USK Spotlight Sunday: Fred Polito

Spotlight Sunday is series of interviews designed to introduce and highlight Chicago Urban Sketchers individually. Now that our chapter has reached nearly 500 members it has become more of a challenge to meet every single member in person and have a meaningful conversation. These posts concentrate on individuals and speak in their own words.

Meet Fred Polito

Interviewed by Wes Douglas

This week's Spotlight Sunday features the watercolor visions of Fred Polito, an architect and urban sketcher from Northbrook.  I was immediately attracted to Fred and his sketches when I first met him at The Den Theater in Wicker Park for our Urban Sketching get together last year. I personally have not mastered watercolors so I am always interested to learn more from those who do. That is why I was excited to interview Fred and have the chance to introduce him to the rest of you.

Wes: Hello there Fred and thank you for agreeing to participate in my interview. 
I am interested in how you learned about Urban Sketching and what made you decide to join Urban Sketching Chicago?

Fred: My wife and I were on one of our typical weekend outings in Chicago, she with her knitting and me with my sketchbook. While walking thru Lincoln Square, Alex Zonis saw me sketching, I saw the Urban Sketchers group doing the same, we talked and I joined the group.  It was a very fortuitous meeting. I've enjoyed the energy that the Group has given me.

Wes: Fred, why do you sketch and in what ways does it help you?

Fred: When I make a sketch, I enjoy the focus it brings to my time and mind and how it uncontrollably reflects what I'm really thinking and feeling at that moment.

Wes: I am such a big fan of your work and to see you create some of the freshest views of a particular scene. I find your work inspiring. What then inspires you and the sketches you create?

Fred: When I look at these 2/20/16 sketches, I don't see the Shedd Aquarium or the inside of the Field Museum as much as I hear the sunshine and remember a sparkling, almost Spring-like day. And then a great early dinner at Uru-Swati Indian Restaurant and having Urban Sketchers to thank for getting us out of the house.

Wes:  Fantastic. Whenever I see your work, I am amazed at how you command the watercolors in your sketches. Are watercolors your favorite sketch tool or do you have others?

Fred: A 4B pencil and watercolor paints with big brushes are, perhaps too much, my favorite tools. A bigger variety of tools would help develop more variety in sketches.

USK: Now, you live in Northbrook and I know a lot of your work takes place in the Chicago area. But where is your favorite place to sketch?

Fred: A side table in a cafe on the street, preferably in France.

Wes: Haha. I need to get to France myself. What do you do when you are not Urban Sketching? Do your sketching skills play into your day job? If so, how do they help you?

Fred: My urban sketching is an off chute of all my earlier hand drawings for my architectural designs.  Now, my office makes the designs with computer produced drawings.

Samples of my drawings can be see on my website by clicking on "Artwork."

Fred Polito  Architect

https://sites.google.com/site/fredpolitoarch

Northbrook, IL   60062

Wes: Fred, I am excited to learn more about the sketches that you sent me. 
Tell me about this first one which looks like the Field Museum in Chicago.

Fred: Yes, for this first sketch, my wife and I were walking thru Grant Park toward the Field Museum and the Urban Sketching Event. We were enjoying the wonderful February weather and the people watching opportunities. We spotted a park bench.  I was feeling the energy that the day and site was giving and also feeling the time constraint for a sketch. Hence, pencil and quick washes, trying to express the monumental scale and classical architecture of the Field Museum in 15 min. I remember the park bench the most.

Wes: Thanks Fred. I do remember that warm day and how I hated to be inside the Field Museum. While I was inside drawing replicas of dinosaur fish and warthogs, you seemed to take advantage of this opportunity to sketch outside. For this second sketch, it appears that you sketched the Shedd Aquarium, is that right?

Fred: Yes. Meeting with the Urban Sketchers group inside the Museum and considering the sketch possibilities, I agreed with my wife that the day was too nice to spend all indoors. Plus the City location can't get much better. Sketch 2 was supposed to be about the color, trees and building forms of the view of the Shedd Aquarium as seen from the Field Museum steps. What I remember most was talking with students from Manitowoc, WI and a family from Springfield, IL and why I so like Chicago.

Wes: Nice! As I am looking at your third sketch, I see that you finally made it inside the Field Museum. Did the weather get colder? Was the sun going down? Tell me a little about this last sketch.

Fred: Losing my spot in the sun and getting texts from my wife that she had a front row table at the Field Museum Cafe, I headed inside, settled in and felt more relaxed and in and under control. The resulting sketch, in my mind, conveys that state.

Wes: I guess that is all the questions I have for now. Thank you Fred for being so generous with your time and sharing your talent with us. To my fellow artists and fans of Fred's work, be sure to stop by and say hello to Fred next time you see him at one of our USk Chicago Let's Sketch events. 

Note: If you are interested in coming to one of our monthly sketching events with the chance to meet Fred and other very friendly and talented artists, check out our group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrbanSketchersChicago/ or the USk Chicago Blog: http://urbansketchers-chicago.blogspot.com

Top 10 Favorite Urban Sketching Locations

Tuesday Tips & Tricks

I am often asked how I choose my locations for urban sketching. My answer is probably very similar to yours so I will share my criteria (which I adhere to very loosely).

First there are the physical elements for the perfect scene:

Textures, contrast, color, composition, pattern, movement, rhythm, etc. found in organic or man-made settings such as landscapes, architecture, nature and ensemble of people or animals. These components help construct the site selection and ultimately the sketch composition.

Then I look for a collection of those components which create an emotional attraction that provides a great story to tell when people look at my sketchbook. I like to say “we all have a sketch to tell,” which means that our purpose as artists is to use our visual language to interpret a scene and retell it through our sketches. I once read a great quote from Urban Sketcher Deby Caspari who wrote “To draw something is to own it. You take an image filtered through you and you have an intense experience of the subject that can’t be taken away.”

With millions of images coming into our brains every second, this must be why one scene stands out more than the others and prompts us to sit for 10, 20, or even 60 minutes to capture what our cameras could do in a couple of snaps, right?

Here then, based on repeat visits from Urban Sketchers Chicago, are some Top Sketch Locations in Chicago.

Architectural Artifacts

http://www.architecturalartifacts.com/about/location/

Three stories of saved and collected details, furniture, lighting, mantles, and other you-name-it oddities reclaimed from old buildings and residences in and around Chicago. We have consistently had our best turnouts for our Sketch Crawl whenever we have hosted one here at Architectural Artifacts and there is plenty of space to get lost in.

The Field Museum in Chicago

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/?gclid=CM_tg-ju-8YCFRCEaQodemoJZg

The Field Museum is another one of those sketcher's dream locations. Starting with architecture that dates back to Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, this museum is packed with exhibits and collections of creatures past and present. Lots of fascinating dioramas, textures, and architectural details so that you never run short of things to sketch. And on designated days, Illinois residents get in free with a valid Illinois identification. On our first trip to The Field Museum, we were treated to a back labs tour by Urban Sketcher Rebe Banasiak and the drawers of specimens being prepared for future exhibits.

Lincoln Park http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/photos/            

Lincoln Park Zoo  http://www.lpzoo.org   

Lincoln Square http://www.lincolnsquare.org/pages/AboutLincolnSquare/         

The USk Chicago groups has settled into this area on several locations because of the expansive area it covers and the variety of subject matter. There is lots of nature, flowers at the Conservatory, animals at the free public zoo, the rivers of people who pass through this area on bikes, or running and pedestrian traffic, and some of the most interesting neighborhood buildings. Within walking distance to the lake shore and beaches, this Lincoln Park area is a big favorite of USk Chicago. On our last Chicago Architectural Open House in October, three of the buildings on display were located within the Lincoln Park area.

Other areas USk Chicago is fond of visiting for sketching:

Chinatown/Ping Tom Park
http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Ping-Tom-Memorial-Park/                       

Chicago Water Taxi https://www.chicagowatertaxi.com
Riding and sketching on the Water Taxi, all day, on the weekend for just $10.        

Palette & Chisel http://www.paletteandchisel.org/org/PaletteChisel/cms.aspx

The glorious home base for our Chicago Sketch Seminar in 2014 and 2015  

Washington Square Park:
http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Washington-Square-Park/         

Newberry Library: https://www.newberry.org     

Mariano Park: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Mariano-Park/  

Connor Park: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Connors-Park/  

Chicago Cultural Center

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html    

Millenium Park/Pritzker Pavilion:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millennium_park.html    

Maggie Daly Park: http://maggiedaleypark.com      

Buckingham Fountain:
http://www.chicagotraveler.com/attractions/buckingham-fountain.html       

Navy Pier: https://navypier.com/about-us/   

And finally, if you are not a big fan of coming into the big city for your urban sketching inspiration, look around your own neighborhood. Old buildings, places where people gather (coffee shops, taverns, public transportation), beautiful parks and statues, and even the ugly things such as back alleys, junk piles, gas meters, water towers, and rusted out cars. The uglier the scene, the better the sketch. When you start looking, the whole world of urban sketching comes to life for you.  

What are some of your favorite sketch locations? When you finish your sketches, please share them with us.

Wes Douglas