Taking on a new challenge is always a little scary, especially if you aren’t sure where or how to start. Luckily, there are little to no requirements to get started with urban sketching. You just need to get outside and start drawing. You might find that once you’re outside sketching what you see, you’ll not only grow as an artist, but you’ll learn things and make memories you didn’t even expect.
Getting started with urban sketching is as simple as grabbing some art supplies, and heading outside to draw your surroundings. Urban sketching allows artists the chance to meet up and create together, during events like sketchcrawls. There are several ways below to find sketch groups.
If you are completely new to urban sketching and aren’t sure what it is, check out my post here that goes over some of the items you may want or need to gather before you head out. You’ll at least need the basics; some sort of sketchbook or notebook, and pencils or pens. If you bring pencils, be sure to bring an eraser and a pencil sharpener. If you’d like to add some color to your sketches, you can also bring watercolors or blendable markers.
You can also urban sketch with an ipad and Apple pencil, there are digital groups that specialize in urban sketching with digital media that are becoming very popular as well.
Once you’ve got your supplies and an idea of where you’d like to go, it’s time to look for some other urban sketchers to meet up with.
One of the most fun things about urban sketching is the chance to sketch with others who share the same artistic interest. Many groups will meet up to do sketchcrawls, which are basically group walks where there are stopping points to pause and sketch what you see before continuing on as a group. This encourages you to keep a quick, loose sketching style so that you can get it all in before the group moves on.
If you’d like to find a group that does local sketching, there are several places you can look.
Local Facebook Groups
Start by looking for urban sketching Facebook groups in the city you would like to sketch in. This works well if the city is a larger city, or a town with a thriving art community.
If you can’t find a group that’s specifically for urban sketching, try looking for local Facebook groups featuring the town that you would like to sketch in. Even small towns and communities usually have a few Facebook pages for local news and events.
You can search the posts within these groups to see if anyone has posted about sketching or art meetups. If you can’t find anything, you can always ask within these groups if there are others who would be interested in meeting up or starting a group.
Urbansketchers.org
One of the most popular websites for urban sketching is urbansketchers.org. They have a map where you can see what urban sketching chapters are near your location, and they give contact information for those groups. This is perfect if you are traveling and would like to sketch in a new area, or if you are willing to travel a bit to get to a local group if there’s not one in your immediate area.
As of 2023, this is what the map looks like for Urban Sketchers in the USA:
Local Museums or Libraries
Asking about urban sketching groups that might meet locally is always a good idea. You might be able to get good information from a local library or museum. Sometimes they can refer you to special events that they host or they might at least know some local art galleries that might offer special events.
Art Supply Stores
Local art stores are another great source of information. They may host their own events, or have bulletin boards where people can post flyers for upcoming events. If nothing else, you might meet other artists while you’re there who would like to start a new group.
Social Media
Another great place to check for local art meetups is on social media. Lots of artists will share their sketches after meeting up for urban sketching, and they use hashtags to get their posts in front of other people who are looking for those types of posts. You can search urban sketching related hashtags on many social media platforms to look for #sketchcrawls or #urbansketchingmeetups.
Virtual Meetups
If you can’t find a local meetup, there are always virtual challenges you can participate in. There are tons of Tik Tok accounts that sketch that you could follow along with, and there are Youtube channels that do videos you can follow as well. Look for accounts that are posting using the same hashtags, and see if there are live events coming up that you could follow along with.
However you decide to get started, remember that practice is the most important thing. Don’t worry about being a beginner or not knowing what to do, because there aren’t specific rules you have to follow. Just get out there and get started, and have fun doing it.