urban sketching

Since I'm just starting my sketching journey, I bought a couple of Craftsy sketching classes:  Marc Taro Holmes teaches Travel Sketching in Mixed Media, Perspective for Sketchers by Stephanie Bower (a Seattlite), and Sketching the City in Pen, Ink and Watercolor by Shari Blaukopf.  I can highly recommend all 3 classes -  Absorbing the classes and exploring the internet for urban sketching has been a revelation.

For those who don't know, urban sketching is an international movement to sketch where you live and find beauty in your neighborhoods.  Sketching is supposed to be done only on-site, not from a photo or memory - you can use any medium and any subject as long as it's in the context of what's going on around it.

So after a little bit of practice from photos using some of the techniques picked up from the classes, I decided I wanted to try an urban sketch - something done on-site, in person.  Was it going to be easier or harder in person rather than from a photo?

I stopped on my way home from work to sketch this neighborhood bar (in Georgetown).  Of course, I wanted to pick a somewhat easy building to start with - still screwed up the perspective and had to kind of scribble correct the top, but overall I'm pleased with my efforts.  And, it was fun!  I can tell I'm definitely going to have to do some work on cars .... these look very cartoony and there's something weird about the perspective. And, since cars are all over the urban landscape, I'll have to figure it out.  Onward and upward!