Find your urban-sketching flow

The first time I ever sketched on location was during a 2022 holiday to Xalapa in Mexico. I painted my coffee at a breakfast café off the main square that I'd visited a couple of times before. It was a quiet and cool weekday morning, and I was excited but relaxed, chatting to my husband while I sketched. Even though we had so many amazing experiences on that trip, this is one of my clearest memories because I was so present in the moment.

I'd been wanting to sketch outside for a while, and I remember feeling so proud of myself that I'd finally done it! It would be a few months before I started urban sketching regularly, but this still felt like a pivotal moment of letting myself leap into the unknown without necessarily knowing where I was heading. So much has changed since then - I've developed my own style and improved my technical skills - and yet this sketch still makes me feel so happy when I look at it.

I've been speaking to a few of you recently who've tried sketching outside on your own a couple of times, but are not sure yet whether urban sketching is really for you. Sketching outside is a specific skill that you have to practise to get good at - it's a different beast to sketching at home, no matter how long you've been doing that. And so the best advice I can give you is to focus on enjoying the process rather than on making a particular finished sketch.

But the specific sketching process that you will enjoy is probably different to mine in at least a couple of significant ways. To enjoy the process, you need to be willing to experiment with how you approach sketching on location and what you're trying to achieve. You'll find below five questions to help you start to do that.

Why do you want to sketch on location?

This is partially about setting expectations for yourself, or creating your own definition of success. If you create a focus for a particular sketching session, you're more likely to have a good time and enjoy the process.

For me, this changes every time I go sketching on location. When I first moved to Granada, I didn't know anyone in the city and didn't speak Spanish very well, so I went urban sketching to meet other residents in an environment where there was an obvious topic to talk about.

At the moment, I'm really enjoying being out in nature, getting out of my head while I sketch to the sounds of the birds. I also like going urban sketching when I feel perfectionism creeping into my art at home - the conditions are constantly changing outside, so it helps me loosen my grip on my paintbrush and go with the flow more.

There's not really a wrong answer here, unless you're forcing yourself to go outside because you think you should. There is no hierarchy of art - you're allowed to try urban sketching and decide that you prefer sketching at home, where it's quiet and you have air-conditioning. A sketch done on location isn't better than one done at your dining-room table. (That said, if you've only be outside once or twice, I'd recommend reflecting on some of the other questions below before you come to a conclusion.)

Are you trying to replicate your sketching process at home?

If you're heading outside with the expectation that you're going to be able to make the same, detailed sketch you'd spend hours carefully creating at home, you're probably going to be disappointed. This goes double if your usual style is precise or controlled.

This is a lesson I learned the hard way, but I found it freeing once I realised that when outside I am not in control. If you spend enough time sketching outside, the light will change, someone will come for a chat and interrupt your flow, or you'll be distracted by the noise of a truck reversing. If you're sketching on your lap, it's going to take some practice to draw straight lines or capture perspective the way you're used to. You're also probably using a smaller or different sketching kit to what you use at home.

But what at first might seem like a limitation can become an unexpected source of creativity. I've made mistakes on location that I've later deliberately incorporated into my personal style or learned something interesting from that I now use in my sketching practice at home. So rather than heading outside and spending two hours making a final sketch, what if you gave yourself 30 minutes to try one of these exercises instead:

• make a pencil sketch of a familiar subject, eg a house or a person. (If you haven't done a virtual urban sketch with me, I also recommend trying this exercise to see how you feel),
• pick three buildings and practise mixing the colours you see in your sketchbook,
• go to a local square or park and make a sketchbook page of loose trees with a limited colour palette in a material of your choice, or
• go back to the same spot a couple of times and sketch the same thing. That way the only thing changing is the environment.

Choose a sketching exercise that you've enjoyed or found useful at home and then take that same energy outside. That way you're not trying to adapt to a new environment and sketch a masterpiece simultaneously.

Are you trying to take too much stuff with you?

If it's feeling like a lot of effort to pack up all your paints to head outside, give yourself permission to leave most of it at home. This is sometimes a barrier for me too, which is why for your first urban sketching session I recommend just taking a coloured pencil and a small sketchbook.

You can pack these materials in a small pencil case that fits in your day bag, or leave it in the entryway of your home. There's no correct technique or material to sketch with when when you're heading outside. You're allowed to make this an accessible activity by changing the process in a way that suits you.

Are there sensory or other accommodations you could make?

Last year my urban sketching group met in the Albaicín to sketch in Plaza Larga. It's a beautiful square with lots of interesting things to sketch, and I've enjoyed sketching there before, but that weekend it was so crowded and loud and I realised I wasn't going to enjoy the session if I tried to force myself to sketch there. I find it difficult to be in the moment if it's really noisy or I'm in the direct sun.

When I have more energy, I sometimes enjoy the challenge of sketching in a busier spot! But on that day, I wasn't going to enjoy the experience unless I respected my own limits. So when I arrived, I spent ten minutes catching up with friends, and then I literally went to a different square and had a coffee by myself at a quiet café. I left my watercolours in my bag and did a sketch in fineliner, and it was a great morning out.

Next time you go urban sketching, spend a few moments in the middle of the session to pause and feel what your body is feeling. Are there particular sensations or discomforts that are pulling you out of the moment? Can you choose a different location next time that might help you find your flow more easily (or return to this location now you know what to expect)?

How would the experience change if you sketched with others (or on your own)?

Even if you're introverted, sketching with a group can lower the stakes. If you don't know anyone in real life who sketches, it can also be a way to make new friends and find people you can meet up with individually for a cosier sketching session.

If you have a local urban sketching group, I'd recommend going along and sketching with them. Especially when you're getting started, it can be helpful to see people sketching with different materials, using different techniques, choosing different subjects and painting with different levels of skill. The people who are having the most fun sketching are not necessarily the people with the best technical skills, because they're different skillsets.

If you don't have an urban sketching group near you, here are some ideas for how you can sketch with others:

• if you have friends who are artists, even if they don't usually sketch outside, ask if they'd like to. I recently went sketching with a friend who's a more experienced artist than me, who'd been wanting to sketch outside for a while, and we had so much fun together. I finished my sketch on location; she finished hers a week later at home.
• meet up with a friend or loved one who doesn't sketch. When we're travelling, my husband often has a coffee with me while I sketch. If you have a friend who writes, crochets or does some other portable hobby, you could also meet up and do different activities together.
• if you're going on holidays, check if there's an urban sketching group that's meeting up at your destination. I've had a fun time sketching in Madrid and Málaga this way.
• come and sketch with me and Julia Henze in Spain this October for the Granada Sketching Retreat! We're confident that after five days of sketching with us on location, you'll have found a process, and some sketching techniques, that work for you.

Equally, you're also allowed to go urban sketching on your own and enjoy that too. I like to do a mix of both, depending on my energy levels and why I want to go urban sketching on a particular day.

Thinking back to that first travel sketch I did in Mexico, one of the main reasons I've continued to sketch on location is that it helps me feel connected, whether that's to a new place, the people I'm with or a particular moment.

Because there are so many things you can't control when you're sketching on location, it's also a way that I practise going with the flow and being kind to myself in a low stakes environment. If that's something you've struggled with too, I hope these words encourage you to keep practicing and develop a process that works for you.

How is your urban sketching journey going so far? What are you finding the most challenging at the moment?

If you found it difficult to sketch outside initially but have now found your groove, what helped you to start enjoying the process?

Sketches from Granada celebrates every-day moments of connection with strangers, friends and ourselves. I know how easy it is not to be present in your own life, and I hope these sketches inspire you to seek out those moments that are worth savouring. 

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