In a world that is moving at a tremendous pace, wouldn't it be nice to hit the pause button for a while and capture moments that hold a beauty of its own. As an artist, you have the power to freeze a moment in your sketchbook through urban sketching.

                                   While drawing inspiration from Pinterest and google is quite popular, drawing inspiration from life around you is the uniqueness in urban sketching. Urban sketching is observing the world around you and a way of telling your own story, a story about the place, people and the events around you. It is a beautiful entanglement between life and art- life becomes a part of your art and art becomes a part of your everyday life.

                                With urban sketching, you become a part of the world that is teaming with life. The art that you create will speak volumes about your experiences, exploration and memories.

                                 Urban sketching can be done at any place like at a park, a tourist attraction, the mall etc. The place need not be extraordinary, you can choose any place that sparks your interest, like even the road outside your house, and sketch it.

                                 If you are looking for the best urban sketching books, then the 140 GSM wireo sketchbook from Menorah is the one for you. It is super affordable. It has a hard bottom cover, so you can place the sketchbook anywhere you like and start sketching conveniently even while travelling.

                                 It also has micro perforated pages, so you can frame the masterpieces that you create on the go or gift your sketchbook drawings to your loved ones. Its metal wireo spiral enables easy flipping of pages.

                                It has 100 acid free, natural shade pages that are optimal for drawing under any light source. It works perfectly for pens, pencils, colored pencils, Chalk, Oil Pastels, Crayons, graphite and can also take light water coloring really well.

Here are a few things to know before you begin urban sketching:

Keep your things handy :

                                              An artist is always awake and ready to create. So as an urban sketcher, every time you head out make sure that you carry your wireo sketchbook from menorah and a few art supplies that you would need like pens, pencils or colored pencils.

Observe the world around you :

                                            To be an exceptional artist, it is not just enough to watch the world around you, but you have to keenly observe.

                                             Urban sketching has no set rules, so you can go ahead draw what you observe from your own perception. At the same time, it is also important to stay true to the setting without adding or removing any elements.

                                               Urban sketching can also be done as a group activity. You can head out with your artist friends, share your ideas and impressions and make it more interesting.

Capture the essence!

                                          The essence of urban painting is not to capture what is beautiful, but to capture what appeals to you. It could be a section of a building or even a person doing some repetitive action. You can pick the things that appeal the most to you and then work towards the rest of the scenario.

                                          Urban sketching is an interesting hobby to pursue. As you continue to sketch on your menorah sketchbook, you will learn to find beauty all around you!