I’ve been crazy busy for weeks with day job work and planning workshops for this year, so it’s high time that I posted a sketch. This was a present for my neighbor –whose house is literally magazine-ready beautiful and all decked out for the holidays–as a way to say thank you.
I quickly fell into a slow and steady pace…it took almost 3 hours for the linework and maybe an hour and a half for the color. Anyone who has taken my workshops knows that I start all my sketches with a simple rectangle, or the “Big Shape.” Here it was the rectangle at the back of the dining room. Next, I locate my vanishing point and eye level, and in three steps, I’ve got everything in place for the entire drawing. I worked in layers going left to right to minimize smearing of my 2B pencil, cleaning up, darkening and correcting lines as I go. Detail comes last. The hardest part? The shape of that table!
It was a lovely, quiet moment during the holidays in which I forgot everything else and just focused on this sketch, calming and restoring my soul.
Thinking about an in-person or online workshop next year? Maybe a bit of travel? Contact me or follow the links for information and registration. And check the workshop tabs at Drawing Perspectives for updates. Thank you!
LIVE ONLINE on Zoom: Understanding Perspective + Lots More! | Three, 4-hour classes that finally demystify perspective and watercolor sketching. These classes are packed with information, you’ll learn tons. More classes will be added in the Spring.
January 5, 12, 19, 2025 at 9am PST | Only 2 spots left! Email me for info at stephaniebower.workshops@gmail.com
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LIVE ONLINE: Terracotta Explorer: Perspective in Spain, Towers are Like Wedding Cakes | This is part of an ongoing series of classes through Terracotta, whose cadre of artists are among the best in the world. A few can join specifically for my one class on sketching towers.
LIVE ONLINE: Terracotta Symposium: The Foundations of Architectural Art | This event is not to be missed! Join four instructors who specialize in sketching and painting architecture–the rockstar Thomas Schaller, Alex Hillkurtz, Pablo Questa, and me (Stephanie Bower! ) — and immerse yourself for a weekend in the world of architectural beauty as each artist leads an in-depth session with live demonstrations and an interactive Q&A. Lifetime access to recordings. My workshop will be on sketching this view of Turl Street in Oxford.
Use code BOWER50 to get a whopping $50 off the early bird price!
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LIVE IN-PERSON | Urban Sketching in Quebec City, Canada | You’ll think you are in old world Europe, but it’s Canada! Join me and Studio 56 for 6 nights, 5 days of instruction as you learn how to sketch streets, fountains, elegant towers, and more…lessons in the morning, cultural visits and sketching in the afternoons. Register now for early bird pricing.
LIVE IN-PERSON: Northern California Coast at Pacific Grove | Imagine 5 days of sketching this beautiful coast, old churches and missions, and more for a combination of in studio and outdoor urban sketching. Sponsored by MISA in their beautiful new workshop location.
I’m squeezing in a workshop before the end of the year!
UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE | LIVE online Urban Sketching Course in Perspective & Watercolor, made easy with instructor Stephanie Bower USA
Do you fear or fake perspective sketching? Can’t figure out how to start a sketch of a building? And where is that darn vanishing point anyway? Do you know how to paint shade and shadow differently? They are not the same!
Understanding Perspective is a LIVE online course that makes perspective sketching easy! I’m Urban Sketcher, workshop instructor (I’ve taught at 7 USk international symposiums!), architectural illustrator, and author of three books Stephanie Bower, and I’m excited to offer this course to anyone wanting to finally understand how perspective works. Perspective is easy when you know what to look for!
This course is a 100% live, interactive 3-part online class taught via Zoom in which you’ll learn by drawing along with me in real time. In each class, we’ll take notes and sketch together as I present perspective concepts in a crafted PowerPoint presentation, then we will apply those concepts in a step-by-step sketching demo that we will draw and paint together.
What makes this course different from others? Two things: We diagram the perspective views, explaining why the views look the way they do, SHOWING how perspective works. Most instructors skip this part! And second: it’s really two workshops in one. You’ll learn perspective AND watercolor technique! You’ll see me work up close (even better than an in-person workshop), and I’ll answer your questions LIVE.
Understanding Perspective, December Session 1
Dates:Sundays, December 8, 15, and 22, 2024 | 9am-1pm PST (Seattle) | 12noon-4pm (NYC) | 5pm-9pm (London) | 6pm-10pm (Paris)
Class 1, Sunday, December 8: The essentials of one-point perspective. Intro to Watercolor.
Class 2, Sunday, December 15: Two-point Perspective, it’s all about how you view your subject!
Class 3, Sunday, December 22: Multiple vanishing points in streets, roofs, and stairs.
Each class will start with an interactive PowerPoint on the topic of that day (you’ll be encouraged to take notes, ask questions, etc.), followed by a demo that we draw and paint together step-by-step. Classes run about 3.5-4 hours (it goes quickly!) Classes will be recorded, and you’ll have access to the recordings through the end of January.
Optional Homework: Along with notes and scans of the demo, I’ll send out 2-3 images after each class for optional homework. If you draw and paint them, you can send them to me for a critique.
Workshop Fee:US$300.00. Classes will be limited in size to max. 20 so you can all get live feedback. Once your registration has been confirmed, information on how to pay, a materials list and more will be emailed to all participants.
How to Sign Up: Registration is open NOW! Send an email to st.bower@icloud.com. First come, first served!
After this workshop, you’ll never fear or fake perspective again! If you have any questions, or need more info, send an email my way. THANKS!
Breakfast in Paris? Oui! There are only a few spots open in my upcoming perspective and watercolor workshop in the dreamy City of Light, and the discount price ends in only 2 days on April 20! If you are interested, information is here.
So why a workshop in this city? I can think of no other city in the world that offers such beautiful and abundant outdoor public parks and spaces (and people use them!), amazing architecture that seems to glow, elegant fountains and glorious details, not to mention incredible food, wine, cheeses, pastries…when Brenda from Studio 56 asked where I wanted to teach, my first choice was THIS city!
Did you notice that in this sketch in the elegant Places des Vosges, the fountain appears as a stack of ellipses, with the shapes above eye level looking different from the shapes below eye level? (There is a free demo of sketching this fountain on Studio 56’s YouTube page.)
This is why I LOVE to teach perspective! I can’t think of anyone else who really explains how and WHY perspective works. Sure, you can draw from profiles and edges, but that doesn’t really tell you about WHY what you see appears the way it does. And amazingly, this is the part that is skipped in most demos!!! This is why I teach perspective, I love seeing when folks finally understand how perspective works… it’s not hard once you know what to look for.
Take a look at this sketch from Amboise…can you tell it has multiple vanishing points? I’ll explain how that works in the Paris workshop!
So join me along the Seine for a toast with french wine, bread and cheese, sketchbooks in hand at all times, for a wonderful 5+ days in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! It will be a blast, and you’ll have so many ah-ha moments! À Bientôt!
Drawing Perspectives 