"Drawn on the Way: A Guide to Capturing the Moment Through Live Sketching" by Sarah Nisbett is a gem for artists and enthusiasts alike. Nisbett's expertise in live sketching shines through in this comprehensive guide, offering readers practical advice and inspiring examples for honing their on-location sketching skills. This book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to infuse their art with the immediacy and vibrancy of real-life moments.

What sets this book apart is Nisbett's ability to guide readers through the process of live sketching with clarity and passion. She offers insights on everything from choosing the right materials to capturing fleeting moments in busy environments. The inclusion of her own exquisite sketches provides a visual masterclass, demonstrating the potential for depth and emotion that can be achieved through on-location artistry.

Nisbett's approach is both encouraging and empowering. She encourages readers to embrace imperfections and to view each sketch as a snapshot of a moment in time. Her emphasis on capturing the essence and energy of a scene, rather than striving for hyperrealism, fosters a sense of freedom and spontaneity in the artistic process.

In conclusion, "Drawn on the Way" is a treasure trove of wisdom and inspiration for artists seeking to bring their sketches to life through on-location artistry. Sarah Nisbett's expertise and her genuine love for the craft make this book an invaluable addition to any artist's library. It is a celebration of the beauty found in everyday moments, and an invitation to capture them with pen and paper.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

'Drawn on the Way: A Guide to Capturing the Moment Through Live Sketching' by Sarah Nisbett is a book about sketching on the go.

Sarah Nisbett became known for sketching strangers on transit and sharing those sketches with her subjects. In this book, she discusses her method and tools for creating quick sketches. There are also chapters and exercises on finding emotion in subjects, drawing backgrounds easier, transforming mistakes and more.

I love encouraging art instruction books and this one really is. The important thing is beginning and forgiving yourself. The book includes lots of the author/artist's work.

It is not only about drawing but also about seeing
A self-taught live sketch artist and illustrator, Sarah Nisbett presents her book "Drawn on the Way. A Guide to Capturing the Moment Through Live Sketching"
The goal for the book can be found in the introduction. Nisbett states: "This is more than a book about how to draw. This is a book about how to see: how to see the world differently, as a place filled with stories; how to see the people around you differently, as works of art; and how to see yourself differently, as someone whose voice has a place, even if it’s just in the private pages of your own sketchbook... This book will not teach you how to draw like me; rather, it will guide you through the process of drawing from life in your own style... I hope this book makes you curious about your world and your place in it. Curiosity, empathy, joy, and wonder are foundational to the techniques explained here." (p. 7).
The material of the book is divided into nine chapters: " 1) Tools and Materials, 2) Getting Started, 3) Warm-up Exercises, 4) Drawing the Object, 5) Drawing Scenes and Backgrounds, 6) Drawing Nature and Animals, 7) Drawing Figures, 8) Drawing Portraits, and 9) Tying it All Together. Nisbett includes personal experiences and comments in the book, tips and exercises with multiple steps as well as a small list of resources at the end. I love that she challenges that she talks about her own mistakes and challenges the readers to embrace theirs. I highly recommend this book for beginners but also for advanced artists who want to try something new.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#DrawnOnTheWay #NetGalley

This is a lovely, inspirational drawing book! There are lots of examples and I appreciate that the author uses a pen so you commit to the lines and don't worry so much about fixing mistakes. Unfortunately, my ARC expired before I was able to finish reading the book or properly try the exercises so I am unable to publicly review it. What I saw was great though and I wish I had been able to read the whole thing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Drawn on the Way is a book offering artists a way to channel their creativity through live sketching. I loved the author's way of explaining her various choices (her choice to write this book, her choice of sketching utensils, her choice to draw a certain way, etc.) because it's clear that she intends for this book to foster creativity in each artist's own unique way, rather than one uniform style. She understands that the path to creating art isn't always easy, and offers tips on overcoming your doubts, which I thought was extremely helpful. The author offers many different techniques for you to try, pairing each with words of encouragement and tiny doodles. You're able to choose what you think will work for you, and what won't.

This book makes me want to draw. 5 stars.

3.5 stars

A helpful guide to improvisational sketching, even if you don’t really draw. Useful tips & exercises, & inspiring examples are included!

[What I liked:]

•I appreciate the emphasis on not trying for perfection, & just going for it. The method is, very basically, starting with a hook & then experimenting & adding elements to tell the story and capture the meaning you want to tell with the drawing. This helps to feel less overwhelmed about where to start, which worked for me when I tried it.

•The book mixes in concepts with both examples and structured exercises to try yourself. I appreciate how the exercises (while simple) are broken down step-by-step with examples & tips. It made it less daunting for me to try.

•This book is a mix of two things: telling a story and capturing emotion with sketches based on what you observe around you, & how to technically achieve various effects. Both are helpful.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•It wasn’t a big problem for me, but the layout at times was hard to follow. Sometimes with the step-by-steps it was a bit hard to tell which numbered text section went with which drawing.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This is a wonderful book for beginning artists that provides a wider variety of topics- from covering nature to people and their expressions to using color. I got enough knowledge from the topics to help guide and provide instruction on how to tackle your objects. The book also provided great exercises to start with and continue to practice as you get more comfortable with your work.

Drawn on the Way is a brief drawing guide focusing on live sketching. This differs from most of the drawing guides I've seen in that it focuses less on specific techniques such as perspective, shading, etc., and more on the ideas, processes, and concepts involved in building a more diverse portfolio. The author encourages the artist to just try and appreciate failures as well as successes. More than the actual drawing instruction offered, which is very basic and covered better elsewhere, the real value in this book are the methods proposed for visually "interrogating" subjects to add conceptual depth to the sketching practice and de-emphasize perfect, representational drawings. If you are looking for permission to draw regardless of talent or skill, this book is the perfect bit of encouragement. This title is a great supplement for a drawing instruction collection and for artists who need encouragement and assistance finding a place to start.

Brilliant useful guide to sketching on the go.
As an art educator I realised that so many of the children I work with (and adults too!) are unrealistically striving for perfection every time they pick up a pencil.
This book is a great reminder that sketches can be quick, imprecise, and there is nothing wrong with that.
There is a strong emphasis on capturing movement, pose, a feeling, more than how to perfectly recreate something like a static photograph would.
I will 100% be adopting this book and the techniques within for my work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I didn't really find this book very helpful for advancing my drawing skills. While I'll admit I'm a novice at drawing I thought there were would be something I would find helpful. Hopefully more experienced artists enjoy this.

I really enjoyed how much this book suggests exercises and practices that push back against the perfectionism that can make it hard to stay with a drawing practice. All the exercises are pretty quick and encourage the reader to start drawing wherever they are with whatever they have with them.

Awesome book inspiring to draw. without any limits. The author explained her journey and along which how to approach drawing each subjects and laid back approach to do so.

Drawn on the Way by Sarah Nisbett

Art like many topics is subjective, and so learning how to do art will be different for everyone. I was hoping the author’s more relaxed ‘no rules’ version of learning to draw would work for me in ways that some other learn how to draw guides have not. Unfortunately, while I liked some of the principles the author professed, her style of learning did not work for me either.

I greatly appreciated the section on starting something new, that you need to ignore negative thoughts in order to simply create. The act of making art should bring joy, regardless of what the end result looks like.

I also thought the idea of starting an image with the ‘hook’ (the thing that first catches your eye) and then using that element as the scale for the rest of the image was a good technique and she explains several other clever tricks for making things look more realistic.

But the practical aspects of the book didn’t mesh with my style of drawing. I don’t like the limits imposed by some exercises used, like trying to draw an image without looking at your paper. While I can understand the point of the exercise is to make you focus on the subject and not get hung up on the end result, for me these exercises are more frustrating then helpful as I’m left with a bunch of lines that don’t look anything like the subject.

The chapters are short with only a few paragraphs explaining each lesson and in a few cases I felt that I still didn’t quite understand how to do what was being asked. Especially in one of the early lessons about interrogating the subject when determining what to draw. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of asking a still life subject ‘what happens next’?

Everyone learns differently so the fact that this book didn’t quite work for me shouldn’t discourage you from checking it out.

I love Sarah’s Instagram and I really enjoyed this book. When I was a child and in my early teens, I loved drawing. But then I got put off and self-conscious and stopped. Last year I started painting, but abstract, the idea of trying to draw relatively realistically was still a no. But I did some of the exercises in this book and actually enjoyed it. And managed a couple of good drawings too. I’m excited to keep trying. A really simple, encouraging, and inspiring book.

Drawn on the Way by Sarah Nisbett is a brilliant book for helping to learn how to sketch. From when to do it and how to do it. Featuring instructions for many different projects, it’s easy to follow and easy to use.

Drawn on the Way is an inspiring book that helps beginner to intermediate artists use experiences and observations from everyday life to produce art. It includes simple sketches to more detailed projects. The author encourages you to tell a story with your sketches by focussing on important details that reveal something about the person or object. She teaches different techniques such as contour drawing and line work. A really interesting and unique art book.

This book really inspired me to try sketching wherever I am. The author manages to motivate people of all skill levels to just try it out and not to be afraid of "messing up" a drawing. Especially the section on drawing animals was helpful to me, as I've never really managed that well so far. This book presents helpful tips and information for both more experienced artists and absolute beginners.

Art journaling is such a wonderful and rewarding hobby to have. Drawn on the Way contains many tips and techniques that would be helpful for the beginner, near beginner and intermediate artist who want to learn and improve what they put in their sketchbooks. I was very interested in the author's suggestions on how to "interrogate" and draw objects, how to look at things as composite shapes, using composition to tell a story, and how to find the "hook", among others. I discovered that I may have been tackling portraits wrongly! Using her technique, I saw some improvement right away. Drawing people is generally very hard though and journalers like me will need to practise a lot for sure!

Such a lovely book, written with passion and lots of encouragement. From simple sketches to more intricate drawings, the author shows how you can take objects, scenes, and people from everyday life and use them to inspire your art. I also loved the easy-flowing tone of the narrative, as though the author was there, talking to you and guiding you. There are lots of great ideas to start you off; nothing is too simplistic, and she shows how even errors can become part of your artwork. A great book for anyone who needs a little help with their creativity. Highly recommend.