Allen W. Seaby: Urban Sketcher

Despite its potentially misleading name, ‘urban’ sketching can feature all types of scenery. Nature played an important role in Seaby’s best known wildlife woodcuts, but his urban sketches also show a deep interest in wild landscapes. Man-made structures are never shown in isolation with natural elements playing a key role in the composition.

In this sketch of the Villa d’Este in Tivoli in Italy, the rows of trees seem to engulf the building’s façade. Rather than obscuring the villa’s beauty, this compositional choice creates a contrast between the uneven, organic shapes of the vegetation and the clean, symmetrical lines of Renaissance architecture.

In his book Drawing for Art Students and Illustrators (1921), Seaby emphasises the importance of drawing outdoors, stating that “all visible natural phenomena are profitable exercises.” He believed this practice was not only valuable for studying the texture and shapes of natural forms, but also for understanding perspective.

In this sketch of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy, aerial perspective is suggested by reducing the level of detail in objects as they recede. This piece is another strong example of the conversation between natural landscapes and man-made structures.

A history enthusiast, Seaby’s sketches frequently depict archaeological landmarks, such as this drawing of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. He wrote several archaeology and history books, and some of the sketches in this exhibition served as inspiration for ink illustrations featured in his book series Art in the Life of Mankind (1928-1931).

Seaby also worked on historical fiction books for children, including Leon of Massalia. In this publication, set in 400BC, a young man travels to Athens to study art and compete in the Olympic Games; it is possible that Seaby’s sketches of Athens also served as preparatory studies for the book’s illustrations. Although Leon of Massalia was never published, you can read it here.

A small number of sketches of the Pyramids of Giza suggest that Seaby also visited Egypt in 1924. This drawing bears the inscription “The Sphinx”, with the note “before the latest excavation,” which was probably added at later date, when the legs of the Great Sphinx of Giza were fully uncovered in the 1930s.

On the back of this image there is a mirrored outline of the drawing. Seaby produced an etching of the Sphinx, and the reversed image would have been necessary for transfer to a woodblock or, in this case, to a copper plate.

Many urban sketchers keep travel journals where they document their trips, sometimes adding written observations. Although these are gaining popularity again in the twenty-first century, these kinds of journals were essential tools for explorers, archaeologists and naturalists in the nineteenth century, such as Charles Darwin (1809-1882) or Marianne North (1830-1890). Drawing on location has always been a quick and efficient way to capturing the moment and it provides a chance for the sketcher to highlight important details that otherwise would be lost on camera.

In this sketch of a Byzantine church in Athens, Seaby focused on architectural and decorative elements like the tiles and the windows, while other elements like the trees or the people are sketched in less detail.

Seaby often used toned paper for his sketches, as it provided “a ready-made middle or half tone, and hence saves time and labour.” In this French landscape, he used white to add a lighter tone to the chalk bluff walls and the sky behind the mountains.

The use of toned paper remains popular today among modern urban sketchers. Carrying too many art supplies outdoors can be inconvenient, and as Seaby noted, toned paper offers an efficient way to establish mid-tones without the need of additional materials.

Seaby produced an extraordinary number of sketches in his Mediterranean trip; some inspired the ink drawings of his history books, but the purpose of most of them remains unclear. Like many modern artists, explorers, and urban sketchers, he may have simply been documenting scenes from his travels. However, a small group of drawings present annotations, which suggest they were preparatory studies intended for development into prints.

In this sketch of Naples, Seaby included notes on colour and tone for a potential print. In Drawing for Art Students, he wrote that such studies should be “made with the resources of the craft always in view.” Since his prints were known for their strong linework, his sketches reflect a similar focus.

Preliminary sketches are a vital tool for any artist, and the sketch’s intended purpose influences the information included. In this example by Seaby’s contemporary J. Anthony Betts (1897-1980), annotations with colour labels are similar to those in Seaby’s Naples sketch. However, Betts’ approach to drawing was different. His landscape paintings often lack strong linework, emphasizing mass, silhouette, and tonal contrast instead. In this drawing, red crayon replaces detailed linework, forming broad areas of tone.

Format can also influence how artists approach preparatory sketches. The grid in this sketch by Walter Sickert (1860-1942) suggests it was intended for transfer to a bigger canvas, which is done by drawing a larger grid in the canvas and transfer the image square by square. In contrast to Betts, Sickert favoured strong linear draughtsmanship in his paintings, which is reflected in the importance of line in his sketches.

While his talent as a wildlife printmaker is well documented by his extensive oeuvre (which can be found in private and public collections across the world), Seaby’s urban sketches offer an exciting glimpse into his process and interests. He was a firm believer in the arts of composition and draughtsmanship, which had to be “acquired by severe training, and by intellectual visual effort”. As this online exhibition has revealed, drawing on location remains a popular way to train the eye, improve artistic skills and capture the world, as Urban Sketchers put it, “one sketch at a time.”

Explore our Urban Sketching Guide to learn more.