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Urban Sketching Essentials: Create Your Own Coloring Books

Name: Urban Sketching Essentials: Create Your Own Coloring Books
Rating: 4.8 (8 reviews)

Draw and Paint 8 Urban Landscapes!

Created byWatercolour Mentor

Last updated 8/2021

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Draw simple to complex buildings with a pen, and how to use watercolor to imply light, shade, and mood with a variety of colors.
Learn how to sketch figures and people.
Learn what paints, paper, brushes, and pens you will need.
Hands-on pen sketching techniques - follow along and sketch with me. Learn how to hold your pen for different effects, draw basic lines and shapes.
Understanding light sources and how to paint realistic shadows.
Sketch a subject easily by simplifying a landscape into basic shapes, and using a combination of loose and accurate drawing styles.
Hands-on lessons on essential watercolor techniques such as wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry.
Paint skies, buildings, land, figures, trees and shrubs, and other objects.

Course content

3 sections • 29 lectures • 7h 47m total length

Introduction2:15
Explore urban sketching outdoors with line wash techniques, transforming day-to-day scenes into light and wash sketches suitable for coloring books, using pen, watercolor, and paper.
Materials Required6:20
Choose permanent ink pens with waterproof ink to keep lines sharp when using watercolors. Use 100% cotton cold-pressed watercolor paper, primaries with warm bias, and a versatile brush set.

Drawing - Figures16:38
Master quick urban figure drawing by learning proportions and dynamic poses such as walking and running. Use overlapping feet, shading, and perspective to add depth and variety to your scenes.
Drawing - Sketching Techniques6:16
Explore sketching techniques to vary line quality by pen position, employ hatching and crosshatching to imply tone and depth, and use nib sizes to push elements forward or back.
Warm Up - Buildings and Figures19:29
Master horizon line placement and measuring techniques to achieve correct proportions in urban sketches, then render buildings, cars, and figures with simple shapes and subtle color washes.

Beach Scene - Part 129:38
Develop a beach scene using perspective and a two-thirds horizon line, placing palm trees, umbrellas, and buildings while sketching foreground figures with simple shapes and shading to create depth.
Beach Scene - Part 212:31
Lay warm yellows and oranges first on a beach scene, then layer cooler tones to build depth with greens and blues, while preserving white highlights and edges.
Beach Scene - Part 315:55
Apply directional light from the left to paint convincing beach scene shadows on figures, umbrellas, clothing, and buildings, using purples, neutrals, and blues, then add distant mountains and birds.
Cafe Scene - Part 125:14
Learn to sketch a cafe scene by placing figures, chairs, tables, and umbrellas, manage foreground details, and exploit overlaps to create a lively urban sketching piece.
Cafe Scene - Part 216:10
Learn to build a cafe scene by adding figures, windows, signs, and shading, then develop window details, shrubs, and shopfronts with layered perspective.
Cafe Scene - Part 319:18
Learn to build a warm cafe scene using light yellows, ochres, and greens, then refine with washes, color transitions, and selective details to suggest figures, signs, and furniture.
Cafe Scene - Part 415:04
Apply detailed shading with small round and flat brushes, layering dark greens and purples with neutral tint to define shadows, windows, and cafe scene features.
Carlton Buildings Part 113:58
Carlton Buildings Part 229:13
Focus on rendering shadows and dark areas with larger round brushes and a cool gray palette, blending quickly while keeping sharp edges to reveal trees and buildings.
Carlton Park - Part 115:49
Adapt an urban sketch by composing trees, figures, ducks, and a foreground, using light green washes, sap and emerald greens, cerulean sky, and yellow ochre to build color and depth.
Carlton Park - Part 212:27
Apply shadows to back figures and trees with neutral tint and greens to create depth, while brushwork with a fan brush adds grass and a natural look from the right.
Carlton Pond - Part 119:30
Enlarge the original pond scene from a quick photo, add ducks, trees, and figures, and balance greens, blues, and Naples yellow to build depth, then apply loose washes and reflections.
Carlton Pond - Part 211:10
City Scene - Part 127:18
Master a busy city scene by sketching with pigment liners to capture horizon lines, cars, and pedestrians, using overlapping shapes and perspective lines for depth, with later watercolors.
City Scene - Part 29:07
Decide the shadows from the top left to establish the light source, then use a round brush with lemon yellow and cerulean blue to paint buildings, ground, cars, and figures.
City Scene - Part 318:31
Apply shadows across building fronts with neutral tint and ultramarine blue to create depth, then refine figures, cars, and windows with light coming from the left.
Street Scene - Part 127:54
Create a bustling street scene by sketching crowds, horizon line, overlapping figures, and architectural details with shadows and sun to convey perspective.
Street Scene - Part 212:32
Outline the left building with brickwork, a door, and windows, color the windows, add a balcony and flag, and place figures to create a lively street scene.
Street Scene - Part 39:25
This street scene sketch demonstrates a warm color palette—lemon yellow, Naples yellow, burnt sienna—paired with cerulean blue sky and greens, using cut-around techniques to add depth.
Street Scene - Part 416:38
Add subtle color washes to figures and buildings, using blues, browns, and reds to create backlit depth, foreground emphasis, and delicate shadow details.
Urban Scene - Part 129:24
Master urban sketching for your coloring books by placing multiple figures in the foreground, using horizon line and perspective to suggest buildings, trees, and light poles with simple shading.
Urban Scene - Part 211:57
Apply warm color washes across the ground and buildings to imply light from the right, cast shadows across the scene, and use a light wet-on-wet sky with simple figure washes.
Urban Scene - Part 315:48
Mix warm gray shadows with neutral tint and primaries to build an urban scene with light from the right, then add figures, trees, and foreground bricks.
Course Project2:00
Create your own urban landscape by drawing and painting from demonstrations or references, use tracing templates or freehand techniques, then finish with watercolor steps and share your project.

Requirements

No prerequisites - you only need a few simple materials: a black ink pen, watercolour or sketch paper, watercolour paints and brushes.

Description

Hi, I'm Darren from Watercolor Mentor, and welcome to Urban Sketching Essentials: Create Your Own Coloring Books! Urban sketching with line and wash is a fun way to create fresh and spontaneous works while enjoying some time outdoors. It combines the benefits of both ink drawing and watercolour painting. Urban sketching is a great way to learn and improve your drawing and painting skills. Through our day-to-day lives and travels, we often form connections with our surroundings, buildings, objects, and people we interact with. Urban sketching requires few materials and can be done in a variety of places including; cafés, parks, your room, or on a bus or train. It's a convenient and powerful way to practice line and wash and dramatically improves your drawing and painting skills over a short period of time. In this course, you'll learn how to transform day-to-day scenes that you observe into beautiful line and wash sketches that you can hold onto and treasure.

This course is aimed towards beginners with 8 line and wash demonstrations which I'll help guide you through step-by-step. There are scans, drawing, and tracing templates included as well for each demonstration to help you transfer your drawing over quickly and easily. You also have the option to follow along to my real-time drawing and narration videos for 5 of these demonstrations.

In this course, I narrate my demonstrations in real-time. I explain every technique I use in the context of the painting, such as using watercolor to paint shadows on a building. I'll be going over the basics of line and wash sketching. I'll talk about what materials you'll need, your options, and which ones I use and recommend. If you have a pen, some watercolor paints, and paper, then you're set to go.

I'll show you how to sketch with a pen quickly and accurately using a variety of techniques including drawing lines in segments, hatching, and using different sized nibs to your advantage. I also demonstrate essential watercolor techniques you can use over and over again for any painting.

In this course, I will cover basics such as:

• How to draw simple to complex buildings with a pen, and how to use watercolor to imply light, shade, and mood with a variety of colors.

• How to sketch figures and people.

• Materials - what paints, paper, brushes, and pens you will need.

• Hands-on pen sketching techniques - follow along and sketch with me. Learn how to hold your pen for different effects, draw basic lines and shapes, how to create depth and light/darkness in your drawing through the use of 'hatching'.

• Understanding light sources and how to paint realistic shadows.

• How to sketch a subject easily by simplifying a landscape into basic shapes, and using a combination of loose and accurate drawing styles.

• Hands-on lessons on essential watercolor techniques such as wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry.

• How to paint skies, buildings, land, figures, trees and shrubs, and other objects.

Additional materials including original painting scans, drawing/tracing templates, and reference photographs are included under the 'Materials Required' lecture.

So join me in this course - let's create some beautiful drawings and paintings that you can be proud of!

Course Assignment:

Your course assignment is to draw and paint your own urban landscape! This can be a scene featured in one of the course demonstration videos or based on one of your own photographs or scenes you have observed outside.

You can also refer to the scanned drawing/painting templates attached below which will allow you to trace the drawings if you choose to do so. I recommend drawing each scene free hand. Drawing is an important step in improving your painting skills. This provides you with an opportunity to compose and plan your painting. Once you've finished the drawing, use the watercolor steps and processes included in the course demonstrations to complete your painting.

Materials:

Use any permanent black ink pens, watercolour paper, and brushes you have available. I recommend:

Lightfast/Permanent ballpoint ink pen (0.5mm nib)
100% cotton watercolour paper or sketchbook
Watercolour Brushes - mop brush and a variety of round and flat brushes.

Getting Started:

Review the course demonstrations first. There are 8 different urban landscapes that you can draw and paint from. You can also download the tracing templates to transfer over your drawing.
Looking to sketch and paint another scene? Research some free reference photo websites, pick one of your own reference photos, or simply find an outdoor location where you can sit and paint. Using the steps and processes included in this course, create your own unique urban sketch.

Sharing Your Work:

Feel free to share your work through the Q&A section, or message me directly. If you have any questions or need more tips, please let me know. I'm happy to help.

Who this course is for:

Students learning loose watercolor painting
Students learning how to draw and paint
Students learning pen drawing and sketching
Students learning line and wash
Students learning urban sketching

Urban Sketching Essentials: Create Your Own Coloring Books

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 9min

Exercises3 lectures • 42min

Paint and Draw Along Demonstrations24 lectures • 6hr 57min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: