DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers APRIL 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: Leslie Akchurin, Mark Alan Anderson, Meagan Burns, Pedro Loureiro, Anne Taylor, Susan Rogers. Proofreaders: Leslie Akchurin; Ann Schwartzwald. Contributors: Parka; Amber Sausen, Maria Regina Tuazon, USk Executive Board cover image: Barbara Luel Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the March 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.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Urban Sketchers, As part of a global organization, I want to meet and sketch with each and every one of you around the world! It will take me the rest of my life to work my way around the globe. The Executive Board of Urban Sketchers recently got to sketch, lecture, and teach in San Jose, Costa Rica, as part of the Encuentro Urban Sketchers. It was a great event for a growing chapter, and such a pleasure to see and meet new and old friends. Check out the event recap on page 7. Urban Sketchers is very pleased to announce the publication of the
Urban Sketchers 2018 Annual Report. It’s wonderful to look back
on the great work done in 2018. Please check it out! Mentioned in the Annual Report is the founding of the Community Workshop Grant Program. The program aims to bring urban sketching to people of all ages and abilities who have never had the opportunity to show their world through drawing. I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve awarded three projects for 2019 that will reach new sketchers in North America, Europe, and Asia. We’ll share more about these incredible projects in a future issue of DA. Happy sketching! Amber Sausen, USk President
MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Happy April Fool’s Day to all our trickster sketchers out there! This month we take a peek behind the scenes with veteran instructors Barbara Luel, Kumi Matsukawa and Shari Blaukopf, have a glass of wine with USk Liguria, USk The Netherlands and USk Ottawa, and catch up with our USk Executive Board in Costa Rica. Thank you to our fantastic, hard-working team of Drawing Attention writers, proofreaders, Issuu, MailChimp and social media designers, our sponsors, the awesome USk social media and tech teams, and to you, our readers, for your support. Drawing Attention wouldn’t exist without you! Patricia Chow, Drawing Attention Managing Editor
drawingattention@urbansketchers.org
CONTENTS 4
5
USK SYMPOSIUM NEWS
USK NEWS & EVENTS
9
16
24
USK LIGURIA
USK NETHERLANDS
USK OTTAWA
29
34
44
KUMI MATSUKAWA
SHARI BLAUKOPF
BARBARA LUEL
51 REVIEW | ENDNOTES HOW TO READ DRAWING ATTENTION AS AN E-ZINE FOR EASIER READING ON ISSUU.COM SELECT FULL SCREEN.
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A PDF VERSION IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
APRIL 2019 3
USk Symposium News
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU ARRIVE IN AMSTERDAM Excitement builds up as we get closer to the Symposium dates! Urban Sketchers Netherlands has prepared a comprehensive article on musthaves, accommodation, travel, weather and helpful reminders that are essential to know before you start packing for the 10th International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Amsterdam. Check out the article here.
CAFE ‘T MOLENTJE, SINGEL BY CHRISTIAAN AFMAN 4 DRAWING ATTENTION
The Frequently Asked Questions article is also a good must-read if you haven’t yet. We update it often so be sure to check it in case you have some questions. Catch up the latest on Symposium News.
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USk News & Events
URBAN SKETCHERS RELEASES 2018 ANNUAL REPORT The board of Urban Sketchers is pleased to share the state of the organization with our global community. Highlights of the report: • Recap of our educational offerings that reach thousands of sketchers each year. • Stories of community-building through sketching together and sharing our sketches online. • A summary of USk’s financial health • Huge thanks to our sponsors and donors
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.
APRIL 2019 5
USk News & Events
JOSE PABLO UREÑA JOSE PABLO UREÑA
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO DRAWING ATTENTION – IT’S FREE 6 DRAWING ATTENTION
SOFÍA PORRAS
USk News & Events
ENCUENTRO URBAN SKETCHERS: THE USK EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETS SKETCHERS IN COSTA RICA By the USk Executive Board In late February, the Executive Board of Urban Sketchers met in San José, Costa Rica, for our annual strategic planning meeting. For the last few years the USk Board has used the meeting as an opportunity to reach out to local chapters, introduce people to urban sketchers and strengthen our mission to promote the educational, social and artistic value of onlocation sketching. This year the Board and the USk Costa Rica Chapter coordinated a two-day event, Encuentro Urban Sketchers, that included lectures, workshops and sketchwalks led by board member instructors and local chapter organizers. Encuentro, in Spanish, means “meeting” or “encounter.” The Encuentro Urban Sketchers events on 23-24 February attracted over 100 people to four workshops, six lectures, and a day-long sketchwalk. Many of the participants were “meeting” Urban Sketchers for the first time, but hopefully not for the last time! Urban Sketchers Costa Rica also invited Pueblito, an organization that cares for disadvantaged children, to participate in the sketchwalk. The children were greeted by the USk Board and USk Costa Rica members, and each child was presented with a sketchbook to welcome them into the community of Urban Sketchers. Learn more about the event by following #EncuentroUSkCR or by visiting the Urban Sketchers Costa Rica. Thank you to the admins of USk Costa Rica, Marcela Vargas, William Cordero, José Pablo Urena and Ivan Gomez; Universidad de Costa Rica; Contra Luz watercolors; and all of the participants. APRIL 2019 7
Featured Chapter
8 DRAWING ATTENTION
USK LIGURIA IS THERE ANYTHING MORE ITALIAN THAN FOOD, WINE, AND PEOPLE? MARK ALAN ANDERSON MEETS FRANCESCA MACCIÓ, VALENTINA RAIOLA, AND GUIDOMICHELE IAGULLI OF URBAN SKETCHERS LIGURIA, THEIR GLASSES OF RED WINE RAISED IN CHEERFUL GREETING, AND A PLATTER OF FOOD READY AT HAND. I KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE ITALIAN RIVIERA, BUT I AM ALREADY INCLINED TO IMMEDIATELY ABANDON WHATEVER I’M DOING TO JOIN THIS WARM GROUP FOR CONVERSATION, A GLASS OF WINE, AND – OF COURSE! – SKETCHING. APRIL 2019 9
Featured Chapter
brightly colored villages; Baroque elements abound; marvelous examples of structures balance upon weathered cliffs. So where to go?
L
iguria is in Northern Italy, a narrow, crescent shaped region bordered by Southern France on one end and Tuscany on the other. Sandwiched between mountains and sea, I learn that craggy sea cliffs provide sketchers with stunning panoramic views. The geography is unique, and the uneven landscape of precipitous mountains, cliffs, and hills have tested the ingenuity of architects for centuries. Even today, architectural designs are often a response to the topographic characteristics of the place; picturesque vineyards are so steep that work must be done by hand. I want to know where the best places are to sketch. The coastline, for instance, is well known for the
10 DRAWING ATTENTION
Francesca enthusiastically shares a tip with me: “We gather to sketch in cities that have a lot of history. Also, if you sketch here, people are going to be part of the scene. Some of us really like the old workshops. You can go and sketch someone who is creating clothes or ceramic … or the bakeries, the ancient coffees – even a barbershop. There
are many, and you can still find the very, very old people who have been working there for ages. And you know, we like to sketch foods!” Minutes later, Guidomichele interjects, “The streets are everywhere and have a very ancient history, but sometimes they are only one and a half meters wide… it’s very, very difficult to draw. There are beautiful lines, but maybe draw with your sketchbook sideways, vertically.” I ask if he feels it would be helpful to know perspective in this place, and his matter-of-fact response is an emphatic YES!!!
USK Liguria
“T
he geography is unique, and the uneven landscape of precipitous mountains, cliffs, and hills have tested the ingenuity of architects for centuries.
A VIEW FROM GENOVA ANCIENT PORT BY GUIDOMICHELE IAGULLI
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Featured Chapter
DINNER IN ALBISSOLA BY V. RAIOA
GALLERIA MAZZINI, GENOA BY ELISA_MONTI 12 DRAWING ATTENTION
PIAZZETTA VACCIUOLI IN SAVONA BY FRANCE
USk Liguria
ESCA MACCIO APRIL 2019 13
Featured Chapter
CASTELLO D’ALBERTIS, GENOA BY LISE_HALLBING
Urban Sketchers Liguria became a chapter in 2016. Since then, the group has grown to over 250 members. On the first Sunday of each month, a score of sketchers meets at a location mutually agreed upon through a Facebook poll. They collaborate with other groups as well – together with the municipality of Genoa and Palazzo Ducale, USk Liguria will be taking part in Rolli Days. From June 22 – 30, Palazzo Ducale will be hosting their inaugural sketchbook exhibition and, during the weekends of June 22-23 and 29-30, sketchers from around the world are invited to workshops and open marathons in Genoa.
SKETCHING AT CASTELLO D’ALBERTIS, GENOA BY PIERO MATTIROLO 14 DRAWING ATTENTION
TORETTA, SAVONA BY LAURA GIULIANI
PALAZZO ROSSO, GENOVA BY CHARLINE MOREAU
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Featured Chapter
USK NETHERLANDS 16 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Netherlands
SKETCHING IN THE NETHERLANDS CAN THROW UP SOME CHALLENGES, INCLUDING UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER AND (COME JULY) HUNDREDS OF OTHER SKETCHERS FLOCKING FOR THE 10TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM. BUT THAT’S NOTHING THAT A TASTY ‘KROKET’ OR ‘PATATJE OORLOG’ CAN’T PUT RIGHT, SAYS RUUD OTTEN. BY ANNE TAYLOR.
R
uud is Chairman of Urban Sketchers Nederland which started in 2013 and has since grown swiftly to include 13 local and regional groups. “Hundreds of sketchers attend our events every year and the Facebook group has about 1500 members,” he says. And this committed community is already rallying to make sure the Symposium is successful. “More than 60 sketchers from all over the country will volunteer at the symposium, and we even have non-sketching volunteers taking part,” says Ruud. “It is heartwarming to see that so many of them want to work hard to make
the event unforgettable. Some of them have already put most of their spare time into the preparation of the symposium. But Urban Sketchers Netherlands are proud and honored to be the host of the Symposium. We are looking forward to welcoming the worldwide urban sketchers community to our capital city.” When they are not organising Symposia, sketchers in The Netherlands actively explore their country, taking in a different city for each event. Amsterdam, the Symposium hub, only made it onto their itinerary last year! With such a broad base of sketching groups
spread throughout the country, Ruud says it’s hard to single out a favourite place – but he does recommend visitors cast their nets wider than just the capital, if they can: “If you have the time visit other cities like Utrecht, Rotterdam, The Hague or even Maastricht.” Ruud says they always start and end their day of sketching at an indoor venue, “so there is a dry and warm place to check out each other’s sketches. When sketching outdoor there is always an indoor location to go to if it starts raining cats and dogs.”
APRIL 2019 17
MORE TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR CHAPTER: MAKE SURE THERE ARE AT LEAST A FEW PEOPLE RUNNING THE CHAPTER, SO IT DOES NOT COME DOWN TO ONE PERSON. SCHIEDAM BY PETER FLOHR
As for some authentic local snacks to replenish after a hard day’s sketching, Ruud has a few ideas: “A typical Dutch snack is ‘kroket’, a deep fried, cylindrical-shaped snack, filled with a meat or vegetarian ragout, which is crunchy on the outside. Or you could try ‘patatje oorlog’ – fries with satay sauce, curry sauce, mayonnaise and onions. Both are full of energy, but obviously not very healthy!” Another calorific treat is ‘hagelslag’ – confectionary ‘sprinkles’ that can be eaten on a sandwich “if you don’t like Gouda cheese”, says Ruud. Ruud thinks part of the success of USK The Netherlands is down to Chapter members being involved in organizing and volunteering. “It’s important to give ideas which come from the group a chance,” he says. “You can also learn from each other by cooperating with neighbouring chapters. For instance we have been cooperating with Urban Sketchers Belgium.” 18 DRAWING ATTENTION
PRIOR TO THE EVENT, MAKE SURE YOU POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT YOUR EVENTS AND SEND OUT VIDEO TEASERS TO TELL THE PUBLIC ABOUT YOUR EVENTS. AFTER THE EVENT, PUBLISH A REPORT ABOUT THE EVENT WITH PHOTOS AND SKETCHES IN ORDER TO ATTRACT NEWCOMERS TO YOUR NEXT EVENT. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO NEWCOMERS SO THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE PART OF THE GROUP.
USk Netherlands
AMSTERDAM BY GAIL HOWARD
SKETCH BY ROD ZILLMAN
APRIL 2019 19
Featured Chapter
AMSTERDAM BY PEER WOLKERS
ROTTE
20 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Netherlands
ERDAM BY NINO VAN VUUREN MAASTRICHT BY RUUD OTTEN
APRIL 2019 21
PLACE YOUR AD HERE
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
22 DRAWING ATTENTION
APRIL 2019 23
USK OTTAWA THE USK CHAPTER IN CANADA’S CAPITAL CITY, OTTAWA, THRIVES BY WELCOMING NEW SKETCHERS AND CREATING COMMUNITY. BY SUSAN ROGERS
24 DRAWING ATTENTION
MERCURY LOUNGE BY CINDI MOYNAHAN-FOREMAN
Featured Chapter
USk Ottawa
T
he USk Ottawa sketchers meet once a month, and use all forms of social media - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to bond and attract new sketchers. About 50 people attend each meeting, but organizer Cindi Foreman says that they have had 400 people RSVP for some meetups. “It can be wonderful and terrifying at the same time,” she says, “as I never know how many people to expect.” It is quite an achievement to get so many people to come out to sketch in a city that experiences very cold days in winter and hot days in summer. Both extremes mean that organizers have to be creative in finding indoor locations that have interest. Fortunately, Ottawa is blessed with many museums and many of these offer free admission on Thursdays throughout the year. A recent outing to the Canadian Nature Museum attracted a diverse group of sketchers of all ages, including animation and botany students from the local universities. OTTAWA REMIX BY TRISH WOOLAVER
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OTTAWA ART GALLERY -JACKSON LOUNGE
USk Instructor
NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA BY MICHAEL LUKYNIUK
CHATEAU LAURIER BY MERLYNA LIM
Cindi believes that the group’s emphasis on organizing inclusive events for all ages and skill levels, as well as taking into account accessibility for all, results in vibrant sketching community. Making meetups safe and welcoming helps newcomers experience the benefits of sketching. “Anytime you sit down and sketch, you connect in a deep and meaningful way with a place. It forces you to pay attention, and sharing it with a group brings the added benefit of developing community.” 26 DRAWING ATTENTION
AZIZ AND COMPANY BY LAUREN FOSTER-MCLEOD
E BY OLGA MIRONOVA
CINDI’S TIP FOR CHAPTER ADMINS: WELCOME NEWCOMERS. LET FIRST-TIMERS KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN THEY TURN UP. BE VISIBLE (WITH A SIGN OR BANNER) AND EXPLAIN THE FORMAT AND THE ‘SHOW AND TELL’ MEETING AT THE END. EMPHASIZE THAT IT’S OKAY TO STAY IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE WHICH MAY MEAN NOT PARTICIPATING IN SHOWING YOUR SKETCHES UNTIL YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE. APRIL 2019 27
Title
WINK & SQUINT
AT THE WORLD AROUND YOU
SMALL FIRE STATION, YOKOHAMA 28 DRAWING ATTENTION
VERSATILE ARTIST KUMI MATSUKAWA FOUND URBAN SKETCHING AFTER TAKING PART IN THE 2009 WORLD SKETCH CRAWL WITH SOME ILLUSTRATOR FRIENDS. WITHOUT REALIZING IT, KUMI HAD STARTED THE LONG JOURNEY THAT WOULD TAKE HER TO SIX URBAN SKETCHERS SYMPOSIA AND COUNTLESS SKETCH MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS, SHARING HER ART AND KNOWLEDGE WITH SKETCHERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD. BY PEDRO LOUREIRO
“B
efore long, I become a USk blog correspondent from Japan,” Kumi tells us. “I was already used to sketching when I travelled, when I taught drawing classes, or when I had time to kill.” But her time and frequency spent sketching increased after joining the global community which she draws inspiration from. “Whenever I am inspired by other sketchers’ unique styles, I feel I want to try the same style and cultivate some new kind of expression that I would never have come up with otherwise.” As a professional artist educated in oil painting, Kumi has explored many different media and styles, her work ranging from illustration to fine art, from cartoon to realistic style. “I’m still seeking my way of expression, and I feel eager to acquire new skills.” While on her search, Kumi invests her remaining time teaching pastel, watercolor and drawing classes to senior citizens
in local learning centers near where she lives. She is currently exploring the digital arts, which she feels she needs to master in order to keep up with the times, but “to tell you the truth,” Kumi confesses, “I prefer to go out sketching than to be at the computer.” Kumi has noticed “in my years teaching, many people have difficulty measuring the correct ratio to figure out proportions, while others choose the colors they use to paint automatically, without paying attention to the influence of light and shadow.” Her upcoming workshop ‘Wink and Squint’ is tailor-made for sketchers struggling with these issues. In Yokohama, Japan, Kumi will show participants not only how winking flattens all reality into a two-dimensional image, which is easier to convey to paper, but also how to squint to find the proper values in a scene. “Seeing things with one eye enables you to measure effortlessly,
undisturbed by the complex scale of reality, while squinting helps you to see and analyze things as simple tones and masses.” Kumi has been to several Symposia as a participant, and had the chance to be an international correspondent in Manchester in 2016, together with Tina Koyama, Liz Steel and Javier de Blas. “It was a great honor to be chosen as one of the correspondents, and I’m sure that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she recalls. “I wanted there to be more than 24 hours a day! It was such a concentrated sketching experience.” Kumi is now aiming to be a Symposium instructor. “Each and every workshop I attended strongly influenced me and, as time goes by, my mimicking the instructor’s style phase ends and their influence becomes a part of my style,” Kumi explains. APRIL 2019 29
USk Instructor
RED BRICK WAREHOUSE, YOKOHAMA LANDMARK TOWER, YOKOHAMA
30 DRAWING ATTENTION
Wink & Squint at the world around you
KUMI’S TIP: IN TOKYO, THERE IS A STATIONERY SHOP CALLED SEKAIDO, IN SHINJUKU. IT IS A MUST-GO PLACE, BUT BE CAREFUL WITH OVERBUYING!
NEAR YOKOHAMA STATION
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USk Instructor
32 DRAWING ATTENTION
Endnotes
2019 Sketch Seminar May 31-June 2, 2019 For Information ChicagoSketchSeminar.wordpress.com
APRIL 2019 33
USk Instructor
SHARI BLAUKOPF HAS BEEN A WATERCOLORIST SINCE HER TEENS, AND EVEN THOUGH HER CAREER HAS BEEN IN GRAPHIC DESIGN, AND NOW AS A TEACHER OF GRAPHIC DESIGN IN HER HOMETOWN OF MONTREAL, WATERCOLOR IS HER FIRST LOVE, AND SHE CONTINUES TO BE SURPRISED BY THE MAGIC RESULTS THAT WATER AND PIGMENT CAN PRODUCE. BY MEAGAN BURNS
“E
very time I put a brush to paper I learn something new, and that keeps me painting. Whether it’s in my Montreal neighborhood or in my travels, it’s always a good day when I can get a bit of watercolor in.” When Shari first started sketching in the late 2000’s, she was one of the early contributors to the USk Flickr group, where she met fellow Canadian artist Marc Taro Holmes. Together they organized their local sketching community and Montreal soon became a flourishing USk Regional Chapter. While both artists continue to support their chapters, they’ve now handed the admin roles onto other sketchers. Shari attended her first USk Symposium at Santo Domingo in 2011, when the total attendance was only about 150 people – quite a difference from
34 DRAWING ATTENTION
VILLERARY
COLO
ORS IN WATER OVER THE YEARS
APRIL 2019 35
USk Instructor
the Symposium these days! It was through becoming a member of the Urban Sketchers community that she realized just how special THE SKETCH is, and that the sketch could be the story. “All those years of painting and finishing pieces; how refreshing that now the sketch is THE story, and what a fabulous story it can be!” Shari has been teaching at every USk Symposium since Barcelona and, this year in Amsterdam, she’ll be teaching a wonderful location-based workshop called, ‘Barges, Schooners and Trawlers, Sketching Amsterdam’s Historic Harbor.’ Prior to the Amsterdam Symposium, Shari will also be teaching workshops at the Chicago Sketch Seminar, and a warm-up to
the Symposium in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. In this year of exciting travels and workshops across the globe, Shari is also pleased to be introducing her new book, ‘The Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color, Techniques for Using Watercolor and Color Media on the Go,’ the sixth volume in the Urban Sketching series. Even with years of experience under her belt, and a dedicated urban sketching practice, Shari is excited about each new Symposium experience. “There’s no hierarchy of skill; everyone is in it together, and we continue to learn from each other. It’s amazing how generous everyone is with their knowledge.”
“Every time I put a brush to paper, I learn something new and that keeps me painting...”. 36 DRAWING ATTENTION
Colors in Water over the Years
HEY JUDE
APRIL 2019 37
USk Instructor
ILE SUR SORGUE 38 DRAWING ATTENTION
Colors in Water over the Years
APRIL 2019 39
USk Instructor
PETRARCH’S GARDEN
40 DRAWING ATTENTION
Colors in Water over the Years
VAN GOGH’S TREES
APRIL 2019 41
USk Instructor
LAKE LOUISE 42 DRAWING ATTENTION
Review | Endnotes
CONNECT WITH SHARI
S
W
f
APRIL 2019 43
USk Instructor
PORTO 44 DRAWING ATTENTION
Starting from
WHERE YOU ARE BARBARA LUEL HELPS BEGINNERS OVERCOME BARRIERS TO MAKING ART. BY LESLIE AKCHURIN
B
future of Urban Sketchers depends on continuing to transmit the community’s enthusiasm to new people.
However, Barbara points out, “You can’t hide away. You have to actually do the drawing so you can learn how to do it.” And, she adds, “I want this to be joyful for people, for people to avoid the suffering I felt when I got back into making art after many years.” Thus, a central concern of her workshops is to help beginners feel welcome, to overcome their fear of failure, and help them to enjoy themselves. After all, she says, the
On her blog, Barbara tells the story of how she lost touch with drawing and painting after becoming an architect, and then reconnected years later when her husband presented her with some art supplies one day. To her surprise, she found it very stressful to start sketching again and struggled with much anxiety and doubt. But her growing association with other artists, including urban sketchers, gradually helped her feel more confident and successful. Today, despite working full-time as an architect specializing in the restoration of monuments, Barbara is a busy artist who eagerly stretches her boundaries by both
arbara Luel once gave an introductory sketch tour, after which the novice artists told her, “Thanks for all the information, but it didn’t work. We’ll come back again after we can draw!” How many of us have felt this kind of resistance during the awkward early stages of learning?
attending and giving workshops. She loves to study with those who work very differently, especially when they challenge her “to stop drawing like an architect and learn new ways of seeing.” For example, she credits noted urban sketcher Ian Fennelly for helping her to relax her technique, and Ch’ng Kiah Kiean for showing her how to compose with negative space, as well as for nudging her towards more leeway in her responses to reality. “Now I have stopped feeling miserable if a window is missing from my drawing,” she laughs. Barbara started giving weekend and evening workshops herself as another way to “get out there, APRIL 2019 45
USk Instructor
drawing and learning new things.” She first worked within a program for people who suffer from dementia, which helped her realize that “everybody is an artist because everybody is creative!” She found she was able to make empathetic connections even with people who could no longer speak, by focusing on “what they could still do, not what they couldn’t.” In her current classes for beginning artists, Barbara employs exercises from Betty Edward’s classic book ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’ that tap into natural human abilities. Her inclusive and positive energy helps jittery novices enjoy learning, and she assures them, “If you do it enough, you’ll get better!” She’ll be giving several workshops in April that seek to develop basic perceptual skills for creating order from the chaotic visuals that surround us. Two classes will be set among blossoming cherry and magnolia trees in Brussels, and two others in a more urban setting in Bruges. In all her teaching, Barbara’s purpose has been to help people experience the full pleasure of creativity as they travel the road to discovering their own unique styles. PLACE DU CHÂTELAIN, BRUSSELS
his to be joyful for people, to a “I want t void the s uffering I 46 DRAWING ATTENTION
felt when I got back into mak ing a
Starting from where you are
DESTRUCTION OF PARKING BUILDING, BRUSSELS
yea art after many
RUE DES CHARTREUX, BRUSSELS
rs.” APRIL 2019 47
USk Instructor
HIIRAGYIA RYOKAN, KYOTO, JAPAN 48 DRAWING ATTENTION
Starting from where you are
TOOLS
APRIL 2019 49
50 DRAWING ATTENTION
Reviews | Endnotes
PARKA REVIEWS BY TEOH YI CHIE
Teoh Yi Chie is an infographics journalist who joined Urban Sketchers Singapore in 2009. He is better known as Parka from Parkablogs.com a website that reviews art books and art products. This month Parka video reviews the Da Vinci Casaneo Watercolour Brush. Check it out! SUBSCRIBE TO THE USK YOUTUBE CHANNEL
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, Mรกrio Linhares at education@ urbansketchers.org.
FOLLOW USK ON FACEBOOK APRIL 2019 51
Reviews | Endnotes
was done hundreds of years ago. He’s the first Urban Sketcher I’ve met working in this classical style. Ahmet uses Daniel Smith walnut ink and whittles his own quill feather pens. He carries his quill pens in a case. Where you’d expect to see Microns or maybe fountain pens, instead there are trimmed feathers. He draws in handmade sketchbooks that he makes himself.
COOL GEAR GOES CLASSICAL INTERVIEW WITH AHMET RASID YILMAZ There is a hidden timestamp on every sketch we do. It reveals things about who we are, where we are and the materials we use. It reveals our place and time. So, I was startled when I saw Ahmet Rasid Yilmaz drawings. Ahmet lives in NYC and sketches with the local USk group. His work has the feel of a Rembrandt drawing. It looks like it 52 DRAWING ATTENTION
MARK: Ahmet, why the interest in classical materials? AHMET: My interest lies not so much in classical materials, but in materials that are hard to wield. I have always had a deep interest in materials that take considerable practice to get used to. In fact before I used quill pens I used to sketch with willow charcoal sticks and soft pastels. Materials of that kind force you to work quickly and focus deeply, and practice ALL THE TIME in order to get the hang of them. That manner of working creates with time much greater drawings than with easy
to use materials, that causes the artists mind to grow lazy because the material can be reworked and erased easily. A quill pen’s strokes differ greatly depending on how you cut it, so there are still infinite possibilities I have yet to explore. I still learn new things about shaping them even to this day. MARK: I noticed you trimmed the feathers quite a bit. Did you learn that or is that your innovation? AHMET: You mean how I removed the barbs and cut down most of its length at the end? That is just the standard method of preparing a turkey quill. You strip the barbs and shorten the feather so the feathery bits don’t extend toward your face while drawing. What you have at the end is something that’s almost the same size and feel of a regular pen. A fully barbed feather pen is a Hollywood invention. MARK: Do you recommend the classical methods to other sketchers? Why? AHMET: I would recommend it to folks who draw stiffly and slowly, and don’t feel like they are improving with their current tools.
Reviews | Endnotes
Taking up the challenge of using a more difficult tool will surely help them gain confidence and it will help them develop the eye and hand coordination required to draw with gusto. Mark is always looking for new Cool Gear and Creative Solutions. Write to him at markleibowitz810@gmail.com.
SHARE YOUR CHAPTER VIDEO ON YOUTUBE! The Urban Sketchers YouTube Channel would like to feature more chapter videos. Do you have a video of your group event that shows the group, the artists, their sketches and the location you sketched in? Share it with us! Guidelines: • MPEG4 or .mp4 file extension • Any length, however, the preferred length is 5 minutes or less • Steady camera • No advertisements To submit your video for consideration, please send it via wetransfer.com to Lydia Velarde, USk YouTube Manager, at zipchips@gmail.com. Shorter videos can be sent to Lydia Velarde on messenger. I am looking forward to viewing and sharing your chapter! APRIL 2019 53
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