DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers SEPTEMBER 2019
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 Editorial Assistant: Pedro Loureiro Mailchimp layout: Jane Wingfield Issuu layout: Anne Taylor Social Media Designer: Carrie Alyson Hirsch Writers: Mark Alan Anderson, Meagan Burns, Pedro Loureiro. Proofreaders: Leslie Akchurin, Ann Schwartzwald. Contributors: Parka; Amber Sausen, Mark Leibowitz, Virginia Hein, Rohit Kulkarni, Lydia Velarde. cover image: Virginia Hein Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the August edition of Drawing Attention. Circulation: 11k+ 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. © 2019 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 Urban Sketchers, I joined the Executive Board of Urban Sketchers to give back to an organization that had given me so much: a community of friends, an increased cultural literacy, and many educational opportunities. Have you considered volunteering for Urban Sketchers? This issue features the first in a series of behind-the-scenes articles sharing what it’s like to serve on the Executive Board of. Urban Sketchers. This series will show you what happens, beyond the sketching, to keep the organization operating. Board members can serve up to four years in a position. We’re currently looking for candidates
interested in the roles of president and education director. If you’re interested in learning more about either volunteer position, please visit the Volunteer page of the website. In other exciting volunteer news, in late July Uma Kelkar joined the Executive Board of Urban Sketchers as the new secretary. Many Urban Sketchers will already know Uma as an instructor at the Urban Sketchers Symposiums in Porto and Amsterdam. If you’d like to welcome her and thank her for volunteering, please email secretary@urbansketchers.org. Happy Sketching! Amber Sausen, USk President
MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Greetings, Sketchers! Welcome to another issue of Drawing Attention! In this issue, we meet USk President Amber Sausen, hear correspondent Mark Anderson’s thoughts on the Amsterdam Symposium, visit with USk chapters in Oslo, Norway and Bengaluru, India, and catch up with USk veterans Virginia Hein and Rohit Kulkarni. Also in this issue, we have our first “Letter to the Editor” from Yvonne Frindle in Sydney, Australia. If you’d like to share your experience urban sketching, please write to me at drawingattention@urbansketchers.org! Patricia Chow, Drawing Attention Managing Editor
CONTENTS 4 LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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8
14
16
USK SYMPOSIUM
AMBER SAUSEN
USK OSLO
26
30
34
USK BENGALURU
ROHIT KULKARNI
VIRGINIA HEIN
42
USK NEWS & EVENTS
REVIEWS | ENDNOTES
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SEPTEMBER 2019 3
USk News & Events
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Greetings from Sydney, Australia My (largely self-trained) background is in calligraphy, illuminations and graphic design. I made my first “urban sketches” as a music student back in the early 1990s, drawing passengers on the bus as I travelled to my flute lessons and capturing scenes at national music camp. Just graphite in small spiral-bound sketchbooks. Simple, not too expensive. Back then I used computers for graphic design but there were no tablets. I’m predisposed to the analog experience. But here’s the thing: it was a drawing game for iPad (DrawSomething 2) that was largely responsible for getting me back into drawing regularly six years ago after a very long hiatus. The “gamification” of the drawing process meant that I was making 4 DRAWING ATTENTION
at least one substantial drawing a day, sometimes more, together with several quicker sketches. The way the game worked (you had to watch your opponent drawing – speeded up – in order to guess their word) meant that I was also observing and learning from artists who were more experienced. I could see the improvements in my observation and technique from day to day, week to week. And it was fun.
USk News & Events
Eventually the game fell into decline. Meanwhile, middle-aged presbyopia meant that working on the glossy, light-emitting surface of an iPad ceased to be as much fun anyway. So I’m back to being an almost exclusively analog artist, but I remain forever grateful for the stimulus of that (digital) drawing game.
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USk News & Events
10X10 WORKSHOPS USk 10x10 Workshops are an excellent opportunity to learn new sketching skills from a top USk instructor and to meet a new community of sketchers in a location near you. To see the list of 10x10 classes around the world click here. To add your chapter to the list, contact education@urbansketchers.org.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE USK YOUTUBE CHANNEL
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The Urban Sketchers YouTube Channel would like to feature individual urban sketchers or chapters sharing their answer to What type of sketchbook do you use for Urban Sketching? We are requesting answers submitted in video format for our YouTube Channel. These do not have to be professional videos and can be videos taken with your phone! Guidelines: Please submit anytime during the month of September 2019. We prefer very short videos (2-3 minutes for a group). By submitting your video you give permission to have it edited and/or combined with other submissions if necessary. MPEG4 OR .mp4 file extension, steady camera, clear, intelligible voice, little to no background noise, no advertisements. To submit your video for consideration, please send via wetransfer.com to Lydia Velarde at video@urbansketchers.org. I am looking forward to viewing and sharing answers on the Urban Sketchers YouTube Channel!
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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USk Symposium News
‘HELLO, SKETCHER!’: THOUGHTS FROM THE 2019 USK SYMPOSIUM BY MARK ALAN ANDERSON
A
phrase that ran through my head the entirety of the 2019 Urban Sketchers Symposium is “All are welcome.” Our Amsterdam event was incredibly diverse and inclusive, without in any way seeming contrived. Something I found to be both interesting and charming was the way that sketchers would call out a greeting of “Hello, Sketcher!” when encountering one another on the street. I found myself casually appropriating this salutation as I wandered from one workshop to another in my role as correspondent. At the heart of this sense of welcome was the incredible team of local volunteers. The event itself was well organized and smooth, while the volunteers were lifesavers, over and over again. Frankly, I had no idea what to expect. Together with my fellow correspondents, local sketcher Gwen Glotin and Orling Dominguez from the Dominican Republic, we would brave a teeming throng of sketchers hailing from every corner of the planet. Our press passes granted us access to all events, and also afforded us a unique view to the behind-the-scenes efficiency of Symposium organizers. It’s difficult to express the scope of the Symposium. We three correspondents were constantly in motion, moving from one event location to another, sometimes just down the street and other times across the city. A constant was that sketchers were everywhere: I’d turn the corner and someone would be drawing a stand of bicycles; turn another and there I’d discover a cluster of architectural sketchers. I’m an early riser, but I didn’t once hit the streets early enough: there was always already someone out there, sketchbook in hand. Workshops are the heart and soul of this event. They are an opportunity to consider new ideas, embrace new strategies and techniques, and to do so under the guidance of excellent instructors in an environment that encouraged discourse and sharing among one’s fellow workshop participants. Time and again I’d marvel at how diversely engaging each of the instructors was. From Suhita Shirodkar’s windmill-like energy to the frankly pointed advice of Richard Briggs, participants soaked in every syllable. If the mornings were about listening, experimenting with, and rehearsing new approaches, the afternoon focused on those things that make our workshop instructors who and what they are. Demonstrations help to concretize concepts and techniques that we’d like to wrap our heads around. 8 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Symposium News
“FOR ME THE USK SYMPOSIUM LOOKS LIKE FINALLY MEETING THE COUSINS THAT YOU KNEW WERE LOOSELY PART OF YOUR FAMILY BUT NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO MEET. AND NOW YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THE FAMILY PARTY EVERY YEAR!” – CHARLINE MOREAU SKETCH BY PAT SOUTHERN-PEARCE: “NEVER SEEN SO MANY BICYCLES IN MY LIFE! LOVED THE DRAWN BLACK LINES OF THEM PARKED EN MASSE OR LEANING AGAINST A TREE. AND A RED AND WHITE SPOTTED KID-CART ON ONE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME… HOW COULD I NOT DRAW THAT!!”
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USk Symposium News
One of the marvelous things about the Symposium was the well-organized and neatly mapped out sketch walks. “Marvelous,” because not only did they present an opportunity to explore intriguing aspects of the city, but also because everyone was welcome to join in, regardless of whether or not one was a registered Symposium attendee. In fact, I was surprised by the number of sketchers who traveled to Amsterdam specifically to be part of the sketch walks. As each day drew to a close, friends – both old and new – would commandeer a chair and belly up to tables for the “Drink and Draw,” to sketch a bit more, and to perhaps enjoy a cool libation. Some of us couldn’t put our pens or brushes down, and this became a time for sketching the architecture and canals. We’d also find ourselves sketching one another, then posing for selfies with our sketched likenesses. I’ve often heard people talk about how intimidating it is to draw in public, but the conviviality of our evenings was anything but a frightening experience. These nights defined the phrase, “All are welcome.”
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“MY BEST MEMORY: SKETCHERS EVERYWHERE! RIDING MY BICYCLE ALONG THE CANALS AND THROUGH NARROW STREETS, THEY WERE ALL OVER AMSTERDAM!” – INGE LEONORA-DEN OUDEN
“AS AN INSTRUCTOR I GET TO SHARE THINGS THAT I THINK MAY BE USEFUL FOR BEGINNER SKETCHERS WHO WERE WILLING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY FOR A PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE. LET ME TELL YOU THOUGH, AS CLASS AFTER CLASS PROGRESSES, I FEEL THAT I WAS THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY LEARNED MORE. THE TERM ‘SHARING IS LEARNING’ DOES STAND ITS GROUND IN THE URBAN SKETCHERS COMMUNITY” – DONALD SALULING
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Title
PICTURED ABOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: NIRAJ GUPTA, MONALI HALDIPUR, USK PRESIDENT AMBER SAUSEN, NELE VANDENREYT.
“USK AMSTERDAM WAS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. I LOVED THE CANALS, BOATS, AND THE VARIATION ON THE ROOF GABLES. THE MANY EXCELLENT INSTRUCTORS MADE THE WORKSHOPS VALUABLE AND FUN. AND DESPITE A HEAT WAVE, WE ALL CARRIED ON” – EILEEN P. GOLDENBERG
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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE USK SYMPOSIUM WINSOR & NEWTON CHALLENGE 1st Prize: Nele Vandenreyt (W&N watercolor set) 2nd Prize: Niraj Gupta USk Delhi (W&N calligraphy set) 3rd Prize: Monali Haldipur, USk Delhi (W&N marker set)
USK SYMPOSIUM 2019 ON INSTA
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USk Symposium News
The 11th Urban Sketchers Symposium is happening earlier than usual. We are seeking proposals for Workshops, Demonstrations, Lectures and Skit Sketch. If you are passionate about sketching and want to be part of the Symposium Faculty next year, all information, tips, deadlines, and forms to fill out are available here. We wish everyone the best and we look forward to your brilliant proposals! FOLLOW USK ON FACEBOOK
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FOLLOW USK ON TWITTER SEPTEMBER 2019 13
Sketcher Spotlight
THE USK BOARD: PRESIDENT AMBER SAUSEN BY MEAGAN BURNS
T
he Urban Sketchers community spans the globe and is supported by an all-volunteer team of dedicated sketchers, who also span the world. This month we’ll get to know a bit more about our current president, Minneapolis-based architect, Amber Sausen. Amber began to sketch architecture on her own while an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, and continued sketching through her early career years with partner and fellow sketcher, Daniel Green. Soon after, Amber attended her first USk Symposium in Lisbon and knew immediately that she had found her tribe. In 2015, she became chapter admin of the Twin Cities Regional Chapter. In 2016, the call came from
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Urban Sketchers that it was time for a new president. She responded by submitting her thoughts about what she could bring to the organization, and was chosen as the new president of Urban Sketchers, starting her term in 2017. She continues to be proud of the work the Board has accomplished over the past few years, and looks ahead to what the new president will bring to the role. “It has been quite an honor to help build systems and develop processes within the organization. We can see across the board how these implementations have helped each department and team flourish – and that certainly has been one of our goals. There’s more to do
Amber Sausen
as our sketching community continues to grow, and moving forward will be a smoother transition, now that we have defined roles, and have created guidelines for processes.” Amber will be stepping away from her role as president at the end of 2019, and is encouraging interested sketchers to apply. “I’ve loved my time as president, and I’m not going anywhere; I’ll be on hand to welcome and support a new USk president, and I’ll continue to show my world, one drawing at a time.” The organization is looking for a passionate ambassador of the Urban Sketchers’ mission of sketching on location, as well as someone who has the ability to work with a knowledgeable group of global volunteers, while helping the community to continue to grow. Presidential duties include attending monthly online meetings, overseeing the technical and operational side of the organization, and assisting in the management of the annual symposium and the growing educational, mission-based workshops. It is a service position, and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and participate where needed is appreciated. Past USk presidents include founder Gabi Campanario (2007-13), Jason Das (2014), and Elizabeth Alley (201516). Click here for more information on becoming a USk volunteer. Connect with Amber
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New chapter in the northern horizon BY PEDRO LOUREIRO
MOSS BY TONE BLIXØEN 16 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Oslo
E
lisabeth Helene Berge brought the Urban Sketchers Oslo Chapter into existence, in a journey that started in June 2016 and had its major landmark just a few weeks ago. Back then, while she was reading an article on Lonely Planet about the impact of sketching on the memory of places, she had goosebumps. “I knew that this was my thing!” Elisabeth exclaims.
She looked up a lot of information, ordered many books on the subject and even got the chance to sketch with Róisín Curé in Galway, Ireland. “Soon I found that there were chapters around the world and that people met up for workshops” Elisabeth tells. Signing up in Sketchbook Skool and Craftsy (now Bluprint) worked for her at first. But soon after, she realized her need for a local sketching community in Oslo. “I got to know the rock stars of sketching, and I wanted them to come to Norway!” Realizing there weren’t any Norwegian chapters or registered members, she began actively searching for people using the keywords “sketching” and “Norway” and contacting them. “There was a lack of a community that many of us felt.” Perhaps the Urban Sketchers were what they were looking for? “On May 7th 2017, we had our first sketch meeting in Oslo. It was freezing cold
and we were six, from a radius of 40km around Oslo,” Elisabeth recalls. She even took prints of the Urban Sketcher Regional Guidelines to the meeting. “There was no doubt that there was a chapter in the making!” In the early stages of the group, USk Oslo used its social media platforms – Facebook page and group and Instagram account – to get themselves known to Oslo residents, both Norwegian and foreign, and to the many visitors of the Nordic capital. Now, as a fully fledged chapter, with a presence in the Urban Sketchers website list, Elisabeth hopes this will get more regulars and visitors to join in their activities. “They’ll get to know Norwegians while they’re here, and a different side of Oslo, which is a big plus for everyone.” Elisabeth runs the chapter with energy, passion and dedication, alongside fellow sketchers Lasse Nikolaison and Brit Bonnesmo. They also strive to maintain regular plans and good communication with their members. “The one good way to build up the group is by having a clear schedule” Elisabeth notes. Meetups of the USk Oslo always happen on the first Tuesday of every month, and one or two Saturdays per month. Ten to 12 people regularly attend the meetups, but over 220 people already take part in their Facebook group. Other than the regular meetups, USk Oslo has plenty of activities going on! “We were contacted by the Ministry of Culture for a collaboration, to have sketchers during the commemoration, in the past May, of the 150 years since Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland’s birth”, SEPTEMBER 2019 17
Featured Chapter
Elisabeth recalls. “There’s so much to see in your hometown. Sketching is a way to open up your eyes to your surroundings.” Elisabeth is also proud to announce that Ian Fennelly’s workshop in Oslo, in the summer of 2020 is already sold out. “If a sketching rock star like Ian is coming to teach a workshop here, then we’re definitely on the Urban Sketchers map!”
Connect with USk Oslo
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SKETCH BY ANNE BRIT MOEN
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ELISABETH’S TIPS ON STARTING AND RUNNING A CHAPTER: BE ENTHUSIASTIC AND OUTGOING, EVEN IF PEOPLE FIND YOU A HANDFUL. WELCOME AND INCLUDE PEOPLE. CAREFULLY STRUCTURE AND PLAN THE MEETINGS, AND BE CLEAR ON WHERE TO FIND THE INFORMATION. MAKE GOOD USE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.
USk Oslo
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Featured Chapter
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SKETCH BY LASSE NIKOLAISEN
USk Oslo
AKER BRYGGE BY SYNNE NYMO
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Featured Chapter
OLAV TOKERUD - ST. OLAVS GT 22 DRAWING ATTENTION
SKETCHING IN THE SNOW BY ELISABETH BERGE
USk Oslo
OSLO OPERAHUSET BY FANNY LOU THEVENOUX SEPTEMBER 2019 23
OSLO STREET FOOD BY ANNE HAUGE STANDAL
Featured Chapter
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OSLO RÃ…DHUS BY OLAV TOKERUD
USk Oslo
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USk Bengaluru
MEET USK BENGALURU BY ROHIT KULKARNI
A
fter attending a talk by Alvin Wong at the Manchester Symposium on making your regional chapter rock, Rohit Kulkarni created the Urban Sketchers Bengaluru Facebook page on August 6, 2016, and their first sketchmeet was held on August 13, 2016. The group was formally recognised as an official USk regional chapter on September 25, 2018, and recently crossed the 50th sketchmeet landmark. The chapter currently has 262 members on facebook and 568 followers on Instagram, and Rohit, Sabrina Carvalho and Parinitha Konanur are co-admins of the chapter.
SKETCH BY ROHIT KULKARNI
Share your Chapter’s News
Bengaluru is blessed with pleasant weather for most of the year, so sketching outside is very convenient. The city is potpourri of old and new, of tradition and modern and this is reflected in the architecture, the streets, the food and the people, making it a subject for interesting sketches. We have a challenge that is unique not just to Bangalore but to the whole of India. There must have been some vandalism at sites of historic importance in the past due to which the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) does not allow sketching at sites under its jurisdiction. Like the city we live in, we are a diverse mix of people coming from different backgrounds within India, speaking different languages, following different cultures and faiths, each of us seeking to tell a different story. With our varying levels of skills it has given us a platform to learn from each other and to teach what we know. In following the manifesto of the Urban Sketchers, we do really hope to capture our city with all our different perspectives and unique sense of interpretation. 28 DRAWING ATTENTION
SKETCH BY SEEMA MISRA
USk Bengaluru
SKETCH BY SHWETA GADIA POSTBOX AT RONGOLI ART METRO BY ROHIT KULKARNI
We had a wonderful sketchmeet on August 24, where Rohit and Anupama Apte talked about their experiences at the Amsterdam Symposium and encouraged participation in the Hong Kong Symposium. Rohit shared the contents of his goodie bag with fellow sketchers, while Anupama Apte’s juicy sketches from Amsterdam had everyone drooling. We are planning an exhibition in midNovember. This will be a wonderful exposure and will help us spread the word of urban sketchers to wider audience as well. Connect with USk Bengaluru
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Share your Chapter’s News
MEET ROHIT KULKARNI
I
first heard about Urban Sketchers in 2009, and reached out to Gabi and was contributing to the flickr group. I wasn’t very regular at that time but that flame was flickering intermittently. In 2015, I paid off the last installment of my car loan and had two choices: buy a new car or go to the Symposium. I took the better option and 5 Symposiums have gone by and I still drive the same car. The experience of meeting my heroes in person was just incredible. And getting to know such an amazing group of sketchers from all over the world was just so gratifying.
I am a fashion graduate and work for an apparel retailer in India. I deal with colors, textures and aesthetics at my workplace. I love the contrast urban sketching gives me in dealing with the same attributes where I am less bound on how things will turn out and enjoy things as the sketch evolves. My work involves travel to different cities and this gives me exposure to diverse subjects to sketch and opportunities to meet local sketchers if time permits. What are your thoughts on digital vs. analog sketching, coming from India’s Silicon Valley? I tried digital sketching once or twice. But it never gave me the same joy I get from analog sketching. Nothing beats the sensation in my fingers when my platinum carbon pen makes those marks on a Stillman & Birn sketchbook. And nothing beats the feeling when a Rosemary splashes Daniel Smith pigment on paper. The unpredictability of dealing with physical materials is something I enjoy a lot. We have only once seen artist Parinitha Konanur bring an ipad to the location for sketching. Otherwise everyone is using analog medium always. However, a lot of artists in the group who are professionals in fields like illustration, marketing, communication rely on a lot of digital sketching when at work, but switch to analog medium when doing urban sketching. Says Kavya Sampath “I use digital sketching for work as it’s convenient to print and share. But I am not very keen on trying digital medium when urban sketching as it helps me get away from my screen and indulge in traditional mediums.” There is, however, a lot of intrigue on how to replicate watercolours effects on digital medium. Maybe a visit by Rob Sketcherman could convert a few in the group to digital urban sketching!! Connect with Rohit Kulkarni 30 DRAWING ATTENTION
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USk Bengaluru
THE GLASS HOUSE BY ROHIT KULKARNI
“THE CITY IS POTPOURRI OF OLD AND NEW, OF TRADITION AND MODERN AND THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE ARCHITECTURE, THE STREETS, THE FOOD AND THE PEOPLE, MAKING IT A SUBJECT FOR INTERESTING SKETCHES.”
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Share your Chapter’s News
MUNTTOREN, AMSTERDAM
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USk Bengaluru
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Sketcher Spotlight
MEET VETERAN USK INSTRUCTOR
VIRGINIA HEIN “ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, I HAPPENED TO COME ACROSS THE URBAN SKETCHERS BLOG, AND I FELT LIKE A WINDOW SUDDENLY OPENED!...” VIRGINIA HEIN DESCRIBES HER URBAN SKETCHING JOURNEY.
I
had recently started to leave my studio to sketch on location, and could hardly believe that I’d discovered a community of artists doing this! I wrote to Gabi Campanario, who suggested I start posting urban sketches on the photo-sharing site flickr – and that was my introduction to a worldwide network of artists. It is very exciting to me that the Urban Sketchers community quite literally reaches around the world. It is also very different from any other arts organization I’ve ever come across, in that it is completely inclusive. I love the simple and clear mission of “showing the world, one drawing at a time”. I think urban sketching broadened my view of subject matter – but I’d say I’m always interested in what gives a place its particular character or atmosphere. When I first began sketching on location, I was a little uncomfortable having people come up and look over my shoulder, and then start asking me questions! I finally realized that often people who did this harbored a desire to draw, and it was important for me to be patient and encouraging.
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Virginia Hein
SUNSET JUNCTION SEPTEMBER 2019 35
Sketcher Spotlight
In the years since I started urban sketching, teaching has become more important to me, in fact I discovered a passion for teaching what I love most – drawing! I’ve also always loved the discovery that comes with travel, and the combination of travel, drawing and teaching is just the best! I just finished my 4th time as a workshop instructor at an Urban Sketchers International Symposium, in Amsterdam. I enjoy doing this more every time I do it, and I just hope that participants enjoy it too! I personally get a lot of pleasure from working with physical materials, but I think digital sketching is just another medium! Some museums are quite strict about the use of wet media, and I think this has become increasingly the case. I carry a variety of materials with me, and usually don’t have a problem with inks, markers, etc. Some museum guards are appreciative and tolerant of someone sketching in a gallery, others not so much! Connect with Virginia
EL MOLINO 36 DRAWING ATTENTION
Virginia Hein
FREEWAY VIEW SEPTEMBER 2019 37
Sketcher Spotlight
VIRGINIA’S TIP: THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS TO TRY TO SKETCH SOMETHING EVERY DAY. YOU MAY LIKE THE RESULTS BETTER ON SOME DAYS THAN OTHER DAYS, BUT A PRACTICE OF DAILY SKETCHING KEEPS YOU ENGAGED, AND YOU CAN’T HELP BUT SEE GROWTH IN YOUR WORK. 38 DRAWING ATTENTION
Virginia Hein
CLOUD GATE, CHICAGO SEPTEMBER 2019 39
Sketcher Spotlight
OLVERA STREET 40 DRAWING ATTENTION
Virginia Hein
OLVERA STREET SEPTEMBER 2019 41
PLACE YOUR AD HERE COOL GEAR: WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR WATER? BY MARK LEIBOWITZ
At the Symposium I stopped by CharlieUSKFactory, one of our sponsorvendors, and admired the gorgeous easel board they were selling. I own a very similar home-made version that was built for me by Mel Barranco in NYC from a plan posted by James Gurney. Of all the versions of this easel that I’ve seen, Charlie’s was really the best. However, that’s not what stopped me in my tracks. I’ve been looking for a water cup solution. Where do you put your water so it’s convenient? I haven’t seen a single solution that I really liked – until I got to Charlie’s booth. There it was! As you can see, it looks like a regular clip you’d use to hold paper except the metal has been reformed to create a cup holder on one side and a hook to hang things on the other side. They said the clip was just something they found on Amazon. If you search amazon.com for “Binder Clips For Pen Cup,” you’ll find it easily. I am absolutely delighted with mine! Thank you, Charlie! PS. You can also click here to check out the easel. Always looking for new Cool Gear and Creative Solutions: Write to me at markleibowitz810@gmail.com 42 DRAWING ATTENTION
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
Reviews | Endnotes
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
SketchINK by Rohrer & Klingner
(tube). Check it out!
BRING A WORKSHOP TO YOUR CHAPTER Urban Sketchers organizes workshops taught by our top instructors in collaboration with USk chapters around the world. If you would like to bring an official USk workshop to your chapter, start the conversation with our Education Director, Mário Linhares at education@urbansketchers.org.
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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.
© 2019 Urban Sketchers www.urbansketchers.org