Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color Paperback – March 25, 2014

The drawings are inspiring, not intimidating. The text is extremely helpful. You are never talked down to. You will find a gem in every paragraph.

This book is marvelous. I was looking for something on how to approach drawing cityscapes (Marc Taro Holmes' Urban Sketcher is a bit more pragmatic on that), but I find myself reading and rereading this one.Scheinberger has an amazing style, and I've gotten a lot out of studying his sketches over and over again. He works in a very loose, gestural style most of the time, so rather than getting precise "architectural" looking drawings, he produces something much more personal. The way he then adds color is intriguing and also very free.It's not truly a how-to, and a lot of the watercolor technical advice he does give can be found in other places, but the in-depth look at his work and also at the way he thinks about art are tremendous. This is one of the very small handful of books on sketching that I will hang on to. (Mark Taro Holmes' book is another, as are the Bert Dodson books _Keys to Drawing_ and _Keys to Drawing with Imagination_.)By the way, this book works fine in the Kindle format. I read it on my Voyage, then often look at the images on my phone to get the effect of the color.

I'm only about halfway through the book so far, but what I've read is very informative. I'm not an artist, but a scientist with an interest in illustration; this book is full of details about h0w and why watercolors are the way they are and why they're made that way - details that help me understand how and why watercolors behave the way they do (and, therefore, how to control them better!). I have already gotten my money's worth from this book, and I'm only halfway through it - I'm impressed!

not really about urban sketching. Very unique art style, written in an interesting readable way. Good explanations of such things as color theory. Hard to pigeon-hole this book, but worth a space on your art book shelf. Just not the first one.

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTROWatercolors—In or Out?A Painting for the EmperorGum Arabic: Where the Watercolors GrowPigments: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made OfYellow and Orange: Of Camels and CrocusesRed and Purple: Of Bugs and SnailsBlue: Of Lapis Lazuli, Indigo, and WoadGreen: Of Plants and PoisonIntroducing Color to Sketches:We’re Not in Kansas AnymoreFIRST ATTEMPTSMultiple Choice: To Design Is to DecideFrom Dusk till Dawn: Shadows and LightBlack Is Back: Glazing with India InkLayer for Layer: The GlazeMixing Colors with GlazesFish Soup: Practicing the GlazeThe Wash: The Paint Does as It Pleases!On the Run: Graded Wash TechniquesOnce More, with Feeling!: WashesIt’s a Give and Take: Applying and Removing PaintWet-on-WetCombining Techniques: A Little Bit of This and ThatEXCURSION IN COLOR THEORYWhere Do Colors Come From?:The Simple ScienceArranging ColorsOpposites Attract: Color ContrastsFrom South Park to Stoplights: Types of ColorTrue Color: The Effect of LightEvery Color Tells a Story: Intensifying Your SketchesIt’s All Relative: The Effects of ColorsColor Harmonies: Simple and ComplexAnalogous, Monochromatic, and Complementary HarmoniesTriadic and Tetradic HarmoniesCool-Cool and Warm-Warm HarmoniesCollecting ColorsDesigning Color Harmonies: Working with Color Code StripsGetting Out of Your Color Comfort ZoneThe Blue Ridge Mountains: Color and PerspectiveYOUR OWN STYLELess Is MoreMe, Myself, and I: Finding Your Own StyleStyle and CreativityThrowing Down: Loosening Up Your PaintingSeek Not and You Shall Find: Imagination vs. InternetMake It MatterPrioritiesBASICS / TOOLSPaintboxesWatercolor PencilsBuying PaintsMixing PaintsImpossible Hues: Bright ColorsPimping Watercolors: Making Colors PopLiquid Watercolors: Bright Now, Pale LaterInto the Wild: BrushesEven More BrushesPaperThe Permanent Wave: Stretching PaperThe Contents of My BagOUT & ABOUTBad Weather: Painting OutdoorsThe Other Viewpoint: Changing PerspectivePainting WaterAir, Fog, SmokeSmog and AtmosphereWhat Is Beauty Anyway?TIPS & TRICKSComposition and DesignSmudges and SpotsPainting What’s Not There: Negative SpaceWhite: A Special CaseStudies, Sketches, and DraftsUndoMerging Colors: Working from One ColorWorking with Colored PaperSpecial EffectsLettering and WritingLayouts, Scribbles, and StoryboardsWatercolor IllustrationsHow Much Is Your Picture Worth?Everything Ends: When Is a Picture Finished?

This book is quite a gem, I was surprised with how many times I found myself highlighting parts of it. I would say that this book is more about the essentials and concept of watercolor more so than 'how-to' watercolor so seasoned pros might find it tedious. It's more geared toward beginners, illustrators and non-artists but I (who has been water coloring for over a decade thoroughly enjoyed it). Scheinberger puts things like wavelengths, paper stretching, and painting water in ways I haven't seen in more detailed watercolor books so that you grasp the idea, not just mimic. You won't find any step-by-step demonstrations of how to paint the perfect urban sketch, but instead be encouraged to see like an artist and enjoy watercolors simply and confidently! Buy it if you're a control freak, buy it if you're a beginner or don't know where to begin, buy it if you've been painting for a while but need to be re-inspired, buy it if you're obsessed with water coloring, but it if you're perfect, and buy it if you're not.