postures, moods, watercolor, shadows and body movements.
A really important book full of practical wisdom and one book that will be very helpful to polish your drawing skills.
First of all its illustrations are wonderful and soulful.
It goes in depth to cover all important aspects of realistic drawing especially of nature.
It sheds light on perspective while drawing, postures, moods, watercolor, shadows and body movements.
A really important book full of practical wisdom and one book that will be very helpful to polish your drawing skills.
November 21, 2020
Sketching Techniques for Artists is a nicely presented work with some good tips and ideas. Although it mentions figures and faces, the bulk of this book focuses on architecture and landscape sketching. There is the usual introductory section on choice of materials and methods before the book kicks off. If you are interested in figure drawing, you'd be best served finding a book that specialises in that. However, this is an excellent reference work if you are keen to sketch landscapes or, in particular, city scenes, since it goes into great detail on the best approaches for drawing various building features, and how to find the most dynamic angles and lighting for your sketch.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 21, 2021
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange of my honest opinion.
This is a very quick to read book, yet it gives you a lot of great sketching tips, plus a little foundation on composition, perspective, and even colours too!
I really enjoyed this book, but I do have a teeny tiny big complaint: the author talks too much about what they like to sketch and how, and it completely ignores everything else. Personally I prefer things to be presented in a general way, and then add a few personal things.
This is a very quick to read book, yet it gives you a lot of great sketching tips, plus a little foundation on composition, perspective, and even colours too!
I really enjoyed this book, but I do have a teeny tiny big complaint: the author talks too much about what they like to sketch and how, and it completely ignores everything else. Personally I prefer things to be presented in a general way, and then add a few personal things.
October 12, 2023
Wonderful book showing sketching and watercolor techniques. Beautiful examples of ink and watercolor sketches. Tips and examples of still life, landscapes, urban sketching, faces and figures. Some step-by-step examples. Inspirational! I worry about creating something that doesn't turn out as well as I'd hoped so I loved when he stated "...the imperfect real is better than perfection imagined" and that sketching is more about the path your pencil takes over the course of a lifetime rather than individual drawings.
June 19, 2023
I loved this book, it inspired me, and gave me great ideas on every subject from landscapes to people and in every medium from pencil and pen (love his idea of using pencil in the background for atmospheric perspective and ink lines in the foreground) to laying washes of watercolor to capture the light. And he helped me want to sketch and paint, and to enjoy it for the act. This is in my top 10 favorite books on sketching/watercolor painting.
June 25, 2025
A good overview of sketching basics and even watercolor basics. However, it's only that and suffers a bit from never going deeper. I did appreciate the brief coverage of 3-point perspective but it would have been nice to have an exercise for that one since it's more complex. I also appreciated the reminders of ways to keep your viewpoint and thus the work more artistic.
The lack of depth makes this one less useful for me as a reference and will probably gift it. 3.5 stars.
The lack of depth makes this one less useful for me as a reference and will probably gift it. 3.5 stars.
July 25, 2023
Very Helpful Book
Lots and lots of good info and tips to help any artist improve their sketching, drawing, and watercolor techniques. This one was much easier to sit down and read through without having one exercise after another. It is the kind of book that I’ll go back to with a sketchbook open and ready to practice.
Lots and lots of good info and tips to help any artist improve their sketching, drawing, and watercolor techniques. This one was much easier to sit down and read through without having one exercise after another. It is the kind of book that I’ll go back to with a sketchbook open and ready to practice.
March 6, 2025
It's an excellent book for the new artist. The author provides guidance on how to approach the drawings and then provides step-by-step details on how to proceed. He does this all while keeping his instructions simple and clear, making them easy to follow. I found it very helpful and I believe it would help any beginning artist to draw better.
December 22, 2020
A great book with lots of useful tips for all levels of artists. It goes into great depth about composition and perspective, and shows you what could make a great picture, and what doesn't work. Easy to follow, it will help you refine your drawing skills and improve your techniques.
December 19, 2022
Great tips about sketching and watercolors
Not only it provides tips about sketching and watercolor, it is also inspiring. The author is so good at what he does. If only I can add anything to this book, it is keep practicing. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the journey.
Not only it provides tips about sketching and watercolor, it is also inspiring. The author is so good at what he does. If only I can add anything to this book, it is keep practicing. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the journey.
January 19, 2025
Artis must have book
If you are a beginner or thinking about teaching an art class. This book will lay the sketch art really simple, as it should. Really good information.
Thank you
If you are a beginner or thinking about teaching an art class. This book will lay the sketch art really simple, as it should. Really good information.
Thank you
February 21, 2021
There are many nuggets of artistic insight in this book; it is one I will continually refer to.
September 28, 2022
A good companion to his Domestics course.
January 7, 2021
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.
This book is very informative and I really enjoyed the architecture parts due to enjoying architecture photography so I have reference photos that I can use! The book not only helps my drawing skills but it also helps me refine my photography!
Rating: 5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes
Would I Recommend it? Yes
This book is very informative and I really enjoyed the architecture parts due to enjoying architecture photography so I have reference photos that I can use! The book not only helps my drawing skills but it also helps me refine my photography!
Rating: 5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes
Would I Recommend it? Yes
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews