Urban Sketching:
Paving, Cobbles & Roads
Get the ground right and you can draw the viewer into the scene. These exercises show how to build paving and cobbles on a perspective grid, give a road texture some weight, make a pavement invite the eye in, and finally tackle herringbone, the pattern most students find hardest.
Already enrolled? Log in to access your lessons →
What’s Inside
Paving slabs and cobbles
Pavements and cobbles are a big part of how I compose a picture. Two approaches, both on a perspective grid with two vanishing points: modern paving slabs with slightly curved edges, and ancient cobbles that are round and random, with back shading between and hatching that follows the perspective.
Road textures
A little spring brick swing bridge in Amsterdam, and the road that gives the bottom of the sketch its weight. With the N15, stipple with the fine liner nib, then vary the scale with the brushy nib, with loose circles and stones in natural clusters.
Pavements that invite you in
Keizersgracht, officially my favourite sketch of all time. The pavement wraps round and crosses the river, and it invites you into the picture.
Herringbone paving
In Leiden, one of the techniques students find most difficult, so I do it twice. Zigzags first, then the right-hand edge of one becomes the edge of a stone, and that stone’s edge becomes the next. Distress the edges and add a few darker stones.
£8
One-time payment. Lifetime access.
Enrolment opens soonAlready enrolled? Log in to access your lessons →
Questions about this bundle
What is in Urban Sketching: Paving, Cobbles & Roads?
4 short video exercises: Paving slabs and cobbles; Road textures; Pavements that invite you in; Herringbone paving. It costs £8 once and you keep lifetime access.
Do I need to have done a painting workshop first?
No. A bundle is a separate, self-contained set of exercises on one skill. If you later want to see skills like this used in a whole painting, my painting workshops do exactly that.
When can I enrol?
Enrolment opens soon. This page will show an Enrol button when it does.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days of purchase, as long as you have not gone beyond the introduction or first lesson, because by then you have received the digital content. Email mike@artyfactor.com with the bundle name and the email you enrolled with. The full wording is in the Refund and returns policy.
How long do I have access?
It is one payment of £8 and you keep lifetime access.
Where this leads
Want to see the whole picture?
This bundle covers one skill. My painting workshops show how skills like this come together in a finished painting, one stage at a time.
Explore the painting workshops