DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers FEBRUARY 2018
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. Managing Editor: Brenda Murray Assistant Editor: Pedro Loureiro Mailchimp layout: Jane Dillon Wingfield ISSUU layout design: Anne Taylor Writers: Mark Anderson; Brenda Murray; Meagan Burns; Susan Rogers; Pedro Loureiro; Leslie Akchurin. Contributors: Parka; Maria Regina Tuazon; Amber Sausen. Front cover image: Marion Rivolier.
Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the January edition of Drawing Attention. Circulation: 8086 (January, 2018). Readership: 10,790 (January, 2018). 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. © 2018 Urban Sketchers.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Depending on where you are in the world, February may have you thinking of travel to somewhere else. It could be to escape the brutal cold of winter, the high heat of summer, or just as a distraction from the doldrums that can set in after the bustle of end-of-year activities draws to a close. For many Urban Sketchers, ideas of travel center on learning and seeing somewhere new, perhaps with fellow sketchers. Ever wanted to visit Portugal? How about a trip to Italy or Seattle, the birthplace of Urban Sketchers? Keep watching the USk website, social media channels, and here in Drawing Attention to find out about the newest workshop opportunities – there’s sure to be a destination and instructor for
you. Register for an educational opportunity with Urban Sketchers to see new places, stretch your sketching skills, and meet fellow sketchers. Drawing Attention, the official newsletter of Urban Sketchers has been re-envisioned as a zine with beautiful graphics and interactive links to all the happenings, education offerings, and volunteer opportunities. Hopefully you’ll see something that captures your imagination and inspires you to see someplace new or see your everyday places in a new way. Whether or not your dreams of travel are realized, we can look forward to seeing all the sketches shared online, where we show the world, one drawing at a time. Happy sketching! Amber Sausen, USk President
Thank you for the feedback we received last month for the launch of Drawing Attention in the new zine format. If you are reading Drawing Attention on a laptop or desktop please select the FULL SCREEN icon (below). If you are reading it on a handheld, please click on one of the links on page 3 and download the appropriate app. If you prefer to read the pdf version, please click on that link. Special thanks to our almost 11,000 readers for your continued support! Brenda Murray, USk Communications Director drawingattention@urbansketchers.org.
Contents
CONTENTS 4 USK NEWS & EVENTS 12 SKETCH TOUR PORTUGAL 18 NEW CHAPTER: CINCINNATI 20 REPORTAGE: EVERYDAY LIFE IN JERUSALEM 26 EXCUSE ME WHILE I PAINT THE SKY
marion rivolier
39 MARC’S BROKEN SILHOUETTES
12 18 26 20 39
46
marc taro holmes
46 DRAWING OUT THE DETAILS
jane blundell
54 REVIEW & ENDNOTES DOWNLOAD THE ISSUU APP FOR IOS DEVICES DOWNLOAD THE ISSUU APP FOR ANDROID DEVICES
READ THIS ISSUE AS A SCROLLING PDF HERE .
FOR EASIER READING OF DRAWING ATTENTION REMEMBER TO SELECT FULL SCREEN. FEBRUARY 2018 3
USk News & Events
USK NEWS & EVENTS
SKETCH TOUR PORTUGAL In celebration of our 10th anniversary in 2017 Urban Sketchers, in partnership with the Tourism Office of Portugal (TP), have organized a sponsored sketching trip called Sketch Tour Portugal. From March 1-6, 2018 USk and the TP will send Marion Rivolier from France and Portuguese host João Moreno from Lisbon to sketch in Alentejo, Portugal. The sketchers will sketch a minimum of 6 drawings per day. The TP will use sketches made during the trip to promote Portugal in different events such as at fairs, in postcards, on social media, and at exhibitions. We wish Marion and João happy travels and happy sketching! USk Executive Board of Directors.
2018 USK PORTO SYMPOSIUM – CALL FOR CORRESPONDENTS If you have a flair for sketching reportage-style, you’re a team player, you have extremely high sketching stamina and are technically savvy to blog about the daily events at the Symposium, here’s your chance to be a correspondent for the 9th International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto, Portugal on July 18-21, 2018. The application deadline is Feb. 21, 2018, 23:59 GMT. Click HERE for more information. 4 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk News & Events
SYMPOSIUM NEWS Get your pens all inked up for the upcoming Symposium adventure in Porto! The main venue will be Alfândega do Porto. Click HERE to watch a short video of beautiful Porto. Click HERE to see a helpful map of the area. For Workshop Pass Holders, learning on location will be intense in a good way. Whether it’s learning new techniques, a dive into media you aren’t familiar with or discovering alternative ways to tell your stories, it’s immediate and inspiring with in-person teaching and a tribe that loves sketching the way you do. Explore, trade tools, and share stories with instructors at our featured demos. Join Skit Sketches and celebrate how sketching impacts individuals and bigger communities. Of course, we will drink and draw with old and new-found friends at our opening and closing parties. Get swag from our sponsors and check out the array of fine art supplies at rare deals from our vendors. Take home some goodies from our lucky draw and silent auction. It will be days of show and tell for everyone at this grand coastal city! Ready? Registration starts 17th February, Saturday, 15:00hrs GMT. Check HERE to read the full symposium program in the last week of February. Don’t miss out! For the latest symposium news, subscribe to Drawing Attention and follow us on social media: the Symposium Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Watch the video (right) for highlights from the 2017 USk Chicago Symposium. FEBRUARY 2018 5
USk News & Events
URBAN SKETCHERS FEATURED ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS By Brenda Murray There was a flurry of excitement on USk social media platforms on January 20th when James Hobbs, Regional Chapter Administrator from London, UK and Bill Elkins and Urban Sketchers Syracuse were featured on NBC Nightly News. “What a crazy couple of weeks this has been,” Bill said. “NBC Nightly News sent a film crew from NYC to a local cafe for about 4 hours to film 18 of us from USk Syracuse. Then, the next day, they all arrived at my house at 8:00 AM, along with reporter Kristen Dahlgren. It took a long time to move all the equipment into the house, move the furniture, and set up. It took about five hours altogether but the segment will only be about two minutes. We’re all very interested to see what can be done in that brief time.” James Hobbs’ film shoot was a bit quicker. “It took maybe an hour or so in the house, and then a walk in the park for another hour while I drew. London even provided an unexpectedly lovely sunny afternoon for this.” Special thanks to James and Bill and USk Syracuse for representing Urban Sketchers so well. To watch the broadcast please click HERE.
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USk News & Events
10 X 10 EDUCATION PROGRAM In 2017, USk organized hundreds of sketching workshops in cities around the world called 10x10 classes, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Urban Sketchers. In 2018, look for 10x10 classes in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, USA; Lisbon, Portugal; Andaluzia, Spain; Paris, France; Manchester, UK; Rome, Italy and more! For more information contact Mรกrio Linhares at: education@urbansketchers.org.
THANK YOU TO JOEL BERMAN Joel Berman, our outgoing Fundraising Director, brought sweeping changes to the way we gather support for Urban Sketchers events around the world. His charisma and passion for Urban Sketchers were felt by everyone on the sponsorship team, and all the attendees of the 8th International Symposium in Chicago were delighted by his energy and pride in sharing his hometown with our global community. Thank you Joel for your contribution to Urban Sketchers!
FEBRUARY 2018 7
USk News & Events
THANK YOU TO GAIL WONG
ROB & MERCY JOIN EDUCATION COMMITTEE The Urban Sketchers Education Committee is very happy to welcome our two newest members, Mercy Kagia from Nairobi, Kenya, and Rob Sketcherman from Hong Kong! Mercy is a member of USk Nairobi, and often joins other USk groups when she travels. She is a long-time reportage artist, and earned a PhD in Reportage Drawing from Kingston University London in 2013. Mercy teaches drawing, painting and communication at universities as well as informal workshops. She especially likes to focus on drawing people working and in their daily lives. Rob is a member of USk Hong Kong, and has been teaching under the USk banner for the past 3 years, including several USk Symposiums. Rob is a keen observer of people and places, and in his frequent travels he always captures a sense of the life of the city he’s visiting. Rob is best known for his work with the iPad Pro, and enjoys teaching people how to use his favorite tool for urban sketching. Welcome Rob and Mercy!
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Gail Wong is one of those people we love to work with. She’s calm, very thoughtful, organized, a hard working, talented educator and sketcher, and with a great sense of humor. During the past 3 years she brilliantly coordinated the Workshops Program helping USk instructors to present strong proposals and promoting their workshops worldwide. We can’t thank her enough for her volunteer work on behalf of Urban Sketchers. We wish her all the best serving now on the Executive Board of Directors as treasurer. Thanks! USk Education Committee.
USk News & Events
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.
THANK YOU TO JOEL WINSTEAD Joel Winstead, our outgoing treasurer, is a hidden hero of the organization. His work was behind the scenes, but vital to our operations. His accomplishments include development of a clear reimbursement policy, donation tracking and records organization, legal documentation such as taxes and nonprofit 990s, and tracking the many different sums of money that make the symposium, 10x10, and workshops programs possible. Thank you Joel! FEBRUARY 2018 9
USk News & Events
FOLLOW URBAN SKETCHERS ON TWITTER BY JEAN EDWARDS & CHRISTINA WALD
Twitter is great tool for sharing your urban sketches and chapter activity with other urban sketchers and maybe even recruiting new members. Here’s some ways of using Twitter as an urban sketching chapter:
RETWEETING If we see tweets from your chapter account about your events and urban sketching we will retweet them. When you see tweets of interest you can retweet them so that your followers will see them. These might be related to upcoming events, new editions of Drawing Attention, urban sketching activities and chats that you and your members might be interested in. 10 DRAWING ATTENTION
IN THE FUTURE We’re planning some Twitter chats and other exciting Twitter ideas. At the moment we’re trying to say hello to each chapter and share a link to your group so we’d be grateful if you liked, retweeted and replied to us. We’d like to hear more from you about how you use your chapter Twitter account.
TWEETING PHOTOS Tweets work best when you add a photo of a sketch or an event. I you repost from your Instagram account we don’t see the attached photo on Twitter, just a link, so its better to write a tweet in twitter and add your photo directly.
MANAGING MULTIPLE TWITTER ACCOUNTS If you are using the Twitter app on your phone or tablet it is possible to be signed into your personal and you chapter account. This makes it easy to swap between accounts. You can also use a site called Tweetdeck on your computer to schedule tweets if you want to set some up in advance. Follow us on Twitter.
USk News & Events
MEET THE USK EXECUTIVE BOARD USk is a non-profit organization run by a volunteer operational board of peers. Meet the current Executive Board: (left to right) Amber Sausen (Minneapolis, USA), President; Richard Alomar (New York, USA), Vice-President; Gail Wong (Seattle, USA), Treasurer; Peggy Wong (Kuching, Malaysia), Secretary and Symposium Director; Brenda Murray (Ontario, Canada), Communications Director; Mรกrio Linhares (Lisbon, Portugal), Education Director; and Wiltfried Pathuis (Groningen, Netherlands), Events Director.
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USk News & Events
SKETCH TOUR PORTUGAL:
World Heritage, Food, Wine & Nature SKETCH TOUR PORTUGAL, IN COLLABORATION WITH URBAN SKETCHERS, SPONSORS TWO SKETCHERS PER MONTH TO SKETCH AND HIGHLIGHT THE NATURAL BEAUTY AND DIVERSITY OF A DIFFERENT AREA IN PORTUGAL, WITH EACH SKETCHER TELLING THEIR UNIQUE STORY THROUGH THEIR PAINTS, PENS, PENCILS AND SKETCHBOOKS. BY MEAGAN BURNS
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FEBRUARY 2018 13
USk News & Events
This month Ea Ejersbo from Denmark, and Ketta Linhares were sent to Madeira, Portugal. Ea and Ketta were thrilled to have been chosen for this exciting partnership. Ea, one of the original correspondents on the USk blog, reports on her sketch life in and around Aarhus, Denmark, while also working as a project and management secretary at an inner-city school for disadvantaged youth. Ketta was born in East Timor, but now lives with her husband fellow Urban Sketcher Mário Linhares and their son Matias in Lisbo, Portugal. Ketta also makes Laloran sketchbooks; handmade sketchbooks made with very fine paper, perfect for urban sketchers. Ea and Ketta arrived in Madeira on the last week of December, and spent the next week tackling their given assignment of sketching “World Heritage, Food, Wine and Nature”. They sketched various locations around the island, including a trip to the neighboring island of Porto Santo. F
CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE OF THEIR SKETCHES ON FLICKR
w LEARN MORE ABOUT SKETCH THIS PAGE: ART BY EA 14 DRAWING ATTENTION
TOUR PORTUGAL HERE
Sketch Tour Portugal
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USk News & Events
EA’S TIPS: Talk to the people you meet, notice the details around you. Also, choose your materials wisely: choose according to subject and sketching conditions; learning how to pack your art bag is an art itself! And of course, have Fun! this is the most important part; don’t be afraid to experiment or mess up and never rip out a page or throw away a sketchbook the things that look like utter failures when you’re just done wrestling with them will reveal their other qualities with a little distance. 16 DRAWING ATTENTION
THIS PAGE: ART BY EA
KETTA’S TIPS: Feel comfortable with the place that you choose to sketch and take possession of space as if it were yours. Sketch without being concerned about the re-
sults that you will have at the end of your sketch. Just enjoy the moment and your lines. Also don’t miss opportunities to try new techniques, different tools and different way to see before starting to sketch. Finally, return to your sketches sometime later just to remember the moment the sketch was made. Time allows us to look at our sketches in a different way. THIS PAGE: ART BY KETTA
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USk News & Events
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Chapter Feature
Lots to sketch for USk Cincinnati SUSAN ROGERS REPORTS.
“To see the world through the sketchbooks of others is truly a unique way to appreciate life,” says Robin Ewers Carnes one of the administrators of USK Cincinnati, one of our newest chapers. She adds, “Cincinnati is a gem and we want to share our fabulous city with the world, one drawing at a time.” Robin describes with enthusiasm the sketching potential of her city with architecture dating from the 1800s, art deco and colourful Italianate buildings, a famous zoo and indoor spaces such as the Krohn Building, the Music Hall designed by Samuel Hannaford and the Contemporary Art Center designed by Zaha Hadid. The setting is special too. Perched on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains near the Ohio River, sketchers enjoy vistas of rivers and hills.
Jeb Brack and Robin Ewers Carnes. The team organizes sketching events every second Saturday but members also get together informally by posting a sketch out call on Facebook. This energetic group also has plans to include all ages of sketchers in workshops and other special events. Upcoming events are likely to include a trip to a brewery, the art deco splendour of Orchids Restaurant in Carew Tower, and cherry blossoms at Ault Park. CONNECT WITH CINCINNATI
This new chapter already has 117 members on their Facebook group. Administration of this chapter is shared by a core team of artists with backgrounds in illustration and watercolour: Christina Wald, Amy Bogard, FEBRUARY 2018 19
Chapter Feature
Reportage captures everyday life in Jerusalem TWENTY-FOUR SKETCHERS FROM USK JERUSALEM PARTICIPATED IN A VERY SPECIAL EXHIBITION CALLED THE TRAIN PEOPLE DURING A WEEK-LONG REPORTAGE EVENT IN OCTOBER CALLED ILLUSTRATION AND POETICS IN JERUSALEM IN COLLABORATION WITH CITYPASS - JERUSALEM LIGHT RAIL. BY BRENDA MURRAY
SKETCH BY NATHAN HALPERN
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Life in Jerusalem
During this week-long expo USk Jerusalem organized several sketchcrawls focused on creating reportage sketches of the train stations, inside the trains, the atmosphere surrounding the trains and commuters as well. “We tried to capture the unique atmosphere of Jerusalem”, USk Jerusalem Admin Marina Grechanik explained. “We asked sketchers to include bits of conversations they overheard and their own thoughts.” “Tefillin, my brother! Tefillin!” one sketcher faithfully recorded on her sketch. “Livelihood - It’s not easy...” another commuter complained. “Shukran! Thank you!” a sketcher overheard. At the end of the event the sketches were passed to the curation team, then they were scanned, enlarged and exhibited on the glass of the train shelters in downtown Jerusalem. The result – a spectacular exhibition of urban reportage integrated in the urban environment itself – the real spirit of Urban Sketching! SKETCH BY MARINA GRECHANIK
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Chapter Feature
SKETCH BY MAAYAN FOGEL SHUKRAN
22 DRAWING ATTENTION
Life in Jerusalem Title
SKETCHES BY DARIA DUBROVIN, GALIA LERECH, RIKI KRAKAUER
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MEET MARINA GRECHANIK
“W 24 DRAWING ATTENTION
E TRIED TO CAPTURE THE UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE OF JERUSALEM.”
Life in Jerusalem
GET A PEEK OF USK JERUSALEM
SKETCHES BY BORIS DIKMAN, RACHEL STOLERU HAIM FEBRUARY 2018 25
26 DRAWING ATTENTION
THE IMPRESSIONIST LANDSCAPE PAINTER ALFRED SISLEY ONCE SAID, “I ALWAYS START A PAINTING WITH THE SKY.” PARIS BASED URBAN SKETCHER, ARTIST, AND SET DESIGNER MARION RIVOLIER IS SIMILARLY CAPTIVATED BY THE GREAT NEGATIVE SPACE THAT SEPARATES THE URBAN LANDSCAPE. BY MARK ANDERSON.
EXCUSE ME WHILE I PAINT THE SKY FEBURARY 2018 27
USk Tutor
In Rivolier’s Chicago workshop, “How to Reach the Sky,” she invited participants to alter their way of looking at the world. Rather than focusing on the structures that make up a place - the perspective and construction that “defines” a location, her approach is to begin with the emptiness surrounding those buildings. Far from a meaningless barrenness, Rivolier sees the sky as a way to rediscover the world around us. “It’s like when you see inside a lens and you don’t see everything, but you choose a way to understand the world before you.” By drawing or painting the negative space, a sketcher captures the essence of the architecture. 28 DRAWING ATTENTION
Excuse me while I paint the sky
“I
T’S LIKE WHEN YOU SEE INSIDE A LENS AND YOU DON’T SEE EVERYTHING, BUT YOU CHOOSE A WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD BEFORE YOU.” FEBRUARY 2018 29
USk Tutor
“I
T’S MORE IMPORTANT TO USE COLOR TO CREATE VOLUME…TO MAKE STRONG CHOICES...
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Excuse me while I paint the sky
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USk Tutor
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Excuse me while I paint the sky
“C
OLOR IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO ME, TO CAPTURE THE SPACE WITH BRUSH STROKES AND COLORS.”
FEBRUARY 2018 33
USk Tutor
“I
THINK WHEN YOU MAKE A PRELIMINARY DRAWING, YOU CREATE A KIND OF JAIL – A PRISON FOR YOUR DRAWING...
34 DRAWING ATTENTION
Excuse me while I paint the sky
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USk Tutor
36 DRAWING ATTENTION
Excuse me while I paint the sky
“W
ITH THE SKY YOU WANT TO CHOOSE YOUR COLORS, YOUR VALUES, YOUR CONTRAST TO TELL YOUR STORY.” FEBRUARY 2018 37
USk Tutor
Rivolier is matter of fact in stating that “color is a very important thing to me, to capture the space with brush strokes and colors.” Parts of her workshop emphasized experimentation and the discovery of how warm and cool colors interact. She explains that an awareness of this interaction can result in greater depth and volume in a sketch or painting. Contrast, too, affects the illusion of depth. She avoids the use of black, choosing to create dark color with indigo, violets, and blues – the quality of color in the shadows is important to Rivolier and she mentions it over and over again in conversation. She teaches participants to work directly with a brush, forgoing any preliminary sketches. “I think when you make a preliminary drawing, you create a kind of jail – a prison for your drawing. It’s impossible to express the lights and the sensation of the space with color inside those drawn lines.” Sharing a belief that colors should be free on the page, she demonstrates to participants that direct painting avoids the pitfall of a closed frame, and captures a more authentic moment.
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Color, claims Rivolier, is used to create a sense of roundness or depth, rather than line. “It’s more important to use color to create volume…to make strong choices. For me this workshop, the sky was the focus, but with the sky you want to choose your colors, your values, your contrast to tell your story.” Marion Rivolier has taught workshops at the last three USk symposiums, Barcelona, Manchester, and Chicago. She is currently crowdfunding the publication of her book Croisée de regards. Marion will be teaching a workshop in Barcelona Apr 25-28. Click here for more information.
MEET MARION RIVOLIER N
READ MARION’S 2017 CHICAGO SYMPOSIUM NOTES
MARC’S BROKEN SILHOUETTES ARTIST AND USK INSTRUCTOR MARC TARO HOLMES FEELS FORTUNATE TO HAVE TAUGHT IN EVERY SYMPOSIUM EXCEPT THE FIRST. HIS STUDENTS ARE ALSO FORTUNATE, FOR EACH TIME AROUND, HE TEACHES SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. BY PEDRO LOUREIRO
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USk Tutor
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Marc’s Broken Silhouettes
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USk Tutor
The variety in Marc’s themes owes a lot to his energy and restlessness, but also to his ability to focus on a subject. As a veteran concept artist for the video game industry, Marc found urban sketching to be a balancing force: “I’d been drawing nothing but imaginary things, and I knew I could get better if I went out and worked from real life.” He shares his work, techniques and thoughts on art and sketching in his blog, Citizen Sketcher. This is also where he keeps track of his own projects and ideas. “It’s kind of fun to go back in time and see what you were doing.” On a deeper level, Citizen Sketcher reflects his attitude when planning a course or workshop. Marc starts out by asking himself “what am I doing this season? What do I want to work on this year? That becomes my challenge and I come up with a course. It’s a good structure. It has a deadline and forces you to explain everything to someone else,” he concludes. In Singapore he taught how to do portraits on the streets. In Manchester, he organized the class into a reportage team. “One message per class” he states. Marc’s dedication, focus and ’D BEEN DRAWING NOTHING BUT practical sense come together for his, and for his students’ IMAGINARY THINGS, AND I KNEW benefit. “I practice for months on the theme I’m teaching before I come to the Symposium. So it’s always something I COULD GET BETTER IF I WENT OUT really want to work on.”
“I
I AND WORKED FROM REAL LIFE.”
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In Chicago, he taught Watercolor Silhouettes - the process of sketching directly with the brush, that evolved from his notorious ‘tea, milk and honey’ approach. “I wanted to break out the idea of doing it at once, just one statement. I’m drawing less and painting more – it’s just faster!” His students had a tight and intense schedule of several short exercises, gradually building up to a final good painting. “There’s always a wide range of skill levels.” Marc worked cleverly with his groups, rallying the examples of experienced participants, investing more one-on-one time with beginners, even pairing participants according to their skills, making them pull each other forward. But mainly he was “literally running around to get to all the students before they get halfway through their drawing”. Marc is currently working on his second book, which will be called “Direct Watercolor”, and is soon to be released. “It’s a summary of the last five years of Citizen Sketcher”, he shares. It will account for his travels and workshops, and we can safely guess that his watercolor silhouettes approach will be a main feature.
Marc’s Broken Silhouettes
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USk Tutor
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Marc’s Broken Silhouettes
MEET MARC TARO HOLMES N
READ MARC’S 2017 CHICAGO WORKSHOP NOTES FEBRUARY 2018 45
USk Tutor
Drawing out the details AUSTRALIAN ARTIST JANE BLUNDELL’S TEACHING REFLECTS THE WAY SHE SEES THE WORLD—IN TERMS OF LINE AND COLOR. WITH A BACKGROUND IN ETCHING AND A FASCINATION WITH WATERCOLOR, HER WORKSHOPS TEND TO ALTERNATE BETWEEN THESE EMPHASES, DISCOVERS LESLIE AKCHURIN.
46 DRAWING ATTENTION
Drawing out the details
Colour was her focus at the USk Manchester Symposium and then on line in her Chicago Symposium workshop last summer. And unlike many USk instructors, who teach skills for simplifying, organizing large spaces, or working faster, Jane helps
her students savor the fascinating specifics in the world around us. In her Chicago workshop, “Drawing Out the Details,” she introduced different drawing materials≠first dry graphite, then soluble graphite, then ink, and finally watercolor – while
explaining how each can be used to capture different aspects of the environment. Her instruction also included ideas for organizing close-up vignettes so as to convey the story of a place.
FEBRUARY 2018 47
USk Tutor
“Having taught in various settings for over 30 years, I expect to find a range of experience in my students.” Jane explains, “but I was amazed by the extent of that range in Chicago – with some actual experts in my workshops along with others who had hardly drawn at all.” Jane considers it one of the challenges of teaching to try to meet the particular needs of each participant. When not teaching, Jane seeks out sketching opportunities in her home city of Sydney, Australia, where she joined the local chapter of Urban Sketchers in 2013. Cockatoo Island, a former penal colony and shipyard, is a favorite destination that is full of interesting old structures, but she also loves trying new locations. “My approach is generally to start with water-soluble graphite for the layout, wash in some sky and background, and then I use pen or graphite, or alternate between watercolor and line, to bring out details. However, I change my technique frequently depending on the subject.” Jane enjoys both close-ups and broader vistas. Thus, she equally 48 DRAWING ATTENTION
Drawing out the details
enjoys sketching dried out flowers, rusty machines, or city skylines. Jane is an acknowledged expert on watercolors – she has written two books about color mixing and maintains both a website and a blog that are full of information about watercolor, pens, inks, and art materials. She has tested and written about hundreds of individual colors and their mixing combinations and is close to her goal of testing every professional watercolor sold in the world.
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USk Tutor
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Drawing out the details
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USk Tutor
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MEET JANE BLUNDELL N
READ JANE’S 2017 CHICAGO WORKSHOP NOTES
b
JANE’S BLOG
w JANE’S WEBSITE FEBRUARY 2018 53
Review
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 a 6-pack of Daniel Smith Primatek Watercolors. Check it out!
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Endnotes
USK PIEDMONT TRIAD
SHARE YOUR CHAPTER’S NEWS WITH OUR READERS
USk is pleased to announce four new Regional Chapters have joined the USk family: Piedmont Triad; Adelaide; Oklahoma City (OKC Urban Sketchers); USk Mallorca. Welcome to you all!
USK VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES Urban Sketchers is currently seeking volunteers to fill the following positions: • Volunteer Fundraising Director • Volunteer Finance Committee Members • Volunteer Systems Administrator • Volunteer Sponsorship Administrator
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 an effervescent writer such as Anne Taylor to cover your story! Contact us at: uskdrawingattention@gmail. com.
For more information click HERE.
FEBRUARY 2018 55
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.
© 2018 Urban Sketchers www.urbansketchers.org