Modern Urban Sketching Techniques with Mixed Media
A course by Jenny AdamProduct Designer and Illustrator
A course by Jenny Adam, Product Designer and Illustrator
Immortalize urban street scenes and capture the flair of your favorite city with different painting techniques
Want to learn how to shake up your streetscapes? Jenny Adam is an illustrator specializing in urban sketching who works with limited color palettes and focuses on brightness, mid-tones, and shadows. Her work stands out thanks to a colorful, eye-catching, and dynamic style and aims to convey unconventional ways of thinking, sensual lines, and expressive colors by experimenting with different materials. As a product designer, she has received several awards and her pieces have appeared in media publications like Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In this course, she teaches you how to use different methods to enhance your lively urban drawings by mixing techniques. Try new tools and work with limited color palettes and concepts. Under Jenny's expert guidance, discover an easy way to create complex scenes and illustrate vibrant streets bursting with color. Dive into the world of urban sketching and brighten your scenes with color!
What will you learn in this online course?
14 lessons & 21 downloads
Materials for the course
6 minutes, 51 seconds
Dealing with color
13 minutes, 59 seconds
Colorful primer: throw paint!
5 minutes, 2 seconds
From line to shape
9 minutes, 33 seconds
Negative shape and shadow shape
6 minutes, 58 seconds
Choosing composition and motif
9 minutes, 20 seconds
What's included in this course?
Jenny Adam opens the course by telling you about how she got into the world of drawing. She also shares some of her influences and sources of inspiration for her art.
Begin with an introduction to what urban sketching is and see the mixed techniques involved before going over the materials needed for the course. Jenny then shows you the colors and techniques to use for the illustration and the reasons for choosing them.
Next, look at shapes and composition and learn to distinguish an image's fundamental shapes, including negative space and shadows. Get some tips on the structure to follow when illustrating and choose the image you want to depict.
Now it's time to dive into the chosen scene and decide on the atmosphere and color palette: the two major players in your illustration. Sketch the biggest shapes in your piece and continue with the finer details to see it all come together. Put the finishing touches on your work to bring it to life and give it extra dimension.
Jenny teaches you how and where to find inspiration online, as well as how to meet new colleagues. Wrap things up by exploring how to efficiently use social media to share your work.
What is this course's project?
Draw a bustling urban scene that is simple yet alive with color.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in drawing and sketching. You don't need any prior knowledge, although a little drawing and painting experience would be helpful.
Requirements and materials
You need paints (such as watercolors, gouache, acrylics, and inks), paintbrushes, colored pencils, fine-tipped markers, crayons, and paper or a sketchbook.
Reviews
- lessimonesPLUS2 months ago
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce cours. C’est très bien expliqué et on obtient vite de beaux résultats
- 2 months ago
Very inspiering course.
- 2 months ago
curso interesante, explica muy detallado y las técnicas que usan son muy asequibles incluso para aquellas personas que quieren experimentar sin tener muchos materiales
- 3 months ago
Es un gran curso, recomendado
- 3 months ago
Really enjoyed this course. Lovely teacher who explains things well. I have learned a lot.
For her, urban drawing is a form of visual expression that allows her to simultaneously draw inspiration from her surroundings. Her artistic influences include German painter Käthe Kollwitz, American painter Elizabeth Peyton, illustrator Benoît Guillaume, and painter Fairfield Porter. Jenny works primarily as an illustrator for her newspaper and magazine clients. From her studio in Hamburg, she creates work for clients from all over Europe. She has also collaborated with mejor companies like Lufthansa, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, and Alnatura, among others.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About me
- Inspirations
- U2
Mixed media and material
- Introduction to urban sketching and mixed media
- Materials for the course
- Dealing with color
- Colorful primer: throw paint!
- U3
Lines, shapes and composition
- From line to shape
- Negative shape and shadow shape
- Choosing composition and motif
- U4
Paint an urban scene in mixed media
- Define the atmosphere and color palette
- Drawing: Big Shapes
- Drawing: details and finalization
- U5
According to the sketch
- Photograph and share the drawing
- The kitchen cabinet studio: Extraordinary household materials
- FP
Final project
- Modern Urban Sketching Techniques with Mixed Media
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
This course is aimed at artists with some basic drawing skills who want to deepen their Urban Sketching and Mixed Media techniques. It’s perfect for those who already know the fundamentals and are eager to explore new methods and creative approaches.
You’ll need a sketchbook and a variety of drawing tools like pencils, fineliners, colored pencils, watercolor paints, acrylic markers, gouache, brushes, and optionally household items like coffee or salt for experimenting. A detailed materials list will be provided in the course.
You’ll learn how to creatively capture urban scenes in your sketchbook, apply various Mixed Media techniques, use color intentionally, create textures, and apply composition principles. Plus, you’ll discover how to share your work within the community.
Basic drawing skills are recommended. The course is tailored for participants who have some drawing experience and want to develop their skills further.
You’ll learn techniques such as watercolor painting in your sketchbook, working with acrylic markers and gouache, hatching, blind contour drawing, contour drawing, creating textures, and experimenting with Mixed Media materials.
Yes, the course guides you step-by-step on how to simplify and convincingly portray portraits, figure studies, and urban street scenes using different materials.
The community offers inspiration, exchange, and motivation. You’ll learn how to connect at meetups or online, receive feedback, and present your sketches — an essential part of personal growth.