Urban Sketching Accelerated

Ian Fennelly has built an extraordinary reputation as one of the world’s finest urban sketchers and most sought-after teachers.

Ian’s distinct style of on-location art, engaging teaching methods, and all-round creativity has earned him a passionate global following.

‘Layers of Looking’ is the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of urban sketching.

The Urban Sketch+ membership has been designed to complement our online courses by providing a range of benefits that accelerate your development. Including, an engaging community, personalized feedback, and streamlined training that breaks all of Ian’s techniques down into even more granular detail, in a simple to understand format.

For example, instead of sketching whole buildings with a detailed surrounding scene as you would with a course; the monthly training in UrbanSketch+ is streamlined and focused on a specific skill – such as how to sketch brickwork, or trees, or it may focus on drawing perspective, or exaggeration, or developing your own style.

Through UrbanSketch+ you’ll gain even more enjoyment and better results from our courses because of this granular approach to teaching, combined with the interaction and feedback system you’ll have in place.

Ian has designed a very specific curriculum across 6 training themes. Each month you’ll receive brand new training focused on a specific technique or skill within one of these themes. Ian will provide a demonstration of the skill and show you examples of how it’s used within his work, along with a task to help you practice the skill.

Here is just some of the training you’ll be receiving over the coming weeks:

• COMPOSITION TRAINING: Scale, Space, Angles, Placement, Lightness of touch, etc
• PERSPECTIVE TRAINING: Vanishing point, Horizontal Lines, Exaggeration, 1 point, 2 point, etc
• LINE TRAINING: Thickness, Dramatic Lines, Pen choice, Pen holding, Hatching, Black spaces
• COLOR TRAINING: Blending, Complimentary Colors, Use of water, Holding brush, Choice of brush, Range of colours, etc
• TONE TRAINING: Range of tones, Holding pen at an angle, choice of pens, use with color, blending, layering
• DETAILS TRAINING: Looking carefully, exaggeration, editing out, patterns, stylization

Rather than sketching and painting entire scenes, as you would with our online courses, these trainings are short, sharp and focused on skill development. You’ll learn the nitty-gritty nuances of urban sketching along with Ian’s unique techniques using simple practice activities and focused tasks that build upon one another, month after month.

Not at all. Your UrbanSketch+ membership is there to use as and when you need it. And at your own pace.

The monthly training is simple to follow and streamlined to give you only the information you need, without overwhelming you. The critiques, live calls, podcasts and other benefits will be recorded and accessible within your members area to consume at your own leisure.

Each month we’ll handpick a selection of sketches that UrbanSketch+ members have submitted and Ian will provide in-depth feedback on-screen.

You’ll get to watch as Ian discusses, dissects and critiques different sketches, providing practical, constructive feedback and specific tips and advice on where instant improvements can be made, with lots of encouragement and praise offered.

Remember, it’s difficult to improve if you don’t get the right feedback and guidance, but it’s also very much about confidence building. That’s why we encourage everyone to submit their work regardless of what ‘level’ they are at.

Monthly critiques are recorded and uploaded to your members area to watch at anytime. The value in these sessions is not just the feedback to your work, but also in watching the feedback given to others. It’s our intention that everyone learns and grows together.

Yes you can! Once you reach the order page, please select to add on an additional copy for no extra shipping.

You can also bundle your book with Ian's "Sketching Stories" and "Finding Your Inspiration" for no extra shipping fees.

Yes. If you’re a beginner, then you’re in the right place and your development will be swift. Many people wait before they get coaching and feedback, but this only leads to the start of bad habits. That’s why UrbanSketch+ is specifically designed to help you make fast progress and grow in confidence as we support you right from the start of your sketching journey.

Yes. UrbanSketch+ has been designed for artists at all levels. If you’re an accomplished artist, then UrbanSketch+ will help you sharpen up your skills and techniques while pinpointing areas that can be improved.

The moment you join UrbanSketch+ you’ll unlock your UrbanSketch+ Studio Space from within the course learning platform. This area is ‘locked’ to regular students and is where all of your exclusive content lives. Accessing your Plus member benefits is as easy as accessing your online courses. You’ll also receive a separate invitation to our insiders Facebook Group.

Yes. You can cancel membership whenever you choose by clicking the ‘cancel’ button which is located within your membership area.

You won’t need to contact support, explain yourself, or jump through any hoops. It’s all self-service. We also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, if you’re not absolutely thrilled with UrbanSketch+ for any reason within the first month, then we’ll also refund your membership fee in full. We’ve made joining UrbanSketch+ as risk-free as we possibly can.

No. UrbanSketch+ is an exclusive members-only community that we are keeping deliberately small and manageable so that we can give the highest level of care and support to our active members.

We may offer occasional windows of opportunity to join, provided we can maintain the same high-level of service and support. If you’re not ready to join Urban Sketch+ during this window, then check on this page regularly for new opening dates or look out for personal email invitations from us.

Keep in mind that membership fees are usually increased during each joining window, to account for the additional trainings and benefits that have been added. So, joining now is the lowest price it will be. Membership fees will not increase for active members. You will always pay the same fee as when you first joined.