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HOW TO BUILD CONFIDENCE WHEN STARTING TO SKETCH

With Ian Fennelly

watercolour palette

Discover some of Ian Fennelly’s best sketching advice.

Find out some useful advice and tips from Ian in our new ‘How to‘ guide.

Finding confidence to start something new can be challenging, we’ve all felt that imposter syndrome when wanting to take on a new venture. Ian is here to help and talk you through urban sketching step by step. Here Ian shares some of his top tips for building confidence when you’re just starting out.

 

 

Start with a dot or a line!

Everyone starts out somewhere! Why not have a go? It can be as simple as starting with a dot or a line on a page. That dot or line can turn into something magical.

“Every sketch starts off with a dot or a line, and then that sketch into a composition or a structure, a shape which then becomes coloured, and we add tone to it and before you know it, you’re adding all sorts of stories.”

Hands and blank page

THINK OF THE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT

Us humans love to think of all the reasons why we shouldn’t do something, don’t we? It’s completely normal, but if you can, try and lower that inner voice and think of the reasons why you should instead!

Think about the other benefits of urban sketching, the joy of being on location, meeting other creative sketchers, connecting with a location and the overall pleasure that a creative process can bring to your wellbeing.

“My advice would be, to first of all have a go because you don’t know where it’s going to take you. Be bold, be brave. You won’t get anywhere unless you have a go. If you’re convincing yourself of all the reasons why you shouldn’t do it, you’re not going to get anywhere.”

Have fun making mistakes

Embrace the mistakes! Any creative process is full of making mistakes and urban sketching is no exception. Try and see making mistakes as part of the fun and you never know, sometimes them mistakes can work out perfectly.

“No one’s perfect, no one gets it right all the time. I get it wrong all the time and I’m really lucky because people don’t seem to notice but I’m always making mistakes.”

Urban sketch sketching on location what to take
Watch the full video as Ian Fennelly gives some tips on building your confidence with sketching.

THANK YOU

We are so blessed at Urban Sketch Course to have such a wonderful growing community. Thank you to everyone who supports our journey, we send our love to each and every one of you.

Don’t forget to keep us up to date with your sketching journey by using the hashtag #UrbanSketchCourse. We look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Urban Sketching for Beginners

Join Ian Fennelly as he guides you through 47 easy-to-follow lessons and practical exercises that transform you from complete beginner to skilled urban sketcher!

Find out more