Architectural Sketching with Watercolor and Ink
A course by user1668385 surname1668385 , Storyboard Artist
Joined November 2019
Combine loose ink sketching with watercolor to create beautiful buildings that leap off the page
Combine loose ink sketching with watercolor to create beautiful buildings that leap off the page
Joined November 2019
Architectural sketching is a wonderful way to truly experience a place, discovering new details in each glance. Renowned storyboard artist Alex Hillkurtz finds a sense of fulfillment in discovering the hidden corners of the city that sketching allows. You can find some of his storyboarding work in films like Argo, Almost Famous, and It's Complicated, among many others.
In this course, Alex will show you his approach to capturing the depth and feeling of a place using watercolor and ink and translating that onto your page, because it’s one thing to depict a scene accurately and another entirely to portray the character and mood of a place. Learn to sketch and use watercolors to infuse your paintings with new life.
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 17 downloads
- 99% positive reviews (6.4K)
- 158,304 students
- 20 lessons (3h 31m)
- 17 additional resources (7 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · Italian · French · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
You will create a finished painting using watercolor and pen, which depicts a beautiful building leaping off the page with light and shadow.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for watercolor artists, urban sketchers, professional illustrators, and anyone who would like to improve their architectural sketching and watercolor techniques.
Requirements and materials
Alex guides you through everything you need to know, so no previous experience with watercolor sketching is needed. He also provides some reference images and invites you to use your own images as well.
As for materials, you need a sketchbook, pencils, three different watercolor brushes (one round, one flat, and one mop), an ink pen or a fountain pen with waterproof ink, paint, and a few other painting basics that Alex reviews in detail throughout the course.
Reviews
A course by user1668385 surname1668385
Alex Hillkurtz was born in England and grew up in California where he is a renowned storyboard artist for feature films, television, and commercials. His film credits include Argo, Almost Famous, It’s Complicated, and many others. Alex currently lives in Paris with his film editor wife, Tiffany, and enjoys discovering the hidden corners of the city that sketching and painting allow.
He uses the language of cinema to compose his images, moving beyond what one sees and depicting what he wants others to see. He believes that in our overly crowded lives, sketching and painting invites us to move at a more deliberate pace, giving us a true sense of place, where unexpected stories are revealed.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Introduction
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Influences
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What we will do on the course
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U2
Preparation
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Presentation of Materials
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The Basics of Perspective
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Creating Dynamic Compositions
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Where are the Vanishing Points?
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Finding the Horizon Line
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U3
Production
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Creating Textures with Color Washes
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Color Mixes
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Choosing the right view/picture
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Creating a Thumbnail Sketch
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U4
Putting it All Together
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The Pencil Sketch
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Sketching with Fountain Pen and Ink
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Watercolor! The First Wash
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Watercolor! Shadows and Details 1
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Watercolor! Shadows and Details 2
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Watercolor! Shadows and Details 3
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U5
Variations of Style and Presentation
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Style and Finding your Voice
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Work presentation
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FP
Final project
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Architectural drawing with watercolor and ink
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
displayname15170419
Excellent! Top teaching. This course allowed me to move up a level in my work. Thank you so much Alex. I really enjoyed watching and listening to you.
Isabelle
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displayname15062167
Plusgood for refresh or beginner
displayname15032150
I took many water Color in person classes before and I never had a dynamic approach like this before that really motivated me to finally start my sketch book with a vision. Document not only Colors but mostly shadows and reflections.
displayname6836402
Alex Hillkurtz’s teaching approach is sequential, which helped me understand his approach. I love, love how he draws his building lightly and is also circumspect in his approach to using ink and watercolor. Quite the lesson for me. Thank you Alex.
displayname10245792
PlusThis is a very thorough introduction to Urban sketching. It is also very inspirational, and goes through how to find your own style and how to bring buildings to life using different textual techniques. This is a very enjoyable course and I meant a lot from it.