DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers FEBRUARY 2021
Drawing Attention Mandate Drawing Attention, the official monthly zine of the Urban Sketchers organization, communicates and promotes official USk workshops, symposiums, sketchcrawls, news and events; shares news about USk chapters; and educates readers about the practice of on-location sketching. Thanks to this month’s Drawing Attention contributors: Managing Editor: Patricia Chow Mailchimp layout: Jane Wingfield Issuu layout: Anne Taylor Digital Graphic Designer: Jen Stuart Lesch Writers: Mark Anderson, Jim Chapman, Cathy Gutterman, Jane Wingfield French copy editor: Sophie Navas Spanish copy editor: Rosario Muñoz Gajardo Proofreader: Leslie Akchurin Contributors: Parka, Richard Alomar, Mark Leibowitz Cover image: Vanessa Leung Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the January edition of Drawing Attention. Circulation: 13k+ Readership: 16k+ Web: urbansketchers.org Urban Sketchers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing. Click here to make your tax-deductible contribution via Paypal. © 2021 Urban Sketchers. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication, including accompanying artwork, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Urban Sketchers organization.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear USk Community, As we plan and look forward to this year, to do what we can to be together, sketch, develop new skills, connect with old and new friends, I would like to thank Patricia Chow, the DA Managing Editor and the DA writing and layout team for the outstanding work they’ve done to keep our community informed, engaged and responsive. During the most difficult times, Patricia and the DA team continued to collect stories, engage chapters, highlight drawing tools and report on what we were
sketching, how we were meeting the challenges of lockdown and what we learned from the experience. It is no small chore to maintain the quality of well-written, welldrawn and well-expressed ideas during a pandemic. So, join us in thanking Patricia and the DA team for the good work they do on behalf of our community. THANK YOU! Please stay safe, engaged and sketching! Sketching together (one way or another), Richard Alomar, USk President
MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Greetings, Sketchers! In this second issue of the year, we travel to Madagascar with Dwa, join Ian Fennelly for a deep dive into several European cities, and have a meal in Hong Kong with Vanessa Leung. We also get to know our newest regional chapter: USk Ivano-Frankivsk in the Ukraine. Don’t forget to check out the details for our new Reportage Grant. Individuals, groups of sketchers, or USk chapters are eligible to apply for up to $500 to do a reportage project later this year. The deadline is May 1. Last but not least, USk has a number of open volunteer openings if you are looking
for a way to give back to Urban Sketchers after a year of lockdown. My term as editor of Drawing Attention will be up soon, so we are also looking for one or more people to pass the reins to - email secretary@urbansketchers.org if you’re interested! As always, a big thank you to our fantastic team of Drawing Attention writers, translators, designers and support staff. If you’d like to join our team, email me at drawingattention@urbansketchers.org. I’ll still be around for a little bit. Enjoy our latest issue! Patricia Chow Managing Editor Drawing Attention
CONTENTS 4 USK NEWS & EVENTS
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USK IVANO-FRANKIVSK DWA
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24 IAN FENNELLY
30 VANESSA LEUNG
COOL GEAR | REVIEW
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USk News & Events
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USk News & Events
USK REPORTAGE GRANT PROGRAM NEW GRANT PROGRAM
WHAT IS REPORTAGE?
Urban Sketchers is excited to announce a new USk Reportage Grant Program open to individual sketchers, chapters, and creative collaborators from around the world. Visual storytelling lies at the heart of the USk movement. The program is designed to highlight the best examples of these efforts and to inspire new visual storytellers in our community.
Reportage is a visual account of a cultural phenomenon, event, current history, etc., based on drawings completed from direct observation while on location. The drawings tell a story by capturing an event and showing context, characters, and setting. Sketches are accompanied by short pieces of narrative writing presented directly on the drawings or added separately. The narrative is informed by firsthand accounts, research, and interviews. A successful visual reportage gives viewers a feeling for the setting and the people.
In order to qualify for a grant, sketchers are invited to send us their proposals with five examples of their drawings. A successful proposal will highlight an aspect of local culture, an event, a moment in time, an industry/trade, and/or a societal change, in drawings and writing. Proposals must be received by May 1, 2021. Authors of winning proposals will develop their projects between June 1 and December 15, 2021. The winning proposals will be awarded a grant ranging from US$300-500 to cover expenses related to project preparation. Click HERE for more information and to apply.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? Sketchers of all abilities and styles are encouraged to apply. You can submit a proposal as an individual sketcher or form a creative collaboration with someone else or engage your whole chapter in this project. HOW CAN I GET INSPIRED? If you haven’t yet checked out USk Talks, a weekly show dedicated to all things Urban Sketchers, visit the official USk YouTube channel. This season we are taking an in-depth look into the practice of visual reportage and storytelling by inviting artists, sketchers, and the winners of the Reportage Call for Proposals to share their work and knowledge with the community. FEBRUARY 2021 5
USk News & Events
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USk Talks USk News & Events
SHARE YOUR CHAPTER’S NEWS WITH OUR READERS Contact us to share your chapter’s news, special events, joint meetups, and exhibitions with our readers. You don’t need to write the story yourself. We will assign a Drawing Attention writer to cover your story! Contact us at: drawingattention@urbansketchers.org.
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New Chapter
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Welcome, Urban Sketchers USk Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine BY CATHY GUTTERMAN
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vano-Frankivsk, a historic city located in Western Ukraine, is one of the principal cities of the Carpathian Euroregion, and the location of one of the newest official chapters in the USk community. Urban Sketchers IF was founded by Kateryna Kondratieva, the current administrator. Kateryna is assisted by Ksenya Holovko and Khrystyna Dokhnyak. Kateryna moved to Ivano-Frankivsk from Odessa, where she had attended several urban sketchers meetings. It was a very inspiring experience, and she wanted to have a similar community in her new home, with like-minded people who loved drawing and the city. On June 26, 2019, their first meeting took place, and Kateryna was joined by two people. About ten people came to the second meeting. Their membership continues to grow, and currently they have 219 members. Their largest gatherings have had more than 20 people. Among the IF sketchers, there are professional artists, illustrators, and designers, as well as
people who are drawing for the first time. Their youngest sketcher is a mere 18 months old. They have a very friendly community and everyone always greets each other warmly. Urban Sketchers Ivano-Frankivsk applied to become an official USk chapter in August 2020. From the beginning, they had closely followed the USk Manifesto, so no changes were required. The approval process took three and a half months. Communication and staying connected became especially valuable during the pandemic and lockdown, when USk IF members tried to support each other and share a positive attitude. Because they could not gather in the open air to draw together, one of their members, Patricia Hoffman, proposed a “flash mob� challenge to boost their mood and lift their spirits. The challenge was to draw every day for three weeks and share their work on social networks. There was no specific theme, but on one day, it FEBRUARY 2021 9
New Chapter
coincided with the #USkAtHome challenge “What we see outside the window,” and USK IF’s participation was written up in the local online magazine Kufer. The group has joined #USkatHome, held Zoom meetings, talked, and sketched every week. When the lockdown restrictions were reduced, they resumed outdoor meetings in compliance with all safety requirements. After being at home for two months, getting outside again to sketch was exciting. To improve their skills, they sketched with a change of location every 15 minutes. For another sketching challenge, they drew only objects that were yellow, such as houses, doors, and signs. USk Ivano-Frankivsk is very happy to be part of the Urban Sketchers family and finds the sense of belonging to the world community very inspiring. Sketching has become a very important part of their lives.
“COMMUNICATION AND STAYING CONNECTED BECAME ESPECIALLY VALUABLE DURING THE PANDEMIC AND LOCKDOWN, WHEN USK IF MEMBERS TRIED TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND SHARE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE...”
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: OUR YOUNGEST SKETCHER RADA KONDRATIEVA; DARIA MATSOLA SHEVCHENKO’S STREET SCENE IN IVANO-FRANKIVSK; PATRICIA HOFFMAN; KATERYNA KONDRATIEVA; SKETCH BY MILENA VITROVSKA OF KYIV POSTAL SERVICE; KHRYSTYNA BYK; MILENA VITROVSKA; OLESYA SONATA
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Places That Feel Lived In 12 DRAWING ATTENTION
Dwa
MALAGASY URBAN SKETCHER DWA TALKS WITH MARK ALAN ANDERSON
AT THE CENTER OF THE TOWN, IN FORT-DAUPHIN FEBRUARY 2021 13
Sketcher Spotlight
ABOVE: KIDS WAITING FOR A FRIEND, TSIMIALONJAFY, ANTANANARIVO 14 DRAWING ATTENTION
Dwa
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ne of the exciting parts about exploring a new city is all the little things: being out on the streets watching people, discovering places, finding those things that make a place feel authentic and lived in. When that city is Paris, and you are an urban sketcher from Madagascar, the excitement is palpable.
Eric Andriantsialonina asks me to call him “Dwa,” a moniker derived from a university nickname. The 2018 recipient of a three-month artist residency sponsored by Prix Paritana, Dwa flashes a winning grin when I ask him to tell me what it was like to be sketching in Paris. “It was cool!” he laughs. “I was there before, you know. It was the end of January and cold and there was no sun…in Madagascar, even in the winter we have sun and we can draw outside.” Dwa laughs and tells me how fortunate it was that much of his recent stay was during the autumn months. Formerly an economist in the Ministry of Finance, Dwa came to realize he needed a different outlet. “I don’t know how but I really think I need to find a way to be an artist.” For the past decade, Dwa has been writing stories for radio, cinema, and comic books. FEBRUARY 2021 15
Sketcher Spotlight
He believes urban sketching isn’t so different from writing comics. After all, it’s really just a matter of telling visual stories. Writing a daily newspaper comic page for the past six years has taught him how to uncover tales about daily life, about what’s happening in his country, the stories of how things affect the regular person on the street. He has likened his time in Paris to being a new kid in school, where everyone knows each other but you don’t know anyone. Sketching on the streets of his own country, Dwa is a source of curiosity. Crowds gather round as he draws, leaning over his shoulder to watch as the buildings and cars and people around them suddenly emerge on his sketchbook page. In Paris, he’s one of many seeking to capture some semblance of the place, but at home he’s more of a unicorn. “In Paris, when I say I am an artist, people are taking me seriously. That’s not always the case in Madagascar.” Dwa’s drawings convey a sense of space: loosely drawn lines that immediately remind you of his background in comic books, with fresh and uncomplicated washes of color, and glazes of watercolor that denote crisp shadows and forms. These studies of places very clearly reveal exactly where he was standing with his sketchbook. A car or other object looms into view in the immediate foreground, while architectural details lurk in the distance. Dwa seems drawn to views one would seldom find in a travel guide; places where cars park, where laundry hangs, and back CONNECT WITH DWA
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alleys dominate the scenery. Far from feeling seedy, the scenes he captures are very real. The world is authentic and lived in. Work from Dwa’s residency was first exhibited in Paris, then later in Madagascar. Some of his small sketches were enlarged for display. “It was the first time I saw my drawings on a wall very, very big – maybe four meters by three meters.” In the studio, he prefers to make larger drawings, often from photographs and memory. Dwa points out how different that is from making sketches on location. Pointing to a large painting he says “I wish I could take a sketchbook out that size, but I don’t think it would be very comfortable!” He laughs and lifts a much smaller book, perhaps A4 in size. “I prefer big. On location, the biggest I am comfortable with is this one. I know I just have a very few minutes to sketch the scene.”
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Dwa
AN OLD PARKED CAR, ANTANANARIVO
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A CAR PARKED NEAR A TYPICAL HOUSE IN ANJOHY, ANTANANARIVO 18 DRAWING ATTENTION
Dwa
Des lieux qui sentent le vécu L’URBAN SKETCHER MALGACHE DWA SE CONFIE À DRAWING ATTENTION. PAR MARK ALAN ANDERSON. TRADUIT PAR SOPHIE NAVAS
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’une des parties les plus intéressantes de l’exploration d’une nouvelle ville, ce sont toutes les petites choses: être dans la rue, regarder les gens, découvrir des lieux, trouver les choses qui donnent à un lieu un sentiment d’authenticité et de vie. Quand cette ville est Paris, et que vous êtes un Urban Sketcher de Madagascar, l’excitation est palpable.
Eric Andriantsialonina me demande de l’appeler «Dwa”, un sobriquet dérivé d’un surnom qui vient de ses années à l’université. Bénéficiaire en 2018 d’une résidence d’artiste de trois mois parrainée par le Prix Paritana, Dwa affiche un sourire victorieux lorsque je lui demande de me raconter ce que c’était que de dessiner à Paris. «C’était cool!” dit-il en riant. «J’y étais allé avant, tu sais. C’était la fin du mois de janvier et il faisait froid et il n’y avait pas de soleil… À Madagascar, même en hiver, nous avons du soleil et nous pouvons dessiner dehors.” Dwa rit et me dit à quel point il avait de la chance qu’une grande partie de son récent séjour ait eu lieu pendant les mois d’automne. Ancien économiste au ministère des Finances, Dwa s’est rendu compte qu’il avait besoin d’un autre débouché. «Je ne sais pas comment mais je pense vraiment que je devais trouver un moyen d’être artiste.” Au cours des dix dernières années, Dwa a écrit des histoires pour la radio, le cinéma et la bande dessinée.
Il pense que le dessin urbain n’est pas si différent de l’écriture de bandes dessinées. Après tout, il s’agit simplement de raconter des histoires en images. Écrire une page de bande dessinée dans un quotidien au cours des six dernières années lui a appris à couvrir des histoires sur la vie quotidienne, sur ce qui se passe dans son pays, sur la façon dont les choses affectent les gens ordinaires dans la rue. Il a comparé son séjour à Paris à une nouvelle école, où tout le monde se connaît mais où on ne connaît personne. Lorsqu’il dessine dans les rues de son propre pays, Dwa est une source de curiosité. La foule se rassemble alors qu’il dessine, se penchant sur son épaule, regardant les bâtiments, les voitures et les gens qui les entourent émerger soudainement sur la page de son carnet de croquis. À Paris, il est l’un des nombreux artistes à chercher à capturer un semblant de l’endroit, mais chez lui, il est plutôt une bête curieuse. “À Paris, quand je dis que je suis artiste, les gens me prennent au sérieux. Ce n’est pas toujours le cas à Madagascar.” Les dessins de Dwa donnent une impression d’espace: des lignes libres qui vous rappellent immédiatement son passé dans la bande dessinée, avec des lavis de couleurs douces et simples; les ombres et les formes se détachent par des couches d’aquarelle. Ces études de lieux révèlent FEBRUARY 2021 19
Sketcher Spotlight
très nettement là où il se tenait avec son carnet de croquis. Une voiture ou un autre objet apparaît au tout premier plan, tandis que les détails architecturaux se dissimulent au loin. Dwa semble attiré par des vues que l’on trouverait rarement dans un guide de voyage: les endroits où les voitures se garent, où la lessive est suspendue et où les ruelles dominent le paysage. Loin de se sentir miteuses, les scènes qu’il capture sont bien réelles. Son monde est authentique et sent le vécu. Le travail de la résidence de Dwa a d’abord été exposé à Paris, puis à Madagascar. Certains de ses petits croquis ont été agrandis pour être exposés. “C’était la première fois que je voyais mes dessins sur un mur très, très grand - peut-être quatre mètres sur trois.” En studio, il préfère réaliser des dessins plus grands, souvent à partir de photographies ou de mémoire. Dwa souligne à quel point c’est différent de faire des croquis sur place. En désignant un grand tableau, il dit: “J’aimerais pouvoir prendre un carnet de croquis de cette taille, mais je ne pense pas que ce serait très confortable!” Il rit et soulève un carnet beaucoup plus petit, peut-être au format A4. “Je préfère les gros carnets. Sur place, le plus grand avec lequel je suis à l’aise est celui-ci. Je sais que je n’ai que quelques minutes pour esquisser la scène.”
SE CONNECTER AVEC DWA
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Dwa
A BEAUTIFUL CHURCH IN ANDOHALO, ANTANANARIVO
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Sketcher Spotlight
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Sketcher Spotlight
Dwa
NOTRE DAME, PARIS FEBRUARY 2021 23
Title Sketcher Spotlight
SANTORINI RIGHT: MEVAGISSEY 24 DRAWING ATTENTION
Ian Fennelly: Layers of Understanding BY JIM CHAPMAN
FEBRUARY 2021 25
Sketcher Spotlight
BLAUWBURG, AMSTERDAM
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“‘You are not drawing only what you see, but also layers of understanding that you get from being somewhere.’ The sounds, the smells, all can have bearing on the sketch...”
Ian Fennelly
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hile sketchers often try to blend into their surroundings to better focus, sometimes their acting skills are far better than they know. This was the case with UK sketcher Ian Fennelly, who was once sitting and sketching away on a cold pub floor in Chester, England. It was really cold, and he was wearing many layers of clothes and hadn’t shaved for days. “An old couple stopped and gave me a pound for tea, to warm up,” said Ian. In addition to the pound, he also left the pub with a really nice sketch. Another time, in Amsterdam, he sat leaning against a tree, quietly blending in and sketching away. Then, a woman and pup on a leash paused beside him. The pup did its business against the tree, which streamed straightaway into Ian’s colors on his palette. “It softened the paints nicely,” he laughed. It is this spontaneous element of being on location that brings some wonderful surprises – and maybe a pup, too. “You are not drawing only what you see, but also layers of understanding that you get from being somewhere.” The sounds, the smells, all can have bearing on the sketch. If (as happened to Ian) wasps are swarming as you draw, that’s part of the story. Ian, who’d always drawn on location, came upon the Urban Sketchers in 2015. And this event changed his life as his studio art career, his urban sketching, and his many years of teaching art teaching and consulting suddenly converged into a single, unified direction. “I realized this is what I’d been training to do all my life,” he said. “I haven’t looked back since.”
Today, Ian is a busy workshop instructor at locations around the globe, and now, during lockdown, online. But he hopes to get back out there soon, and encourages all sketchers, no matter their skill levels to “give it a go.” In addition to teaching, Ian is rolling out his newlyreleased book, Layers of Looking, a 100-page plus tome meant to share the joy of live action found in working on location – and to celebrate and expand the wonderful camaraderie of Urban Sketchers found worldwide. “It’s not a book of tricks and techniques; it’s more personal insights to inspire. It’s a human story as much as an artist story,” he said. Ian typically starts a sketch with a water-soluble black Tombow brush pen, then follows with watercolor, and adds final details using a fine tip pen. He often uses a limited palette of colors, depending on the look of a specific location. “A limited palette makes things easier, you’ve got more possibilities,” he said. Ian’s home USk chapter is Liverpool, which he started sketching with in 2015. He also attended the USk Symposiums in Porto and Amsterdam. He lives beside the beach with his wife and two children, and enjoys playing the guitar, listening to music, and running. FEBRUARY 2021 27
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Ian Fennelly
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Sketcher Spotlight
URBAN SKETCHING IS A FAMILY AFFAIR
with Hong Kong’s Vanessa Leung BY JANE WINGFIELD
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anessa Leung comes by her sketching skills naturally. Her grandfather was a calligrapher who passed his skills onto his children. Vanessa’s own father always sketched, as did his siblings, Vanessa’s aunties. So in 2014, when USk Hong Kong admin Alvin Wong finally convinced Vanessa to join the Hong Kong sketchers at the annual Hong Kong Classic Car Show, Vanessa asked her father to come with her for moral support. She hid between some parked cars, sketching surreptitiously. “When I crawled back out…I found it really interesting to see all the different sketches. [I had to take] that first step out, and since then I carry my sketchbook and my sketching tools everywhere I go.” Clearly, Vanessa was hooked. Since then Vanessa has poured her enthusiasm into her sketchbooks. She’s filled five sketchbooks during the pandemic so far, with a variety of sketches – views from her high-rise apartment window, street scenes, restaurants – but the subject she sketched most this past year was food. When Hong Kong went into lockdown last spring, Vanessa’s husband dove into cooking. They missed going out to eat with their friends, so her husband researched his favorite dishes, found recipes on the
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internet and YouTube, and became the family’s top chef. Vanessa supported the endeavor by sketching the meals. “I like drawing food, especially what my husband has created. It’s something that I want to remember.” Vanessa also likes to draw on the streets of Hong Kong, a city constantly under construction with new, modern buildings popping up all over. But Vanessa likes to find small buildings, hidden gems, among the high rises and heritage buildings that represent Hong Kong’s history. “They are something we want to treasure…they might not exist later.” Urban sketching, Vanessa says, “helps me stop and really look at my surroundings. Before Urban Sketchers, like all Hong Kongers, I just rushed to work every day and rushed home at night without taking notice. After urban sketching, I find I appreciate what’s around me.” She enjoys being immersed in the sights and sounds of a location, and hearing people talks and share stories. One time she was sketching on the street and an older man began to tell Vanessa about all of the changes that had taken place in the 50 years he’d lived in that neighborhood.
Vanessa Leung
A FAMILY SKETCHING TRIP IN PENANG
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Sketcher Spotlight
Because there’s so much to sketch in Hong Kong and she often doesn’t have a lot of time, Vanessa likes to use accordion sketchbooks. “You can sketch a little bit at a time and keep adding to it,” and they work really well for trip sketchbooks, especially when traveling with family or friends. Vanessa had the honor of being featured in the Hong Kong City Guide published by Page Hotels. Vanessa Leung’s Travel Itinerary takes a traveler to the places she would visit if she had one day to do all the things she loved in Hong Kong. Vanessa also talks about sketching in the city and the places that she mean so much to her as a native Hong Konger. Although USk Hong Kong has had only one official sketch outing since the lockdown started last spring, Vanessa still contacts other sketchers who work near her in central Hong Kong and “skip lunch. We just sketch.” Still, she misses getting together with the whole group. And speaking of getting together with friends and family, remember those aunties and uncles who grew up sketching? Two years ago, Vanessa organized a family sketch trip with her father, aunts, uncles, and even some cousins. They traveled to Penang, meeting up with KK and the Penang urban sketchers. While the sketchers in the family drew all the sites, the non-sketchers enjoyed the food and conversation–a family affair if I ever heard one.
“Before Urban Sketchers, like all Hong Kongers, I just rushed to work every day and rushed home at night without taking notice. After urban sketching, I find I appreciate what’s around me.” SUBSCRIBE TO DRAWING ATTENTION – IT’S FREE 32 DRAWING ATTENTION
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Vanessa Leung
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VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR 34 DRAWING ATTENTION
EL URBAN SKETCHING ES UN ASUNTO FAMILIAR
con Vanessa Leung de Hong Kong POR JANE WINGFIELD TRADUCCIÓN DE ROSARIO MUÑOZ GAJARDO
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anessa Leung adquirió naturalmente sus habilidades para dibujar: su abuelo fue un caligrafista que transmitió sus habilidades a sus hijos; el propio padre de Vanessa siempre dibujó, así como lo hicieron las hermanas de éste, tías de Vanessa. Es por eso que en 2014, cuando uno de los organizadores de USk Hong Kong, Alvin Wong finalmente convenció a Vanessa de unirse a los dibujantes de Hong Kong en el Show Anual de Autos Clásicos de la ciudad, Vanessa le pidió a su padre que fuera con ella como apoyo moral y para dibujar se escondió entre dos autos estacionados, para dibujar sin llamar la atención. “Cuando yo volví, encontré realmente interesante ver los diferentes dibujos. [Tuve que tomar] ese primer paso y desde ese momento llevo mi cuaderno y mis materiales de dibujo a donde vaya”. Claramente, Vanessa había sido seducida por el dibujo urbano.
Desde ese momento Vanessa ha volcado su entusiasmo en cuadernos. Hasta el momento ha llenado cinco cuadernos durante la pandemia, con una variedad de bocetos de distintos puntos de vista, desde la ventana de su apartamento en un piso elevado, escenas de la calle y restoranes. Pero el objeto de interés que más ha dibujado este año ha sido la comida. Cuando comenzó la cuarentena en FEBRUARY 2021 35
Sketcher Spotlight
A ‘VANISHING BUILDING’ OF HONG KONG 36 DRAWING ATTENTION
Vanessa Leung
Hong Kong la primavera pasada, el marido de Vanessa se dedicó a cocinar. Ambos extrañaban salir con amigos a comer, así que su marido investigó sobre sus platos favoritos, encontró las recetas en internet y Youtube y se convirtió en el mejor chef de la familia, mientras Vanessa apoyaba la empresa este esfuerzo dibujando los platos. “Me gusta dibujar comida, especialmente lo que mi marido ha creado. Es algo que quiero recordar.” Vanesa también disfruta dibujar las calles de Hong Kong, una ciudad constantemente en construcción, con nuevos y modernos edificios levantándose por todas partes. Pero le gusta encontrar pequeños edificios, gemas escondidas entre las alturas, edificios que son herencia de la ciudad y representan su historia: “Hay algunos que quiero atesorar, porque puede que ya no estén después.” “El urban sketching me ayuda a detenerme y realmente mirar a mi alrededor. Antes de USk, como todos los Hong Kongers, yo corría al trabajo todos los días y en la noche corría a la casa, sin observar nada. Después del urban sketching, aprecio lo que me rodea.” Ella disfruta estar inmersa en la vista y los sonidos del lugar, escuchar a la gente hablar y compartir historias, como esa vez estaba
dibujando en la calle y un hombre mayor comenzó a contarle todos los cambios que habían ocurrido en ese barrio durante los 50 años en los que él había vivido ahí.” Debido a que hay demasiado para dibujar en Hong Kong y ella no siempre tiene tanto tiempo, a Vanessa le gusta usar el cuaderno tipo acordeón. “Puedes dibujar un poco cada vez y continuar añadiéndole,” y estos cuadernos realmente funcionan bien como cuadernos de viaje, especialmente cuando viajas con familia o amigos. A pesar de que USk Hong Kong sólo ha tenido una salida oficial desde el confinamiento, que comenzó la primavera pasada, Vanessa todavía contacta a otros dibujantes que trabajan cerca de ella en la zona central de Hong Kong. “Nos juntamos y nos saltamos el almuerzo, solo dibujamos.” Aun así, ella extraña juntarse con todo el grupo. Y hablando de juntarse con amigos y familia, ¿recuerdan esas tías y tíos que crecieron dibujando? Hace dos años Vanessa organizó un viaje familiar de dibujo con su padre, tías, tíos e incluso algunos primos. Viajaron a Penang, encontrándose con Kiah Kiean (KK) y los USk de Penang. Mientras los dibujantes de la familia registraban cada lugar, los no dibujantes disfrutaban la comida y la conversación - un asunto familiar.
CONÉCTATE CON VANESSA
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Sketcher Spotlight
HOME COOKING 38 DRAWING ATTENTION
Vanessa Leung
FEBRUARY 2021 39
Cool Gear
COOL GEAR SEEING DOUBLE BY MARK LEIBOWITZ In last month’s issue we discussed the many benefits for an artist to use two cameras while on a Zoom call. The first camera is, of course, focused on your face. That’s important. A lot of information gets revealed by looking at someone’s face. However, for an artist, a lot of really important things take place near your hands. A friend might want to look at the sketch book you’re using. Or a fellow sketcher might enjoy watching 40 DRAWING ATTENTION
you sketch or add color to your creation. If you’re on enough Zoom calls, eventually someone will want to look at something that is inconvenient for the webcam to show because it’s pointed at your face. You can always pick up the object…well, not always. Certainly you can’t do a demo by holding up your sketchbook, your palette, brushes, etc. Last week we discussed the two camera solution, which means either getting a second webcam or using your cellphone as your second camera. But there is also a way you can make your one and only webcam to do double duty. Last month I got to meet Sally Lincoln (aka The Nomad Artist). She is one of the new admins for USk Pueblo. We were on a video call together and the sub-
Review
ject of a second camera came up. Sally said a friend of hers, Istvan Szent-Miklosy, came up with an invention. I believe it was made on a 3D printer. Istvan’s invention is a little box that you slip over the edge of your laptop so it covers the computer’s camera opening. A little mirror inside points downward so you can use a laptop and still show your hands at work during a video call. There is one tiny detail you should know about. The image - including any writing - will be backwards. Istvan supplies some workarounds for Zoom or Google Meet on his website. You can see that this specific need is going to create many creative solutions. Maybe some of the new approaches will come from the creative people in our community. The pandemic has created many problems for people all over the world. We know that. The really interesting thing are the wonderful solutions people all over are creating to meet our new challenges. If you have a creative solution, we’d love to hear about and see what you’ve done. Send your cool solution directly to markleibowitz810@gmail.com. You can see Istvan’s product HERE.
PARKA REVIEWS BY TEOH YI CHIE
Teoh Yi Chie is an infographics journalist who joined Urban Sketchers Singapore in 2009. He’s probably better known as Parka from Parkablogs. com, a website that reviews art books and art products. This month Parka video reviews the Pocket Palette v2 and Art Toolkit. Check it out!
FEBRUARY 2021 41
Our Manifesto • We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation • Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel • Our drawings are a record of time and place • We are truthful to the scenes we witness • We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles • We support each other and draw together • We share our drawings online • We show the world, one drawing at a time.
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