Urban Sketchers

Urban Sketchers (USk) is a network of artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and the places they travel to. We always draw on location, indoors or out, from direct observation. From dynamic cities like London, Barcelona, New York, San Francisco, Lisbon, Singapore and Seoul, we portray everyday life — from commuters on packed rush-hour subways to coffee drinkers at a sidewalk café. Our open sketchbooks show lively streetscapes, soaring architecture and intriguing faces, all quickly rendered by the sometimes furtive scratching of pen to paper. "Drawing a city isn't just capturing it on paper, it's really about getting to know it, to feel it, to make it your own," says Nina Johansson, a correspondent in Stockholm.