DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers MAY 2020
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 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 Social Media Designer: Suzala Writers: Meagan Burns, Anne Taylor Proofreader: Leslie Akchurin Contributors: Parka, Richard Alomar, Elizabeth Alley, Róisín Curé, Kay French, Mark Leibowitz, An Wang cover image: Maru Godas Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the April 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. © 2020 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.
Dear USk Community So how are you all? All we can hope for is that everyone is staying safe and finding creative ways to cope with the situation. I’ve been keeping track of USk through Instagram, Facebook and by following #uskathome, #usksketchwithhongkong and the USk Talks. A great many groups and individuals have also been posting incredible work in and about the quarantine. I’ve been following Tra citta e campagna, the quarantine sketch correspondence between Simo Capecchi and Amanda Roelle and Gail Wong’s sketches of her backyard construction project. And there’s so much to see on USk social media.
In the coming weeks tune in to USk Talks and the USk Talks challenges. You can listen to how USk instructors keep creativity going with suggestions on how to keep sketching and engaged. We are also organizing the first Chapter Administrator Global meeting this month, so stay tuned. Feel free to contact us with any questions (president@urbansketchers.org). We ask that you stay safe, engaged and sketching! Sketching together (one way or another), Richard Alomar USk President
MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Greetings, Sketchers! As we continue social distancing, USk chapters in Portland, New York and New Zealand have come up with creative ways of continuing to connect and sketch. This month we also feature sketch challenges from our guest sketchers on USk Talks, our new weekly Instagram Live show hosted by Rob Sketcherman, and hear about An Wang’s paper cup sketching in Beijing. An enormous thank you to our wonderful Drawing Attention team for making this publication possible even during a pandemic. If you’d like to join our team, email me at drawingattention@urbansketchers.org! Enjoy our latest issue! Patricia Chow Managing Editor, Drawing Attention
SUBSCRIBE TO DRAWING ATTENTION – IT’S FREE
CONTENTS 4 USK NEWS & EVENTS 6
USK TALKS
38 USK AOTEAROA
28 USK BEIJING
32 USK PORTLAND
48
50
USK NYC
MARU GODAS
55 ENDNOTES | REVIEWS HOW TO READ DRAWING ATTENTION AS AN E-ZINE FOR EASIER READING ON ISSUU.COM SELECT FULL SCREEN.
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MAY 2020 3
USk News & Events
PLACE YOUR AD HERE In lieu of the Urban Sketchers 2020 Symposium that was to take place from April 10-12, Urban Sketchers Hong Kong hosted a virtual United We Sketch with Hong Kong event where sketchers around the world were invited to express their support for Hong Kong sketchers by posting on Instagram previous drawings done on location in Hong Kong and/or drawings sharing a moment of learning or breakthrough using the hashtags #SketchWithHongKong, #USkSketchWithHongKong and #USkSketchingBreakthroughs.
and reach
16,000+
artists & art lovers For more information about ad placement, sizes and costs for corporate sponsors, email Raylie at raylie@verizon.net
USk Sketch With Hong Kong was the brainchild of USk Education Director, Rita Sabler, who wanted to honor Hong Kong and the effort that USkHK has put into organizing the 2020 Symposium. USk Sketch With Hong Kong also celebrates what sketchers have learnt over the years, by highlighting sketching breakthroughs that have shaped how we record the world around us. This could be any ‘aha moment’ picked up during a sketch walk, workshop at a regional USk event, or USk Symposium (sketching breakthroughs did not have to be made in Hong Kong). Over 900 sketches were posted from around the world using these hashtags.
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USk News & Events
EVA SZE: THIS SKETCH WAS DONE ON A PRETTY HOT AND SUNNY DAY ON THE AVENUE OF STAR AT TSIM SHA TSUI, HONG KONG IN 2019. By the time I finished this sketch on
location, I became all sweaty and sticky. Urban sketchers always have to cope with unfavourable environment. Sometimes it is too hot and sunny. Sometimes it is too cold and windy. Sometimes it is too crowded to sketch comfortably. Sometimes there are unexpected obstacles. Sometimes it gets dark too soon before a sketch is done. Any urban sketcher can tell some challenges and limitations they come across when they sketch on location. But that’s what makes urban sketching so special and different.
SHARI BLAUKOPF: I’M SO PROUD TO PARTICIPATE IN THE USK SKETCH WITH HONG KONG BY SHARING A SKETCHING BREAKTHROUGH. I had to go way back for this one – to the first
USk symposium I attended in July, 2012, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was organized (miraculously) solely by Orling Dominguez! That year participants could take five workshops, and I focused mostly all of mine on sketching people, something I was terrified to do. I took workshops with Orling & Inma Serrano, Veronica Lawlor & Jonathan Schmidt, Liz Steel & Frank Ching, Nina Johansson, and Melanie Reim & Natalie Ramirez. My sketching breakthrough wasn’t just in this one sketch of a group of men outside a market, although the visual summarizes it well. The sketching breakthrough came from all of these instructors who, through their teaching, taught me the importance of storytelling. They gave me the courage to sit in the middle of a crowd and not be afraid if someone looked over my shoulder at my sketch, or even follow someone down the street and sketch them as they walked! And most importantly, they shared generously – something that is at the heart of this amazing organization. I’m sad that we are not all together in Hong Kong this weekend, but I am so happy to have met all of you. I don’t know where I would be without Urban Sketchers. And I look forward to sketching together, IN PERSON, very soon. MAY 2020 5
Introducing USK TALKS
SOCIAL DISTANCING DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN’T STILL CONNECT AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER. IN AN EFFORT TO BRING US TOGETHER, USK IS AIRING A NEW SERIES CALLED USK TALKS, HOSTED ON INSTAGRAM LIVE BY ROB SKETCHERMAN. EVERY SUNDAY AT 4PM GMT, WE WILL TALK WITH TWO SKETCHERS ABOUT WHAT INSPIRES THEM IN THIS MOMENT AND TO SHARE THEIR SKETCHES, FAVORITE TOOLS AND SPECIAL SKETCH CHALLENGE. 6 DRAWING ATTENTION
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SKETCH BY MARU GODAS
USk Talks
Episode One:
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Sk Talks kicked off on April 5, 2020 with episode 1, ‘Sketching during a Pandemic.’ Host Rob Sketcherman spoke with Barcelona urban sketchers Lapin and Maru Godas. Lapin has been drawing a collection of magnificent potted plants on his terrace. Drawing plants can be meditative. He reminds us that this is a good time to slow down and get lost in your drawing for a few hours, making a collection and focusing on the process.
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LAPIN’S CHALLENGE: DRAW YOUR COLLECTION OF PLANTS. IF YOU DON’T OWN ANY PLANTS, THEN DRAW A COLLECTION OF SOMETHING YOU OWN. TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE
CONNECT WITH LAPIN
USk Talks
Maru inspired us to dust off a tool or a sketchbook that has been sitting neglected in the back of our closets. In her case it was a giant sketchbook that she bought a couple of years ago but had not used because it was too big to carry. Since the quarantine Maru has been making vibrant large format drawings of views from her balcony, her morning routine, and beauty recipes.
MARU’S CHALLENGE: • EXPERIMENT WITH A MATERIAL/ART SUPPLY THAT YOU HAVE AT HOME BUT DON’T TYPICALLY USE • DRAW A PROCESS/MESSAGE THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE IN THE LOCKDOWN (EG. A BEAUTY OR COOKING RECIPE, YOUR AT-HOME ROUTINES, ETC) TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE
CONNECT WITH MARU
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USk Talks
Episode Two:
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n episode 2, ‘The Hong Kong connection,’ on April 12, Hong Kong sketchers Rob Sketcherman and Vanessa Leung discussed the challenges they had to solve creatively when planning for the Urban Sketching Symposium. Hong Kong has so much to offer urban sketchers from busy markets and traditional cafés called cha chaan teng to colorful streets and sweeping views of the bay with its shiny skyscrapers in the background. Jim Richards joined the conversation giving his impression of the city and confirming its immense visual potential combined with the welcoming attitude of its community. Jim also talked about his greatest influences, his favorite sketching tools, and how his urban design background pushes him to think about how the geography of a place influences its layout and the structures present in it.
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USk Talks
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USk Talks
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USk Talks
VANESSA’S CHALLENGE: DRAW A WINDOW WITHOUT A VIEW, MAKE THE ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY.
CONNECT WITH VANESSA
TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE
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USk Talks
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USk Talks
JIM’S CHALLENGE: DOCUMENT YOUR DAY |AS A STORYBOARD TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE
CONNECT WITH JIM
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USk Talks
Episode Three:
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n episode 3, ‘Stuck at Home! The Beauty in the Everyday’ on April 19, Róisín Curé talked to us from Galway, Ireland, where she is posting on her blog every day with new lockdown sketches. She likes drawing people more than anything and her family is made up of willing models, giving her the opportunity to record her memories of this time as sketches. Róisín reminds us to always look for the thing that you want to sketch. Then Santi Sallés joined us from Barcelona. He said that though nature is his speciality, during this time he is finding inspiration in his kitchen and says that since we are all cooking, we might as well draw our sauces, pastas and vegetables. Santi likes to draw items in a sequence and to show repetition, and has even shared sketched recipes on his Instagram.
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USk Talks
LIVING IN LOCKDOWN – GETTING OFF LIGHTLY IN RURAL IRELAND BY RÓISÍN CURÉ
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he lockdown in rural Ireland (and urban Ireland) continues. I am one of the very lucky ones. I have a big garden full of trees, birds and flowers (and rats and many, many weeds), and I get on very well with my family. I’m not at all sick of them [note: that was written a few days ago], despite being at home with them for the last 28 days, but then I also have a lovely little studio at the end of my garden. Others are not in such a lucky position. They are cooped up in tiny apartments, or the restrictions of their jurisdiction make life very hard, or they’re just very lonely. I know how horrible all of those things can be. I have experienced heartbreaking loneliness, awful isolation when I was rearing small children and all kinds of infuriating domestic restrictions in my day...just not during this lockdown. So I sympathise. Here are some of my sketches from home these days. MAY 2020 17
USk Talks
There’s been a lot of baking going on, and I bought two huge sacks of flour before the lockdown began, so there’ll be more baking yet...and it’s all going onto the hips - the “Covid Two Kilos”. The nice thing about sketching delicate blossoms like this is that it’s gone a day or two later, but forever in my sketchbook. I had wanted to sketch this tree for a very long time, and was happy to go there with my younger daughter to sketch a day or two before Easter. I am incredibly grateful to the Urban Sketchers movement for the blissful retreat into nothingness it gives me. I have so much to sketch right on my doorstep. [This article originally appeared on the Urban Sketchers blog on April 13, 2020].
CONNECT WITH RÓISÍN
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RÓISÍN’S CHALLENGE: PAINT WHAT YOU BAKE! (OR BUY!) WITH DIRECT WATERCOLOR. PICK WHAT YOU THINK LOOKS GOOD AND START WITH BRUSH AND BIG SHAPES. TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE MAY 2020 19
USk Talks
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USk Talks
SANTI’S CHALLENGE: PAINT DRAW YOURSELF IN ACTION! THIS IS AN INTROSPECTIVE BUT FUN CHALLENGE - DRAW YOURSELF EATING, COOKING, RESTING, DRAWING, OR INVOLVED IN SOME OTHER ACTION. IN SANTI’S EXAMPLE, HE USES A TABLE AS HIS MAIN ELEMENT, SHOWING THE CONTEXT OF THE ACTION, AND ADDS TEXT FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT. TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE CONNECT WITH SANTI
MAY 2020 21
USk Talks
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USk Talks
Episode Four:
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n episode 4, ‘Couch Travelling Around the World’ on April 26, host Rob Sketcherman spoke with guests Stephanie Bower (Seattle, USA) and Oliver Hoeller (Vienna, Austria) who took us on a journey around the world showing us their favorite places to sketch, and sharing travel sketching tips and aha moments. If you have a suggestion of a topic to discuss on USk talks, a question or would like to share an inspiring story with the rest of the community please contact us at education@urbansketchers.org.
MAY 2020 23
USk Talks
STEPHANIE’S CHALLENGE: STEPHANIE OFFERS A REFLECTIVE CHALLENGE. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR EARLY SKETCHBOOKS. SEE HOW YOUR SKETCHING HAS EVOLVED, WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED, NOTE AN “AHA” MOMENT AND WHAT SKETCHING HAS MEANT TO YOU. TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE 24 DRAWING ATTENTION
CONNECT WITH STEPHANIE
MAY 2020 25
USk Talks
OLIVER’S CHALLENGE: REVIST YOUR TRAVELS THROUGH MEMORABILIA AND SOUVENIRS YOU’VE COLLECTED. COMBINE THEM IN A SKETCH – NOT AS A STILL LIFE, BUT AS A VIGNETTE. COMBINE THEM INTO AN INTERESTING SHAPE AND ANNOTATE IT WITH A TRAVEL MEMORY. TAG WITH #USKTALKS OR #USKTALKSCHALLENGE
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CONNECT WITH OLIVER
USk Talks
MAY 2020 27
When Paper Cups Meet Urban Sketching BY AN WANG, USK BEIJING
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n October 2019, I started to draw on a paper cup by chance. I had an appointment with my friend at 10 o’clock, but I was afraid of traffic, so I arrived at 8 o’clock. It was very cold that day. I bought a cup of soy milk to warm my hands, walked under a bridge, looked up and saw a golden roof, which was particularly dazzling. I wanted to draw it, but I didn’t have a notebook with me. So I drew it on the soy milk paper cup. That paper cup was thrown away, but the golden scene that morning would remain in the photo and in my memory. Then Beijing Urban Sketchers had a party. It was already 12 o’clock when I arrived and the throwdown was at 12:30, so I had to take out my cup and sketch quickly. Because sketching on a cup is simple and fast, I could finish in 10 minutes. I seldom took part in USk Beijing activities and many of the sketchers didn’t know me very well, but when we were talking about sketching, I got very excited. We talked about what pens to use and took photos with the paper cups, which gave me a lot of encouragement. I was used to sketching by myself, but now it’s more interesting and warm to draw with new friends.
picture of the scene with cups in the same frame. That night, I suddenly received many likes and followers on my Instagram account. I found that the original picture was reposted by the official account of Urban Sketchers, and that night, the post received more than 2,400 likes. I really felt excited to find that many friends all over the world liked it.
The rule of Urban Sketchers is to draw on the spot, so when I posted the picture on Instagram, I also took a
The soymilk cups were almost all thrown away. Later, I brought my own cups, so I can collect them and keep
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USk Beijing
them. On a business trip to Xi’an, I went to some scenic spots and drew some cups. The next day, I went to school to give a lecture, and I gave them to teachers and friends as a gift. Now, when I go to a place, if there are family members or friends there, I will find the opportunity to draw some cups and share them as a memento.
MAY 2020 29
Featured Chapter
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I was used to sketching by myself, but now it’s more interesting and warm to draw with new friends.
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USk Beijing
HOW TO SKETCH ON A PAPER CUP Materials: Use a paper cup with a light color. The pens include one fountain pen and four brush pens. There are five steps, and one pen is used in each step: 1. The line drawing with a fountain pen is the most basic part and has the greatest influence on the shape. Because drawing on a paper cup means your wrist will hang in the air, in the beginning, your hands may shake. You just need to practice. 2. The red brush is used to highlight an interesting spot, not necessarily the red part of the real picture. I often use red to draw some surrounding plants, mainly to make the picture livelier.
CONNECT WITH AN WANG
3. The gray brush draws the shadows, because the ink is transparent. If you need different gray levels, you can paint different layers. 4. The black brush makes the strongest contrast, which determines the focal point. With black and white contrast, the picture will be more bold. 5. Finally, the white brush can add sky next to the dark parts for greater contrast, or it can simulate snowflakes, or add random spots for interest. I hope you can try sketching on paper cups and create some interesting works.
CONNECT WITH USK BEIJING
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USK PORTLAND, OREGON, DRAWS
‘TOGETHER APART’ BY KAY FRENCH
SKETCH BY DEREK BEAUDOIN
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e meet every third Saturday of the month to draw together. At least we did until March of this year when we had to cancel our sketch crawl on the Waterfront where the cherry blossoms were blooming.
except we would draw our world on location, wherever that was, “together apart”? We discussed Zooming and live streaming on Instagram, but in the end decided to keep it simple, no extra technology.
Then came April. What do we do? Cancel again? We just wanted to draw as a group. How do we do that?
We also decided to keep it simple for the throwdown after we draw. We told our sketchers to post the photos on the Urban Sketcher blog, our mailing group, our Facebook page or Instagram, whichever they were comfortable with. Saturday came and we weren’t sure what to expect. But sketchers did exactly what we had hoped. We drew “together apart” and posted. What we discovered is that knowing we were all drawing at the same time had a profound resonance for us that we hadn’t anticipated. We had more people post their drawings than ever.
Deb Rossi, Ali Corbin, Kalina Wilson and I got our heads together via Zoom to figure it out. No cancelling. We wanted to encourage people to keep drawing and stay true to the essential ingredient of the urban sketching experience of drawing from observation as a group. We decided to draw on our regularly scheduled day and time, Saturday, April 18th, from 10:00am until noon, 32 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Portland
ABOVE: SKETCH BY PEGGY SMITH; ABOVE RIGHT: JOY RHODES; RIGHT: ELO WOBIG MAY 2020 33
Featured Chapter
I think much of this month’s success was because, other than the throwdown, it wasn’t a virtual experience. It was just sketchers drawing at the same time even though we couldn’t actually be together, and sharing our experience. It gave us a much needed shot of happiness.
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SKETCH BY ANDREA MATHEWS
USk Portland
SKETCH BY GEORGE SCHWESER
SKETCH BY STEPHANIE HAAS
CONNECT WITH USK PORTLAND
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SKETCH BY ELEANOR SEGAL
Featured Chapter
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SKETCH BY ANNE MCKINNEY
USk Portland
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ABOVE: SKETCH BY ANDREW JAMES. PHOTO BY DAVE BLACK. RIGHT: 1950S POSTCARD IMAGE OF PANIA OF THE REEF, MARINE PARADE, NAPIER. REF: GG-05-017-1. ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY, NZ/RECORDS/22824888 38 DRAWING ATTENTION
SKETCHING NAPIER – VIRTUALLY COVID 19 MEANT WE HAD TO CANCEL OUR EARLY APRIL TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND’S ‘ART DECO CAPITAL’. BUT USK WELLINGTON AND USK AUCKLAND PLUS SKETCHERS FROM TARANAKI, DECIDED TO GO THERE ANYWAY ON THE APPOINTED DATE, EXPLORING VIA GOOGLE EARTH STREET VIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS INSTEAD. BY ANNE TAYLOR
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SKETCH BY SHARON ALDERSON
here was never going to be a shortage of things to draw in Napier, a seaside town located about three hours drive north of Wellington. “It makes the sketcher’s mouth water with choice,” says Scott Wilson, who lives in New Plymouth, another seaside town on the opposite coast of the North Island. What makes Napier so special is its streetscape full of lovingly preserved Art Deco buildings; one that’s on the ‘mustsee’ list for Deco and architecture enthusiasts from all over the world. Its character is due to the catastrophic magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck in 1931, felling hundreds of wooden and stone buildings, and claiming 256 lives, making it New Zealand’s worst civil disaster. In the aftermath, townspeople looked to San Diego which had also been rocked by a major earthquake in 1925. The tragedy became an opportunity to rebuild in the style of the day, creating a unified, harmonious look for the town. Thousands flock to the Art Deco Festival held each February, and as the cruise ship season kicked off in September 2019, there were a record 87 ships expected at Napier’s port. However Covid 19 has changed the scene completely and local businesses of all kinds have been severely impacted. Unfortunately we couldn’t support Napier’s motels, cafes and eatieries as we’d
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planned, but our virtual tour, organised by USk Wellington, did strengthen our resolve to visit together at some point when the current nationwide ‘lockdown’ is lifted. Our sketchers from Wellington, Auckland and the Taranaki region used a combination of photos and Google Earth to experience the town’s sights. “I had a nice image of the main street from a visit a few years ago,” says Sankar Ramasamy from Wellington. “I set this up on my Ipad and gave myself about one and a half hours before the group met on Facebook video. This way it felt I was still doing the regular USk outing where the sketching is always followed by a coffee/drink, and show and tell. It was wonderful to meet other artists who I don’t get to see in Wellington.” This was Brian Gnyp’s first ‘trip’ to Napier. He lives in New Plymouth, around 400km to the west. “I thought that the Google view was pretty good under the circumstances. Of course, the perspective point of view was a bit higher than you’d usually have if you were sitting somewhere or even standing. You also had to be happy with a view from the middle of the road. This might be a good or a bad thing but either way, it’s different than sketching from a view that’s not in traffic. Also, some of the dark areas ‘fill in’ [in the photo] and it’s hard to make out details that would be visible if you were actually there.”
“
USk Aotearoa
SKETCH BY MURR AY DE WHURST
...the perspective point of view was a bit higher than you’d usually have if you were sitting somewhere or even standing. You also had to be happy with a view from the middle of the road – Brian Gnyp
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Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY LIZ BRIDGEMAN
SKETCH BY SANKAR RAMASAMY 42 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Aotearoa
SKETCH BY BRIAN GNYP
SKETCH BY DAVE BLACK MAY 2020 43
Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY SCOTT WILSON
Scott Wilson wandered virtually around the scenic eastern side of town, looking for a sketchable scene. “This was reminiscent of Bill Guffy’s famous Virtual Paintout which ran for many years encouraging artists from around the world to armchair Google sketch hundreds of cities and countries,” he says. The earthquake raised the beach here about two metres, meaning that Marine Parade could be fully developed with a Sound Shell, floral clock, illuminated fountain, and Sunken Gardens (my chosen scene). Excavations when the Gardens were developed in the late 1960s revealed many artefacts from the earthquake. Another of my favourite features – one not recorded on Google Earth – is the nearby ‘Pania of the Reef’ statue (page 16), which recalls a local Maori legend. Created in the 1950s, it has often been compared to The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen and the two stories have similar themes.
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After the 1931 earthquake, townplanners imposed a height restriction on buildings, and banned projecting masonry for safety reasons, so architects made the most of decorative reliefs featuring sunbursts, skyscraper shapes, and other symbols of speed and flight – another appealing aspect for sketchers. Some included stylised Maori imagery, giving a uniquely New Zealand twist to the international Art Deco style. Our ‘virtual’ tour certainly gave us food for thought and was a “strange” experience for some. A few sketchers had technical problems joining the Facebook Messenger ‘show and tell’ session afterwards but I think we have all gained skills on these platforms since then! Like Brian, I found sketching at home from a photo changed my approach; showing the ‘whole scene’ felt more achievable without the time, weather and other pressures you get on location. But perhaps it’s exactly these pressures that often create interesting and spontaneous results?
SKETCH BY MARY BIRD
USk Aotearoa
“While I had the luxury of using my entire watercolour kit at home,” says Sankar, “I think I missed being in the open and seeing the buildings and colours in their natural settings.” We could see the scope for more virtual meet-ups with sketching buddies who live in different parts of NZ. But we’re also looking forward to doing the Napier trip ‘for real’. When that happens, we’ll probably appreciate it, plus our local meetups, all the more for our period of restricted freedom! SKETCH BY SCOTT WILSON
SKETCH BY CHOON SZE KUNG
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Featured Chapter
SKETCHES BY ANNE TAYLOR
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USk Aotearoa
SKETCHES BY TREVOR DAVIES
USK WELLINGTON
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TARANAKI SKETCHERS
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Endnotes & Reviews
THE VIRTUAL SKETCH EVENT BY MARK LEIBOWITZ
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or the last five weeks we’ve been having Virtual Sketch events. We started with easy activities that were built around the skill level we all shared. Almost everyone in the group knows Facebook and is comfortable with the interface so we used our Facebook Group. The Virtual Sketch event began with a Live Video announcement that described what we were going to do. We ran both a morning session and an afternoon session. This mirrors our typical sketch events that last from 10am until 3pm.
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We used internet tools and sketched from videos or photos. This of course breaks the rules of Urban Sketching. It wasn’t an easy decision. The concern was that our sketchers would quickly lose interest sketching the objects in their homes and the view out the window. Facebook is a one-way medium. People suggested using videoconferencing, an interactive medium. It took us a full month to get there. We needed to build up the skill level of the group. People who needed coaching were paired with people who understood the technology well enough to coach others.
USk NYC
On Saturday we tried our first video conference using Zoom. There were potentially so many things that could have gone wrong, including getting hacked by malicious trolls. We took many precautions to insure things would go smoothly, but still, you can only plan for the things you can anticipate. The whole thing came off better than I could have ever hoped. Here’s what we did:
There was a short talk in which the structure of the event was laid out. The chief problem was that if we had too many people on the call, we couldn’t have the interaction with friends that we all wanted. But Zoom provides break-out rooms. This is the magic secret sauce that made the whole thing workable. We created 9 breakout rooms and assigned 8 people to each room. A group of 8 people can have an interactive conversation.
We announced that we would have our first Zoom Video Conferencing Virtual Sketch event on the following Saturday. We encouraged people who didn’t feel comfortable with the technology to try a video call with a friend or relative. If needed we had coaches ready to provide additional personal assistance. Early in the week, people registered for the event using a Google Form (something we had previously used to track NYC Sketchers attending the Symposium). In addition to asking for names and emails, we also asked if each person had already been on a Zoom call, and if they needed coaching.
Each group organized themselves, deciding who would pose first and selecting a timer. Each pose lasted ten minutes…not a lot of time if you’re drawing, but a very long time if you are the model. Everyone talked, asked questions, gave answers, made comments and observations. Just like we do when we get together in person to sketch. In the afternoon, people were assigned to different groups. At lunch time we got together as a big group again and agreed to come back in an hour. During that hour we posted our work and offered supportive comments. Loads of great portraits started flooding onto our Facebook Group. Load of comments, too. Each comment was like applause.
The day before the event, we emailed everyone who had registered the information needed to get on the call. We used both a meeting number and a password.For me, the most amazing thing was watching people sign in. The view you get as you enter the meeting is a huge checkerboard with little live windows of each sketcher. People saw their friends! They called out to one another. The look of absolute delight was a wonderful thing to behold. We were together again. Our activity for the day was a Virtual Portrait Party. Not urban sketching, but certainly a skill we all need.
We posted our work with the letter NUS - Not an Urban Sketch. This is in recognition of the fact that we are going outside our normal guidelines during these difficult times. Our stated intention is to return to the USk Manifesto and guidelines as soon as things normalize. Until then, I think I speak for everyone in our NYC Urban Sketchers group when I say we are truly grateful for our shared love of art. It is helping us get through these difficult times. The artwork itself and the friendships we’ve formed are a ray of sunshine. It was an amazingly social day, spent with old and new friends with a shared passion. MAY 2020 49
Large Sketchbooking with Maru Godas BY MEAGAN BURNS
I
f you’re bent to work with gouache on your urban sketching adventures, you’re probably familiar with Barcelona artist/illustrator/instructor/gouache magician Maru Godas. A long-time graphic designer and illustrator, Maru began expanding her creative horizons after her son grew up and was on his way within his own career. Maru began to paint and play with different mediums, and it was during this time that she learned of Urban Sketchers. “I fell in love with Urban Sketchers immediately. I love the idea of combining travel, art, painting outside and meeting new people!”
Maru’s first Urban Sketchers Symposium was in her hometown of Barcelona, and she taught her first workshop, called ‘Gouache Like a Child,’ the following year at the Chicago Symposium. She’s had great fun teaching this workshop, and has tweaked it over time for other Symposiums. She was sad when the Hong Kong Symposium was cancelled, so homebound projects came up for consideration. Maru works from home in her beautiful top floor studio, and has used this quarantine time to work on evolving book projects, but she also wanted to try something new during this profound time at home. Then she remembered a purchase she had made at the international travel sketchbook 50 DRAWING ATTENTION
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conference, “Rendez-Vous du Carnet de Voyage,” in ClermontFerrand, France: a very, very, very large sketchbook. A lightbulb went off. “You can’t take a sketchbook this size out on the streets, so I knew it was the perfect project to do while at home.” Maru began painting large gouache scenes from around her home studio in this extra large sketchbook, with surprisingly satisfying results. “I felt like I was flying, to use this much paint, to make these wide brushstrokes, the textures that appeared, the whimsical results – it was so much fun, and I highly encourage anyone to try painting in a large format!” With that in mind, Maru offers some tips (right) for experimenting with painting large scenes. It is recommended to make your own sketchbook with the largest high-quality paper you can source.
MARU’S TIPS, ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR LARGE SKETCHBOOK: 1. IF YOU’RE SCARED, FIRST DO A SIMPLE THUMBNAIL SKETCH IN A DIFFERENT SKETCHBOOK WITH ONLY A PEN OR PENCIL, AND ONLY ONE LINE – KEEP IT VERY SIMPLE. 2. CHOOSE ONLY THREE COLORS, PLUS BLACK AND WHITE – LESS IS MORE! BEFORE YOU BEGIN PAINTING, SELECT A BRIGHT COLOR, A MEDIUM ONE, AND A DARK, PLUS BLACK AND WHITE. PLAN HOW YOU’LL MIX THESE COLORS FOR THEIR MOST EFFECTIVE USE. IT’S BEST TO KEEP YOUR COLOR SELECTION SIMPLE, BECAUSE YOU COULD WASTE A LOT OF PAINT IF YOU DO NOT PLAN AND MIX PROPERLY. 3. “START WITH DESSERT, THEN EAT THE REST OF THE MEAL.” BY THIS, MARU SAYS TO HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PAINTS, THEN ADD LINES AND FINISHING TOUCHES AS NEEDED. PAINT FIRST, THEN ADD LINES ONLY IF YOU NEED THEM! YOU’VE ALREADY DONE A PENCIL SKETCH IN YOUR OTHER SKETCHBOOK, SO FOR THIS LARGER FORMAT, YOU CAN START DIRECTLY WITH PAINT. YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD LINES LATER, BUT FIRST SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE USING ONLY PAINT.
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CONNECT WITH MARU
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Endnotes & Reviews
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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 Renesans Roll Brush & Squirrel Imitation Brush. Check it out!
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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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