Sketching the City in Pen, Ink & Watercolor (DVD + Streaming)

With Urban Sketchers blog correspondent Shari Blaukopf as your guide, you’ll start with how to use thumbnails to simplify cityscapes quickly and choose a compelling composition. Kick off your urban sketch with Shari’s tips for drawing any building’s facade by blocking in big shapes and roughing in smaller ones before adding texture and detail in ink. Next, breathe vibrant life into your work by recreating a variety of building surfaces in watercolor. Ready to add key details to your sketches? Find out how to draw doors, windows, people, foliage, signs and more. Move on to giving your city neighborhood greater form and dimension by refining the light and shadow in your work. Plus, Shari will discuss how to sketch breathtaking urban panoramas.

NOTE: If you’d like to purchase only the DVD for this class, you may do so through this link. (Please note, any class PDF materials are not on the DVD itself. You must have streaming access to download those materials associated with the class.)

Drawing Facades (28:53)
Whether you’re sketching skyscrapers or a small strip of row houses, Shari shows you the best techniques for breaking up buildings into manageable proportions and basic shapes. Learn how to subdivide your sketch before starting to add specific textures and details in ink.

Urban Texture (29:05)
Add a vibrant splash of color to your work as you integrate watercolor into your sketches. Shari walks you through the steps needed to capture the look of a wide variety of building materials ranging from stone facades to metal awnings, and she’ll help you bring greater dimension to your scene.

Doors & Windows (23:18)
Windows and doors add a great deal of character to each city neighborhood, and Shari shows you how to observe and capture those unique details with flair. Learn how to study the structure of each door and window, add color washes to enhance areas of light and shadow, and explore ways to depict reflections.

Details That Give Cities Life (25:10)
There’s no shortage of fascinating details when you sketch in an urban area! Learn how to incorporate a symphony of people, pets, foliage, power lines and much more into your scene without overwhelming your drawing with minutiae. Shari also shares professional tips on how to render signage and lettering.

Light & Shadow (22:35)
Delve deeper into ways to depict light and shadow, which can transform an ordinary sketch into a true work of art. Shari helps you identify the best ways to record shadow patterns as you sketch, and how to mix and apply paint to create transparent shadows or large, dark shadows.

Panoramic Cityscapes (26:30)
In the final lesson, step back from the immediacy of street scenes to gain a larger view of your city or town. Shari shares helpful techniques for creating panoramic scenes, beginning with identifying the foreground, middle ground and background elements and finding key focal points.

Shari Blaukopf is a graphic design teacher, illustrator and the co-founder of the Urban Sketchers Montreal regional blog. Shari has a BFA from Concordia University with a specialization in graphic design, but her true love has always been watercolor painting. Her watercolor paintings can be found in corporate, government and private collections in both Canada and the United States. Shari is passionate about sharing her love and knowledge watercolors, and she’s taught many watercolor workshops in the United States and Europe.

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What is your return policy?
We want to be sure you’re satisfied. If you have trouble playing your DVD, if the content is not correctly presented on the DVD, or you are dissatisfied with the content of your class, we will work with you. Contact Craftsy customer service via email or phone. Upon your request, and upon your return of the DVD to us, we will refund your purchase price or send you another DVD to replace a damaged or incorrect DVD, whichever is your preference. If you do receive a full refund, your streaming video class will also be removed from your Craftsy account, so on-demand video access will no longer be available to you.