Book Review Numero Cinco: The Art of Urban Sketching #books

Let me start off by saying that I am not sure what my expectations were for this book..

"The Art of Urban Sketching" is wildly popular book by Gabriel Campanario.. Soft cover, some 317 pages, it is quite impressive.. but this is not the book for me. I can't finish it.

This book has been dominating the "Acrylics" category on the Amazon US site for many months.. In fact this book ran head to head with my book for several months..back and forth in the #1 bestseller position.. I'm a little confused though, because this book has very little to do with acrylics.. if anything.

I may have misinterpreted the premise of the book.. look at the cover wording carefully: "Drawing on location around the world".. and "See the world one drawing at a time" are written on the jacket.. I was hoping to have some sketching lessons in throughout the book. Instead there are some tips here and there.. but none of them seemed to help me propel myself into the world of sketching. Absolute beginners who are looking for tips on how to pack light, avoid conformation while sketching "in the wild" and what t buy to get started... yes.... I don't think I am the target demographic for this book. (I can't think of any instructional book that I have read that does not tell you how to pack light and/or has a supply discussion...so I didn't need that in Urban Sketching.)

This book delivers exactly what it says on the jacket though- you will in fact see the world one drawing at a time. Gabriel takes you though the globe with a few pages dedicated to each city. The San Diego section was very familiar to me.. so yes, you can find a sketch for your city and recognize it. I kind of think this book as more of a tour guide than a book for learning.

So that said, this is a lovely coffee table book.. maybe something neat if you are a world traveler. Instructional step-outs and drawing exercises will have to come from a different title.