Sketch Now, Think Later Review: Mike Daikubara’s Handbook

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Sketch Now, Think Later by Mike Daikubara is built around an idea I have found increasingly useful: I do not need to wait for the perfect location, a free afternoon, or a carefully planned page before I start sketching.

I picked up the book during a period when I felt stuck in my sketchbook routine. I had already been drawing for years, so I was not looking for another comprehensive introduction to perspective or composition. What I needed was something that would get me drawing more often.

That is where this book worked for me. Mike Daikubara’s approach is quick, portable, practical, and deliberately resistant to overthinking. Instead of making every sketch into an event, he treats drawing as something that can fit into the small gaps already scattered throughout a normal day.

See The Urban Sketching Handbook: Sketch Now, Think Later

Table of Contents

My Quick Take on Sketch Now, Think Later

What the book emphasizes	My take
Quick sketching	The central idea and the book’s biggest strength
Drawing in pen	Useful for committing to marks instead of constantly correcting them
Portable supplies	Keeps the barrier to starting very low
Technical depth	Enough to support the process, but not an exhaustive drawing manual
Mindset	More important here than perfect technique
Best for	Beginners, habitual overthinkers, and experienced sketchers who want to draw more often

I would recommend it most strongly to someone who already wants to sketch but keeps waiting for the right time, place, supplies, or level of confidence.

What Does “Sketch Now, Think Later” Mean?

I do not take the title to mean that thinking is unimportant.

For me, it means moving some of that thinking to the other side of the first mark.

Instead of standing in front of a scene deciding how I will solve every problem before touching the page, I can start recording what caught my attention and make decisions as the drawing develops.

That distinction sounds small, but it changes the entire beginning of a sketch.

Planning can be useful. Over-planning can become another way of not drawing.

The Book Helped Me Stop Waiting for a “Real” Drawing Session

One of the most useful changes I made after reading the book was recognizing how much drawing time I was ignoring.

I used to think about sketching as something I needed to deliberately schedule. I would go somewhere, sit down, take out the supplies, choose the scene and give myself enough time to make a proper page.

There is nothing wrong with that, but it excludes a lot of smaller opportunities.

waiting for coffee
sitting on a bus
a few minutes on a park bench
waiting for an appointment
standing in line
sitting outside a store

Those moments may only give me five or ten minutes, but they are long enough to notice something and put it on paper.

Using Pen Made Me More Decisive

One of Daikubara’s recurring ideas is drawing directly in pen.

The obvious limitation is also the point: I cannot erase every mark that lands somewhere unexpected.

For me, that changes the goal.

If I know I can erase endlessly, I can spend too much time correcting the drawing before it has any momentum. With pen, I have to decide what I see, make the mark, and respond to whatever happens next.

Some lines will be wrong.

The drawing can survive them.

That mindset has carried into the way I approach loose urban sketching. I would rather have an energetic page with a few inaccurate marks than spend the entire session trying to prevent every mistake.

A Small Sketching Kit Makes It Easier to Start

The book also reinforced something I have learned repeatedly while traveling: every additional supply creates another decision.

There are times when I enjoy having watercolor, multiple pens, pencils and other materials available. But if my actual goal is to draw for five minutes while waiting somewhere, a complicated setup works against me.

After reading the book, I streamlined what I was carrying to a small pen pouch, travel watercolor set and sketchbook.

I can bring the kit without making a special decision about whether I am going on a “sketching trip.”

If you are putting together something similar, I share the supplies I actually carry in my urban sketching kit.

Sketch First, Judge the Drawing Later

The part of the book I probably needed most was permission to separate making a sketch from evaluating it.

If I judge every line while I am drawing it, the sketch becomes cautious very quickly.

Daikubara’s approach encouraged me to get the observation onto the page first and decide what worked afterward.

That has also made it easier for me to accept bad sketches.

I can treat them as warmups, observations, experiments or notes instead of failed pieces of artwork.

Not every page needs to become something worth showing anyone.

The Best Subject Is Often Whatever Is Available

Quick sketching works especially well when I stop waiting for a subject that seems worthy of a drawing.

If I am at the dentist, I can draw the chairs or lights.

If I am outside a store, I can draw someone walking past.

If I have a few minutes in a café, I can record a cup, table, chair, person or view through the window.

The subject does not need to justify the sketch.

The act of looking more closely is enough.

Five Minutes Is Enough for a Useful Sketch

I have found the book particularly useful for changing how I think about very short drawing sessions.

Five minutes is not enough time for me to solve every perspective problem, carefully render a building or produce a finished watercolor.

But it is enough time to record:

one figure
a doorway
the shape of a parked car
a café table
part of a building
a cluster of signs
someone’s posture
a quick street composition

Those small drawings add up, and they keep observational drawing part of my ordinary day rather than something reserved for special outings.

Movement Makes Quick Decisions Necessary

This approach becomes even more useful when I am drawing people or anything else that will not stay still.

I do not have time to carefully design every mark when the person in front of me may stand up and leave.

Instead, I have to notice the larger gesture, posture or relationship first.

That is one reason the ideas in the book work naturally alongside urban sketching people. A moving subject forces me to prioritize.

Quick sketching becomes less about rushing and more about deciding what matters.

This Is More of a Mindset Book Than a Comprehensive Manual

I would set expectations correctly before buying it.

Sketch Now, Think Later is not the urban sketching book I would choose if I wanted the deepest possible treatment of perspective, watercolor, architecture, anatomy or composition.

Its strength is narrower.

It helps reduce the friction between noticing something and beginning to draw it.

There are technical ideas throughout the book, but they support that larger goal rather than turning the book into an exhaustive drawing course.

Who I Think Sketch Now, Think Later Is Best For

Beginners who are intimidated by large technical drawing books
Urban sketchers who over-plan and have trouble making the first mark
Busy people who think they need long blocks of free time to draw
Experienced artists who want to bring spontaneity back into their sketchbooks
Travel sketchers who need a lightweight, immediate approach
Pen sketchers interested in becoming more comfortable with irreversible marks

I think the book becomes particularly useful if your obstacle is hesitation rather than lack of information.

Who Might Want a Different Urban Sketching Book

I would choose something else first if your main goal is:

in-depth perspective instruction
a structured drawing curriculum
detailed watercolor technique
advanced architecture instruction
step-by-step figure drawing
a large collection of finished urban sketches for inspiration

If you want more conventional beginner instruction, The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners is the more natural companion.

Sketch Now, Think Later vs. Other Urban Sketching Books

I own quite a few books about sketching on location, but I use this one differently from the more specialized titles.

If you need…	I would start with…
Help drawing more spontaneously	Sketch Now, Think Later
Broader beginner instruction	Techniques for Beginners
A collection of practical tips	101 Sketching Tips
Dedicated perspective instruction	Understanding Perspective
A wider comparison of books	My urban sketching books guide

How I Use the Book Now

I do not use Sketch Now, Think Later as a course that needs to be completed from beginning to end.

I return to it when my drawing starts becoming too precious.

It reminds me to carry less, start sooner, draw what is actually available and let an imperfect sketch stay imperfect.

The biggest practical change has been using waiting time differently. I no longer need to decide that I am formally “going sketching” before I can draw something from life.

That has probably made the book more useful to me than another hundred pages of technique would have.

Is Sketch Now, Think Later Worth It?

For me, yes. Its value is not that it teaches every urban sketching skill. It makes the act of starting feel smaller and easier.

I still care about composition, perspective, line, color and drawing accurately enough to communicate what I saw.

But none of those things matter if I keep waiting instead of opening the sketchbook.

The lesson I have kept from Mike Daikubara’s book is simple: when I have a few minutes and something in front of me, that is already enough reason to draw.