Free Online Sketching Course

Even if you haven’t heard of or tried urban sketching before, we’ll talk you through exactly what urban sketching is and what to expect from our free online sketching course.

Start urban Sketching

This Free Online Sketching Course has been created with well loved artist Ian Fennelly and is designed to be an easy to follow and educational course.

Even if you haven’t heard of or tried urban sketching before, we’ll talk you through exactly what urban sketching is and what to expect from our free course.

Ian_portraitlondon – Urban Sketch Course

What is urban sketching?

If you’ve not heard of urban sketching before, you may be wondering about what the difference is between ‘normal’ sketching and urban sketching. So we’re going to break it down a bit:

Simply put, urban sketching means sketching on location and drawing what you see.

Its true that people have been sketching this way for many years before the term urban sketching was created, but giving it name has helped to bring a community of wonderful artists together to sketch outside or inside, capturing what they see from direct observation.

Sketching this way is a wonderful method of recording a specific time and place, and urban sketching often lends itself to travel for this reason. Think of it like a visual diary!

Porto, Portugal – urban sketch by Ian Fennelly

Urban sketchers don’t have to use any particular type of media, you may prefer to work with watercolour, pencil, on a tablet or with another type of paint. This is completely up to you! Our courses use watercolour and pen because it’s super handy when on the go and easy to use.

But don’t worry, we won’t need to venture out to buy any supplies for this course and we won’t be making you step outside. In fact you can rest easy from the comfort of home and you can watch our course on your phone, tablet or desktop. Sit back and relax as you learn how to get started, some of the tips and tricks for sketching a village scene and sketch along with urban sketching master Ian Fennelly, in easy to follow steps.

What to expect from the course

In this free sketching course, artist Ian Fennelly will guide you through a series of 10 fun and easy-to-follow lessons.

You’ll explore how to create your first urban sketch by understanding the foundations of how to create a sketch

If you’re a more seasoned artist, why not try it and see if you learn something new!

Just a few of the things that you’ll discover…
 

  • Line
  • Colour
  • Tone
  • Detail
  • Perspective
  • Composition

How Do I Join the Free Course?

All you need to do is create yourself a free online account on Urban Sketch Course.

Click here to get started.

It’s quick and simple and requires no credit or debit card details. Once you’re registered you’ll have access to our free online urban sketching course – there’s already a lesson waiting for you. You can rewatch previous videos too so why not try it a few times with different techniques!

What’s the catch? There isn’t one. Seriously.

There are no obligations to do anything (other than to sketch) and if you love our free online urban sketching course it may just give you the desire to explore this type of sketching even further.

While this course is not designed to replace the extensive teachings you’ll gain from our range of online courses, we hope that you find it an enjoyable and useful learning experience.

You could even enhance your sketching skills by taking a look at one of our bigger online sketching courses or workshops if you wish – but that’s totally up to you! Art should always be enjoyable so there’s no pressure to continue if it isn’t right for you.

Urban Sketch Course has a range of exciting online sketching courses and workshops covering a range of different locations including cityscapeslandscapes and even animals!

Here’s just a few of our other courses:

Porto, Portugal – urban sketch by Ian Fennelly
Join world renowned artist and teacher Ian Fennelly in this FREE online course as he guides you through the foundations of urban sketching and his essential tips for beginners.
Learn To Sketch Elephants, Safari Sketching Course
Sketch Safari teaches you Ian Fennelly’s complete urban sketching method, using wild animals to help you make stronger, calmer, more confident sketching decisions.
Sketch people
Sketch people the Ian Fennelly way: full of expression, character and personality! No rules, no pressure, just simple, characterful techniques that bring your sketchbook to life.
Free Online Sketching Course

Learn Urban Sketching

In our Free Course!

Ian Circle 2 – Urban Sketch Course

About the Artist

Ian Fennelly focuses on capturing urban spaces and environments by drawing the places where people have been without actually including them.

His process involves layering watercolors, brush pens, and liners to build depth, texture, and detail, allowing them to fully immerse in the scene while adapting to changes in their surroundings.

Urban Sketch Course promotional image – online sketching course

About Urban Sketch Course

Our mission is to connect you with the world through the art of urban sketching

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