The main approach I have taken in this course is to show, on site, the means by which Urban sketching is completed, this entails walking the town or city to establish what will inspire and show the essence of the place, whether it will be large sketches of buildings or very small sketches of an object that identifies with the town or city. Urban sketching can consist of many varied art forms, whether that is drawing, painting or even sculpture. I have chosen drawing with both pencil and ink pen, with some colour added. That is because I believe that drawing is the nearest medium that is an extension of the hand. Drawing can indicate line and shade, also it can be used to show lightness and dark giving the entire range of the medium. Paint could be added back at the studio, although this is getting away from the fundamentals of urban sketching, it would be better to paint on site which would achieve a more accurate colour depiction. As a consequence of the foregoing, the student can carry less equipment in readiness of completing an urban sketch. This course centres around Florence, Italy, which of course has many pieces of art as well as architecture. This makes the task of what to choose to show the character of the city that much harder! I hope I have given a flavour of the city by showing some important art as well as some less significant, capturing the cityscape juxtoposed to an urn which is of no imporance, but both show, to me, how the individual piece of art can form a part of the collective.
