Drawing Essentials

Accurate Proportion & Effective Shading

Unlock Your Creative Universe: Mastering Character Design from Basics to Brilliance

Explore Depth and Dimension through Shading: How shading techniques add depth, dimension, and texture to your drawings

Learn sketching basics with step-by-step lessons from Urban Sketchers instructor and blog correspondent Matt Brehm. Open up your sketchbook and get started with tips for drawing straighter lines and fluid curves. If you get overwhelmed by sketching on location, have no fear! Matt will help you reduce sketching stress by planning what to draw, what to crop out and how large your final drawing should be. With your plan in place, learn basic pencil-sighting and sight-sizing techniques for more accurate proportions and angles. Then, get comfortable drawing repetitive elements such as windows and arches. Think adding depth to your drawing has to be intimidating? Find out how to take control of value and add dimension by hatching in perspective. Matt will even guide you through drawing people, landscape elements and more to bring your sketchbooks to life.

More than a hobby, travel and sketching are a perfect pairing, like great food and fine wine, that can expand our creative awareness, heighten our senses, and greatly enrich our lives and the lives of those we encounter. But complex urban scenes can be overwhelming. This class is the remedy!

Explore the rich, colorful world of pastels, without the mess! Artist Colin Bradley shares essential techniques for drawing a realistic cat portrait and landscape with pastel pencils.