Sketching on location is not only an artistic technique, but a way of life for many artists and travelers who identify themselves as #urbansketchers online and in social networks worldwide.
“We draw on location, indoors trout, capturing what we see from direct observation,” says Stephanie Bower in The World of Urban Sketching, describing her fellow artists as “visual reporters” who tell the story of their surroundings, wherever they may be.
For Bowers, that included an afternoon in Varanasi, India, where in one hour she completed a sketch of the waterfront with a mechanical pencil and watercolors. The sketch is one of hundreds featured in her book along with profiles of urban sketchers and their work.
“I learned drawing and perspective basics in architectural school, and over the years, it’s evolved into sketching as a way to learn more about the places I go and the architecture I see. The act of sketching imprints the information and experience so deeply that years later, I can recall every detail. My sketches are not so much finished art but more a visual travel journal in pencil and watercolor,” she explains.
