Sketching People,

Places, and Landscapes

WITH JAMES RICHARDS, SHARI BLAUKOPF,
PAUL HEASTON, AND STEPHANIE BOWER
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 James Richards

As an artist, James Richards crosses many

creative boundaries. His work has been shown
in numerous exhibitions and he’s a designer, an
author and an Urban Sketchers correspondent.
Jim’s book Freehand Drawing and Discovery
won a National Honor Award from the
American Society of Landscape Architects.
He also teaches urban design and drawing at
the University of Texas at Arlington as well as in
international workshops.

i
 Shari Blaukopf

Shari Blaukopf is a graphic design teacher,

illustrator and the co-founder of the Urban
Sketchers Montreal regional blog. Shari
has a BFA from Concordia University with a
specialization in graphic design, but her true
love has always been watercolor painting.
Her watercolor paintings can be found in
corporate, government and private collections
in both Canada and the United States. Shari
is passionate about sharing her love and
knowledge watercolors, and she’s taught many
watercolor workshops in the United States
and Europe.

ii
 Paul Heaston

Paul Heaston received his MFA in painting

from Montana State University. He’s also
a correspondent for Urbansketchers.org,
an internationally recognized website that
showcases visual journalism. You can find some
of Paul’s work on his sketch blog, Three Letter
Word for Art. Paul has been teaching college-
level drawing and painting since 2005.

iii
 Stephanie Bower

Stephanie Bower is an architectural illustrator, a

teacher, a watercolorist and a correspondent
for the blog Urban Sketchers. After working as
a licensed architect in New York City, Stepha-
nie gravitated toward a career in architectural
illustration and concept design. She has taught
architectural sketching at Parsons School of
Design, the University of Washington and Cornish
College of the Arts.

iv
 Essential Techniques for
Sketching the Energy of Places

with James Richards

Supplies & Resources

1
 Supplies & Resources

Supplies
• Watercolor sketchbook
• Sketching pencils (James recommends using .7 mm or .9 mm
mechanical pencils with an eraser)
• Waterproof ink pens (technical pens or fountain pens)
• Colored pencil in white
• Travel watercolor set. Jim uses:
• Naples yellow
• Prussian blue
• Cadmium red
• Alizarin crimson
• French ultramarine
• One large flat paintbrush
• One medium round paintbrush
• Small rag
• Small leakproof plastic container of water
• Small lightweight folding stool (optional)
• Lightweight tripod easel (optional)
• Hat and sunscreen (optional)

2
 Supplies & Resources

Resources
• For inspiration and ideas, visit James’ website at
jamesrichardssketchbook.com
• Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and
Concept Drawing for Designers by James Richards (Wiley, 2013)

3
 Sketching the Cityscapes
in Pen, Ink & Watercolor

with Shari Blaukopf

Supplies & Resources

Drawing
• Mechanical pencil with B lead
• Platinum carbon fountain pen with platinum carbon ink
cartridges
• Permanent ink markers
• Pigma Micron pens (black) in varying line weights: 005, 01,
03 and 05
• Water-soluble markers
• Pilot Fineliner, black
• Kneaded rubber eraser

4 4
 Supplies & Resources

Painting

Paints
Shari uses many brands of paint, including Daniel Smith, M.
Graham and Winsor Newton.

This is the order of the paints used in her palette:

• Quinacridone gold • Cobalt blue

• Naples yellow • Ultramarine blue
• Hansa yellow medium • Phthalo blue
• Pyrrol orange • Indanthrene blue
• Quinacridone rose • Phthalo green
• Winsor Red • Carbazole violet
• Permanent alizarin • Raw sienna
crimson • Burnt sienna
• Cobalt teal • Raw umber
• Cerulean blue

Brushes
• Synthetic sable or sable round brushes sizes 4, 8, 10 and 14
• Squirrel mop brush size 7
• Sakura Koi water brush for thumbnail sketches

5
 Supplies & Resources

Sketchbooks
• Pocket-sized sketchbook for thumbnails and value sketches
• Hardbound sketchbooks for pen and watercolor. Shari prefers
the following:
• Handbook Travelogue Watercolor Journal books:
• Grand portrait (10.5” x 8.25”)
• Square (8.25” x 8.25”)
• Large landscape (8.25” x 5.25”)
Note: This paper can take a lot of wash without buckling.
• Shari also uses Pentalic Aqua Journal sketchbooks (8” x 5”)
Travel Watercolor Palette
• Any folding watercolor palette with spaces for pigment and a
large mixing area is fine
• Shari uses the Alvin Heritage Paint Palette and adds her own
tube pigments because it has a rubber seal so pigments
won’t dry out overnight.
• Field watercolor sketch kit is also recommended. It has a
selection of twelve half-pans of pigment.

6
 Supplies & Resources

General
• Paper towels or tissues for cleanup
• Water bottle with a good seal (Shari likes Nalgene brand)
• Small spray bottle for rewetting dry paints in palette
• Brush case
• Bulldog clips (for windy days)
• Sunscreen and a hat for being outdoors all day
• Folding stool
• Cardboard viewfinder
• Corrugated plastic backing boards (such as Coroplast) for
single sheets of paper
• Masking tape

Instructor Sites
• blaukopfwatercolours.com
• shariblaukopf.com

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 Sketchbooks
Drawing the Everyday

with Paul Heaston

Supplies & Resources

Instructor’s Supplies
• 3 drawing pencils in varying hardnesses
• I prefer Staedtler Mars in HB, 2B and 4B
• 3 fineline pens, in varying line weights
• I prefer Staedtler Pigment Liners in .1, .3 and .5 sizes
• 9” x 12” spiral bound
• 100-page sketchbook (Strathmore or Canson) for general
purpose dry media sketching

8
 Supplies & Resources

• Hardbound mixed media or watercolor sketchbook

• Brands I like are Stillman & Birn and Hand•Book
• Pocket-size sketchbook, such as Moleskine or Stillman & Birn,
for carrying with you anywhere
• Small, handheld all-metal pencil sharpener
• Kneaded eraser
• White plastic eraser
• Travel watercolor kit
• I prefer the Koi 18 or 24-color Field Watercolor Sketch Set
• 3 waterbrushes (Koi and Niji are some good brands)
in various sizes

9
 Supplies & Resources

Online Resources
• urbansketchers.org
• sketchbookproject.com
• sketchcrawl.com

10
 Sketching Landscapes
in Pen, Ink & Watercolor

with Shari Blaukopf

Supplies

Drawing
• Mechanical pencil: Shari uses Staedtler Mars Micro Carbon
Pencil Lead - 0.5 mm - B
• Fine line pens: Shari uses Pigma Micron pens; line width sizes
01, 03 and 05
• Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen with Platinum Carbon
ink cartridges
• Kneaded rubber eraser

11
 Supplies

Sketchbooks
• Pocket-size sketchbook for thumbnails and value sketches
• Hardbound sketchbooks for pen and watercolor
• Brands: Shari prefers Hand Book Journal Co. Travelogue
Watercolor Journals (8¼” x 8¼” and 5½” x 8¼” landscape).
Shari also uses Moleskine sketchbooks (8¼” x 5”).

Palettes
• Travel watercolor palette: Alvin Heritage Paint Palette has a
rubber seal and pigments won’t dry out overnight; however,
any folding watercolor palette with spaces for pigment and a
large mixing area is fine.
• You can also use a field watercolor sketch kit with a selection
of roughly 12 half pans of pigment.

12
 Supplies

Pigments
• Shari uses many brands of paint, including Daniel Smith,
M. Graham and Winsor & Newton.
• Blues: Cobalt teal, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine
blue, indanthrene blue, indigo
• Reds: Permanent alizarin crimson, organic vermilion,
perylene maroon
• Oranges: Pyrrol orange
• Yellows: Azo yellow, new gamboge, Naples yellow
• Greens: Sap green, azo green
• Earth colors: Burnt sienna, raw sienna, Quinacridone gold
• Purple: Carbazole violet

Brushes
• Raphael Petit Gris Brush Series 803 brushes (sizes 7 and 3).
These hold a lot of wash and also come to a fine point.
• Escoda ReSserva Kolinsky Sable no. 12
• For finer work, you can use Winsor & Newton Artist’s
Watercolor sable pointed round brush.
• Shari also uses Escoda Versatil round brushes (sizes 10 and 16).
These are synthetic sable that hold lots of wash, come to a
fine point, and are half the price of real sable brushes.

13
 Supplies

General
• Paper towels or tissues for cleanup
• Water bottle with a tight seal, such as a Nalgene
• Bulldog clips (for windy days)
• Sunscreen and a hat for sun protection
• Folding stool
• Cardboard viewfinder
• Brush case to keep brushes from bending in your bag

14
 Perspective for Sketchers

with Stephanie Bower

Supplies & Resources

Recommended Materials
• 5” x 8” Pentalic aqua journal
• Fluid watercolor block (Stephanie uses 8” x 16”)
• .5 mechanical pencil .5, with 2B lead
• Kneaded eraser
• 6” clear plastic triangle or straight edge
• 2 binder clips, for holding down paper
• Travel watercolor set with water

15
 Supplies & Resources

• Watercolor brushes (Stephanie prefers Richeson)

• Size 10 or larger round brush
• Plastic bags, for carrying wet materials
• Paper towels
• Masking tape (Stephanie prefers Nichiban)
• Corrugated plastic

Resources
• For inspiration, visit Stephanie’s web site: stephaniebower.com
• The Urban Sketching Handbook series (Quarry Books)
• Watercolor easels: enpleinairpro.com

16
 Supplies & Resources

New Gamboge

Ultramarine P. Alizarin
Blue Crimson

17
Notes
Notes
 Metric Conversion Guide

15
14
LENGTH LENGTH

13
If you Convert If you Convert

5
see... to... see... to...
1/8" 3 mm 1/8 yd 11.4 cm

12
1/4" 6 mm 1/4 yd 22.9 cm
1/3" 8 mm 1/3 yd 30.5 cm
3/8" 10 mm 3/8 yd 34.3 cm

11
1/2" 12 mm 1/2 yd 45.7 cm
5/8" 16 mm 5/8 yd 57.2 cm

10
2/3" 17 mm 2/3 yd 61.0 cm
3/4" 19 mm 3/4 yd 68.6 cm
1" 2.5 cm 1 yd 91.4 cm
11/4" 3.2 cm 11/4 yd 114.3 cm

9
11/2" 3.8 cm 11/2 yd 137.2 cm
13/4" 4.4 cm 13/4 yd 160.0 cm

8
2" 5.1 cm 2 yd 182.9 cm
3

21/4" 5.7 cm 21/4 yd 205.7 cm

21/2" 6.4 cm 21/2 yd 228.6 cm
7
23/4" 7.0 cm 23/4 yd 251.5 cm
3" 7.6 cm 3 yd 274.3 cm
31/2" 8.9 cm 31/2 yd 320.0 cm
6

4" 10.2 cm 4 yd 365.8 cm

41/2" 11.4 cm
5" 12.7 cm
2

51/2" 14.0 cm
6" 15.2 cm
7" 17.8 cm 1 cm2
4

8" 20.3 cm
9" 22.9 cm
10" 25.4 cm
3

11" 28.0 cm
1

1 in2
12" 30.5 cm
2
0 cm 1
0 in
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