You, too, can be an urban sketcher

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Parent of Adults is my invitation to compare notes on life beyond the empty nest. Learn more or subscribe now, free or paid.

McPeet’s pub on NE Fremont Street in Portland, Oregon

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WE CELEBRATED OUR THANKSGIVING a couple weeks early so I’ve taken this week’s holiday lull to dive into my new obsession hobby: urban sketching. Urban sketching is the practice of capturing locations and scenes in loose drawings, usually in a sketchbook. Think: visual journaling or travel sketching on location or indoors, from photos.

I’ve long insisted I can’t draw, but my grip on that story began to loosen last spring when I started playing with my kids’ leftover art supplies. The key, I think, was having no intention to draw anything. I just wandered into a new world of lines and shapes and colors. I let myself enjoy the texture of paper under a pen.

I kept it light. I dabbled when I had time. No schedule, no goals, no expectations. This wasn’t a self-improvement project, it was playtime!

After a few months of playing, the prospect of sketching something didn’t seem so intimidating. I followed some YouTube tutorials and discovered that drawing, like most other things, isn’t a magical talent — it’s a skill one can learn. I’m not saying anyone can become an artistic genius, but with some time and effort, most of us can learn basic drawing.

While packing for Spain last month, I decided to bring a sketchbook and a few art supplies rather than my usual travel diary. It felt a little like leaving my security blanket behind, but by this point I’d been sketching casually for about six months so travel sketching seemed like a fun experiment.

Sketching during my trip turned out to be a revelation. There was an intimacy I’d never felt with writing. I felt a friendliness toward the places I sketched, as if observing them so closely had connected us.

My buddy the Cathedral of Granada

There’s a spark of aliveness that comes with being a beginner. A combo of shock and giddiness when you do something you thought you couldn’t do. The intense focus that comes when there’s no prior experience to fall back on. The possibility of new and exciting things within your grasp, like finding hidden treasure inside your house.

If someone would have told me a year ago I’d draw these sketches (or anything else, for that matter) I wouldn’t have believed them. So if there’s an activity you're curious about but are nervous to try, I hope this encourages you. ❖

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🗄️ RELATED READING

I'm calling this "defiant joy"

Why "intentional amateurism" is so powerful for parents of young adults

Will our next home be in another country?

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🔗 NOTES OF NOTE

• Karen Walrond’s book, In Defense of Dabbling, is a blast of inspiration. Listen to our conversation above and look for the book at your local bookstore or at Bookshop.org or Amazon (affiliate links).

• If you want to try urban sketching, I can’t recommend Sketching Scottie’s video tutorials highly enough. His YouTube videos are free but I joined his Patreon community so I can follow his full-length tutorials.

• Portland author Amy Stewart writes a wonderful Substack newsletter, It's Good to Be Here, and offers sketching lessons to her paid subscribers.

• More great sketching Substacks: Nishant Jain’s The SneakyArt Post, Samantha Dion Baker’s Draw Your World, and Wendy MacNaughton’s DrawTogether with WendyMac.

Have a lovely rest of your weekend. If you’ve got a spare moment, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 🩵