Urban Sketching: Express Your World in a New Perspective

Your everyday life is an endless source of inspiration when it comes to sketching. In fact, urban sketcher Lapin believes that everything is sketchable: from your first cup of coffee to dinner with your friends. And a great urban sketcher not only depicts what is in front of them, they also convey the feeling of a place. Lapin has mastered the ability to tell a story with his sketches, through constant practice and curious observation, filling 200 sketchbooks in the last 18 years. His clients include Air France, the City of Barcelona, Le Parisien Magazine, Deutsche Telekom, PlayStation, Heineken, Marks & Spencer, Monoprix, Aigle, Peugeot, Porsche, and more.

In this course, Lapin teaches you how to tell the stories of your everyday life, using fineliners, watercolors, but most of all, your unique perspective. See how to sketch from observation, discover the curvilinear perspective, and express your original stories with depth and feeling.

Lapin begins by telling you about his passion for the art of sketching, how he braved the transition between graphic design to becoming a full-time urban sketcher, and shares his main sources of inspiration along the way.

Discover the urban sketcher’s manifesto. Go through the minimal sketching gear you need for the course, focusing on Lapin’s personal favorites. He tells you how he makes the most out of each item and how you can apply them to your sketches throughout the course.

Learn Lapin’s intuitive technique to sketch from observation using a black fineliner for contour and a reduced watercolor palette for volume to start the first practical exercise. Next up is perspective, going from classical to curvilinear perspective. Practice the cylindrical perspective to create curvaceous horizontal lines and the spherical perspective—also known as fisheye perspective—to curve both horizontal and vertical lines using simple observation techniques.

According to Lapin, a good sketchbook must contain a dinosaur and a spaceship, but what are you passionate about? Once you’ve outlined your themes, start practicing and learning how to improve with Lapin’s advice. Learn how to sketch objects by creating a composition of some of your favorite objects, to warm up your hand and practice Lapin’s sketching from observation technique.

Then, learn Lapin’s unique caricature-style portraits, composed of big heads and little bodies, followed by sketching an outdoor view to practice the cylindrical perspective you saw previously. Throughout your practical exercises, Lapin shows you how to add storytelling elements to your work such as speech bubbles, people, descriptions and soundtracks, prompting you to always be observant of your surroundings when sketching. See how Lapin incorporates colored pencils and a white gel ink pen to add more depth to your work.

In the final unit, Lapin focuses on the storytelling aspect in your sketches, prompting you to move away from the typical postcard-style sketches and focus on telling a more personal story. Finally, he’ll show you how to share your work on social media and take part in the urban sketching community.

Fill a sketchbook with anecdotes from your everyday life, inspired by your surroundings, friends, and family, to sketch some personal stories, as well as documenting your travels. Use Lapin’s techniques to capture the moment and learn how to take part in the Urban Sketching scene on social media.

This course is for art lovers with a beginner's level in sketching who want to learn how to express their surroundings using a sketchbook and their imagination.

No previous sketching experience is required to take this course, all you need is curiosity and enthusiasm!

As for materials, you will need a sketchbook (either A4 or A5), a black waterproof fineliner (0.2 mm), a small watercolor set (12 half pans is enough), 2-3 refillable water brushes, a rag to clean your brushes, colored pencils, a folding stool, other fineliners if possible (gray, ochre, green, blue, red, white gel ink pen).