How I started sketching in public

Tuesday Tips and Tricks

I discovered Urban Sketching in 2009. This whole idea blew my mind! I subscribed to Urban Sketchers blog, friended Pete Scully, Rob Carey, Gabi Campanario. Then I bought a sketchbook. I wanted to sketch this city and its people and its happenings. I wanted to sit in cafes and draw, go to museums and work in my sketchbook. I wanted to be a part of that, but I was afraid. 

If you ask me now what I was afraid of, it would be hard for me to formulate exactly. I suppose I was afraid of being judged. I was afraid that people would look at my drawings while I sit there in public and recognize me for a fake that I am. I was a afraid of failure, my drawings never came out like what I meant them to be, instead of beautiful proportions and delicate value gradations, my results looked grotesque and wonky. Plus, I never went to art school and thought that it would be immediately obvious to anyone who looks at my scribbles. Aaaaa-nd, when I was in the middle school, my father did all my art homework because I was too busy with my math and history. You see - I had many reasons. I can probably remember a few more if I concentrate.

So I would go to the Art Institute, my sketchbook in my bag, and walk gallery after gallery trying to summon my courage to sit down and draw something. And then I would go home with my sketchbook having never left my bag. Weeks passed, then months.

That one Tuesday I was in the Art Institute again and heard uncharacteristic noise coming from the main Impressionist gallery. I went there to see what’s going in. There were kids there, 2nd graders, having their art class in the museum. About 40 kids, very loosely chaperoned by their art teachers, were sitting on benches, lying on the floor and copying Monet and Renoir and Degas and Cezanne onto sheets of paper. They were laughing, squealing, pushing each other and having enormous fun. When they saw that I was interested in their drawings, they gathered around me and started showing me their masterpieces. The drawings were what you would expect of a 2nd grader equipped with a #2 pencil and a sheet of printer paper. The fun that filled the gallery was over the top. They were so happy and proud of their work! And I was almost crying from envy. I too wanted to be part of that. How come they are not afraid, I thought. How come they are having so much fun, and I am about to leave the Art Institute with my sketchbook still unopened in my bag. Enough!

I walked to the right of the main Impressionist gallery, sat on a bench and got my sketchbook out of my bag.

Gaston Lachaise - Woman (Elevation) - Bronze - 1927. Art Institute of Chicago 

Nobody laughed. Actually nobody paid any attention. In a few days I came back and drew again. No-one cared.

Randolph Rogers - Nydia, The Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii - Marble - 1858. Art Institute of Chicago

I went to a local coffee shop and sketched a view from the window. A man looked over my shoulder and said, “You are so brave to draw in public like that, I don’t have the guts.” I thought, “If only you knew!”

Mixing Peachy Flesh Tones

Portrait by Charles Reid

Last year shortly before the first Sketch Seminar, I first came across the beautiful watercolor portraits by Charles Reid. If you haven't seen his portraits before do yourself a favor and go remedy that at once!

Photos provided by "Watercolour Fanatic"

Until that point I'd been using a water soluble crayon in something like a peach tone for my sketches. There is is just something about the way Reid's colors melt into one another that made me feel like I had to try his method.

After a little digging in search engine results I came upon a video clip where he shares his color recipe. You can watch it here.

washes of this recipe in various intensities

Reid's basic recipe:
2 parts cadimum red
1 part cadimum yellow
dot cerulean blue (worked out)

Now I haven't been working with watercolors very long so there are some colors that just baffle me! Yes, that is to say that I don't own cerulean blue. Instead I subbed my cheap phthalo blue. I think it worked well – when I remembered to work out the pigment before adding it to the mix!

Photo taken from Gurney's Blog Post

I really enjoy using this mix of colors in combination with this guide for color points I found on James Gurney's blog. (Another artist worth investigating!) Of course there is a way to use this guide that looks suspiciously like a clown, but with moderation and enough water things tend to level out. Below is a study I did with Reid's color mix and Gurney's hints.

Even though I still over work my paint relatively often I greatly prefer this method for peachy tones to my crayon. Why? Well, with a dash of yellow ochre or raw sienna can really shake up the tone. Mixing these tones instead of using a pre-made color brick is also great because it gives a gradient between colors that really shows off the benefits of watercolors.

What about you, do you prefer premixed colors or mixing your own? Why? Do you have a favorite peachy recipe? How about other skin tones?

One Requirement for a Successful Art Workshop Experience

Tuesday Tips and Tricks:

Sketchbook Skool Klass with Jonathan Twingley.

It’s that time of year when art workshops and seminars abound. We’re less than a month away from the USk-Chicago Sketch Seminar 2015! There are some great things planned and we’re putting the finishing touches on the details to help you to get the most out of your workshop experience. 

How about you? Are you getting ready for a workshop? Whether it’s an online class, a local workshop, one that involves travel or even if you’re working you way through a self-study book there are certain things that will help you get the most out the experience. Over the years I’ve given workshops and taken many classes both on-site and online.  I’ve found my mindset is the most important factor in what I take away from the class.

• SET A GOAL – Why am I taking this class? What do I hope to learn?

• KEEP AN OPEN MIND – Pay attention and follow directions. It’s easy to fall into the attitudes of “that isn’t the way I do it” or “that isn’t the way so-and-so does it” but leave those notions behind at least for the duration of the workshop.

• THINK PROCESS NOT PRODUCT  (I know, I say that all the time) –  It takes practice to learn new techniques and methods.

• ASK QUESTIONS – Your instructor wants you get the most out of your time in the class.

Last week, Wes gave us excellent advice about what to bring and what to wear. Remember, whether your a novice or a working pro, there is another thing you need for a successful workshop experience, that’s a positive and open workshop-state-of-mind.

The opening sketch of this post is an assignment from a Sketchbook Skool Klass with Jonathan Twingley. The goal was to draw not think.  At the end of a week we cut up the sketches made a mixed media collage to surprising results! 

What's your "must have" for a successful workshop experience?

Links
Richard E. Scott
David Becker 
Veronica Lawlor
Sketchbook Skool

Dressed for Sketch-cess

TUESDAY TIPS & TRICKS

With only a few weeks left before the Chicago Sketch Seminar, no doubt you are starting to think about what to bring, how to pack and what to wear. Fear not because, thankfully, urban sketching is nothing like going on vacation or climbing Mount Everest. All you really need is something to draw on and something to draw with...a pencil and a sketchbook. Done. Beyond that it is a personal preference for your style of sketching and whatever your workshop instructor has suggested for you bring.

If you scan through the past Tuesday Tips & Tricks, you will see a vast collection of techniques and how-tos that mention recommended brands of art supplies. And as long as you trust the Chicago Sketch Seminar Sponsors*, you just can't go wrong. But unless you want to drag a rolling suitcase around with you all day, decide how you plan to sketch that day and simplify your supplies to fit in your shoulder bag or backpack.

So how about that third question: "what to wear?" Perhaps you have heard the phrase “travel light?” This is very good advice when you will be walking the streets of Chicago with a few too many art supplies. And yet with Chicago weather you never really know what to expect so you have to plan for contingencies. Here then is my survivor’s guide to urban sketching in Chicago.

> wear something to protect your head

> wear something to protect your eyes from the sun

> wear something to protect your skin from the sun and possibly insects

> wear something because we are a casual group, just not THAT casual

The diagram below shows the anatomy of the properly outfitted Urban Sketcher:

A collection of Urban Sketchers’ Popular Seats, Stools and Chairs:

*Chicago Sketch Seminar Sponsors:

USk Chicago is grateful for the generosity and support of its Seminar Sponsors. Our sponsors are supporting the Seminar through financial and product donations. Donations will go towards supplies and materials for workshops, product samples for goody bags for each registrant, materials to be tested in the Supply Speed Dating Activity, as well as some incredible raffle prizes to be raffled at our Gallery Reception on Sunday evening.  Make sure to visit their websites and connect with them on social media to see how other sketchers are using their products:

Blick Art Materials  #blickartmaterials

·       Twitter            @Blick_Art

·       Instagram      @blickartmaterials

·       Facebook     “Blick Art Materials”

DeArtramentis

·       Twitter            #DeAtramentis

·       Instagram      #DeAtramentis

#Documentinks

·       Facebook     “Atramentis”

Faber-Castell

·       Twitter            @FaberCastell @Faber-Castell USA

·       YouTube      FaberCastellUSA

·       Facebook     “FaberCastellUSA”

·       Pinterest       “Faber Castell USA”

·       #fabercastellusa

General Pencil

·       Twitter            @GeneralPencil

·       Instagram      @General Pencil

·       Facebook     “General Pencil Company”

·       #GeneralPencil

#GeneralsPencils #GeneralsCharcoal
#Hahnemuehle
#sakuraofamerica

Hahnemühle

·       Twitter            @Hahnemuehle_USA

@Hahnemuehle_DE

·       Instagram      @Hahnemuehle

·       Facebook     “Hahnemuhle USA”, “Hahnemuhle”

·       Pinterest       “Hahnemuehle”

·       #Hahnemühle

Jet Pens

·       Twitter            @JetPens

·       Instagram      @JetPens

·       Facebook     “JetPens.com”                   

·       #JetPens

Nock Co.

·       Twitter            @NockCo

·       Instagram      @NockCo

·       Facebook     “Nock Co.”

·       #Nockshots                  #Nockc

Sakura of America

·       Instagram      @SakuraofAmerica

·       Facebook     “Sakura Color Products of America”

·       #Sakura

#pigmamicron

#sakurakoi

#gellyroll 

Stillman and Birn

·       Twitter            @StillmanandBirn

·       Instagram      @StillmanandBirn

·       Facebook     “Stillman & Birn”

·       Pinterest       “Stillman & Birn”

·       #Stillmanandbirn 

Winsor & Newton

·       Twitter            @winsorandnewton

·       Instagram      @winsornewton @winsornewton_usa

·       Facebook     “Winsor & Newton” #winsornewton

·       #winsornewton

·       #winsorandnewton

How to Become a Member

TUESDAY TIPS AND TRICKS

WHO WE ARE
Urban Sketchers Chicago (USk Chicago) is a not for profit group of sketchers who live in and near Chicago, IL.  USk Chicago meets on the third weekend of every month to sketch different parts of the city.  Our mission is to “show the world one drawing at a time.”  Here is our Manifesto.  We are one of many Urban Sketchers chapters from all around the world that identifies themselves as a part of the Urban Sketchers movement.  Our group is comprised of a wide range of people from all different backgrounds and skill levels, including architects, artists, designers, engineers, lawyers, and teachers just to name a few.  Members of USk Chicago share their sketches to Facebook, where sketchers find inspiration from other sketchers, learn about different sketching techniques, sketching tools and materials, and find group announcements regarding monthly sketching events.  Members post sketches from their daily lives in Chicago or from their travels outside of Chicago. 

We are a local group, most of us live in Chicago or Chicago geography.  But we have a few people from further environs. We have members from Central, Western and Northern Illinois who make it to our sketch meets. We have a few members from South Wisconsin and NW Indiana, USk groups do not exist there for now, so we add these sketchers.

And there is another category: sketchers who travel to Chicago to draw here.  These people are special, we love them, add them to the group, and meet and sketch with them. When we travel, we are treated the same in far parts of the world.

USk Chicago sketching downtown with Miriam Ben (second from the left) from Munich Germany

COMMUNITY

We are Urban Sketchers, sketching is very important to us. But there is another equally important purpose to our group - it is creating a community of people who share a vocation and who support each other in our particular brand of craziness. 

Unlike many online groups, we meet in real life. We do things together. We have regular sketching events, we eat and drink together, we had a party in one of our homes. What is less known is that we look within our group to hire employees for our businesses, we take each other’s art classes, we find people in the group with whom to start new initiatives, we invite each other for Seder. We are a very special group.

To safeguard this unique spirit of friendship and contentedness, to make sure that there is a good fit between a new sketcher and the group we screen new requests when people want to join USk Chicago.  We want to know if a new sketcher lives close enough to join us, if he or she shares our love for sketching on location, wants to participate and communicate.  This is why, to become a member, a new sketcher has a short Facebook chat with one of our admins.

After Architectural Artifacts sketch meet - a get together in O'Shaughnessy's

OTHER GROUPS

Now, what if a new sketcher does not live in Chicago geography? What if they like to sketch imaginary subjects or want to share a self-portrait?  What if they do not like to meet other people? What then?

We still want to be friends with you, but perhaps a different group would be a better fit.  Here are some ideas:

• Consider Urban Sketchers Global, if you are not local to Chicago https://www.facebook.com/groups/urbansketchers/
•  Find other local groups close to you on the Global Urban Sketchers site -http://www.urbansketchers.org/p/chapters.html
• Join Artists Journal Workshop if you just like sketchbooking without many rules https://www.facebook.com/groups/artists.journal.workshop/
•  If you would like to attend a workshop, but the Chicago Sketch Seminar or Global Symposium are too far, look into Sketchbook Skool - sketching instructions online http://sketchbookskool.com

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER
Becoming a member of USk Chicago is simple.  Here are the steps:

1)  Visit our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrbanSketchersChicago
2)  Click on the “Join Group” button, located at the top of the page, in the bottom right corner of the group’s cover photo.
3)  Once you request to join, one of our group administrators will send you a brief introductory Facebook Message to make sure you live in the Chicago area or close enough attend a group sketch event.  If you are an Urban Sketcher, but do not live in or near Chicago, we will direct you to a USk Chapter that will work better for you.  If you are looking to share your studio still life oil paintings, we will let you know that this group only shares urban sketches that are done on location, from direct observation.  (Make sure to check your Facebook’s “Other Messages” folder.  Often times, messages get lost here and never seen.
4)  For those who agree to follow our group’s Manifesto, we welcome you and add you to the group and look forward to seeing your sketches and meeting you at the next sketch event.

If you are considering joining USk Chicago, we look forward to meeting you

Art Institute of Chicago by Andrew Banks

This post is written for you by Andrew Banks and Alex Zonis