Books on Urban Sketching

As both an urban sketcher and librarian, I thought it might be a good idea to combine my two passions and provide readers with a list of books related to urban sketching. I am a consummate reader and collector and, most importantly, active user of art instruction books.  
I am also mindful of the competing interests that can occur when talking about art books. We have excellent libraries here in the Pacific Northwest but we, of course, want to support our fellow artists and teachers through our purchases. One way to leverage your art instruction book dollars is to use your public library to preview works AND then support our fellow artists and authors by buying their books. 

Your public library is a great way to review books over a longer period of time. You can get a better sense of the quality and nature of instruction than simply perusing them in the bookstore or just guessing that they might be what you want from an online source.  Once you decide that you would like a particular book, (and, even as a librarian, I almost always do-since it is difficult to learn the techniques in a particular book if you have to return it in two weeks) then purchase it. And, if you can't afford to purchase every book you want, I am sure most artists would prefer that you borrow it from a library and use it to help you learn and create art.  

If the author makes the option available, I recommend purchasing directly from their website.  A good first step is to go to an author/artist's website to see how they prefer you buy their books. I also advocate using local independent bookstores whenever possible.  

For those new to urban sketching, here are four of the most popular and my personal favorites!  There is a growing number of instructional books on the topic of urban sketching. I post those below as recommendations. 

The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Around The World

by Gabriel Campanario

Check out Gabi's website
http://gabicampanario.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Urban-Sketching-Location/dp/1592537251

The Urban Sketcher: Techniques for Seeing and Drawing on Location

by Marc Taro Holmes

Check out Marc's website:
http://citizensketcher.com/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Urban-Sketcher-Techniques-Location/dp/1440334714

Archisketcher: Drawing Buildings, Cities and Landscapes

by Simone Ridyard

Check out Simone's website:
http://www.simoneridyard.co.uk/

http://www.amazon.com/Archisketcher-Drawing-Buildings-Cities-Landscapes/dp/1440340919

Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color

by Felix Scheinberger 

Check out Felix's website:

http://www.felixscheinberger.de/#hamburg

http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Watercolor-Sketching-Painting-Storytelling/dp/0770435211

As I said, there are many others!   The four above are considered standard works in this area.  A search in your library catalog, your local bookstore or Amazon, Barnes and Noble will reveal many more! 

Here also are links to the libraries in Pierce County.  Staff there can assist you in locating the books you are interested in borrowing.  

Pierce County Library System

https://www.piercecountylibrary.org/

Tacoma Public Library

http://www.tacomalibrary.org/

Puyallup Public Library

http://www.cityofpuyallup.org/library/

I will refrain from advocating one bookstore over another, but a search in Google will point you in the right direction!   

Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about books related to urban sketching by commenting below.  I would be happy to post actual reviews of newly released works if you would find this useful. Please also share your favorites in the comments section below!  

(Note: All images used with permission of the artist-author.)

Correspondent: Beverly Choltco-Devlin