Hope for the "technical zombie?"

I heard an interesting quote at a user experience workshop last week: "Our smart devices and screens are making stupid decisions on our behalf all of the time...We are not in control. We are at odds with social etiquette. They are starting to shift our social norms. Walking zombies are now the social norm...Our devices are making us miss out. We are experiencing life through a filter." 

Thankfully the act of carrying and sketching in a notebook has the opposite effect. We become more observant to our surroundings. We look up at the world around us. We bring focus to the mundane and common objects. And what we record in our sketchbooks are there for our enjoyment forever.

Urban Sketching (USk) is a global community of artists that practice drawing on location in cities, towns, and villages in which they live, work or have traveled. It is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to raising the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing, promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location.

USk Chicago is the local community of diverse artists united by a passion for sketching, discussions, socializing and sharing their unique visions of the world around them with others. In fact, the Urban Sketchers motto is "we see the world, one drawing at a time."

Details and examples of sketches are available on the following links:

Urban Sketchers Chicago Blog: http://urbansketchers-chicago.blogspot.com

Urban Sketchers Chicago Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UrbanSketchersChicago/

Urban Sketchers Chicago Twitter: @USk_Chicago

Urban Sketchers Chicago Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=USkChicago

Urban Sketchers Chicago Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/USkChicago/

Urban Sketchers Chicago Instagram:  http://instagram.com/uskchicago

Just Doooodle It

Has this ever happened to you?  You are drawing, doodling really, just to occupy your hand and your mind while you're killing time and then it happens--the critic shows up. 

Critic: "What are your doing?" 

Me: "Oh, I'm just sketching the napkin in front of me, having some fun." 

Critic: "You call that a sketch? It doesn't really look like the napkin."

Peeehhaaahooooooo! That sound of a descending missile dissolves all of your confidence and your day ruined with an explosion inside your head. Funny how you suddenly remember that you didn't ask them what they thought. You were just trying to have a little fun with your quiet time.

Remember we are "Urban Sketchers." This is what you do. We take ordinary, forgettable objects and things and make them suddenly cool by turning them into a sketch. Ever notice how that TV remote that you handle every day looks more interesting once you turn it into an artistic expression? Or that book of matches, that styrofoam cup of coffee, and even the make-up supplies and brushes on the bathroom vanity. I have often thought about doing a sketch of my sketchbook complete with the sketch that it happens to be showing at the time. That sounds a little bit like the old joke about drawing your image in the mirror and there is a mirror on the wall that also has your image and then the reflection continues on into infinity.

While it is true that there are Urban Sketchers who produce some amazing sketches that would be worthy of framing and including in a Chicago art gallery, we all have our very own gallery of which we should be proud. The good sports teams do not focus on their overall win-loss record. Instead they always talk about going "1-0" (one win, no loss) every single game. The same can be said about your sketchbook. Focus on one page at a time, sketch what you see in front of you, and continue to learn from your experiences. 1-0 with every new page, even if your page is on an iPad like my red basket sketch from above. And much like a good sports team, USk Chicago gets together once a month for sketch crawls to share in our love for sketching and exchange cool tips and tricks on how to sketch on location. Think about joining us when you are in or near Chicago. Visit our Facebook group page to find out more and see examples from our members. 

Go to Facebook and search "Urban Sketchers Chicago."

To paraphrase the almost cliçhe Nike campaign from years ago, "Just Doooodle It."

I Am An Urban Sketcher

Whenever I tell someone that I am an Urban Sketcher, I get a number of different responses. "You mean like a graffitti artist?" or "Do you draw all over sidewalks?" 

In order to explain what Urban Sketching is, let us first dispel some misconceptions about what urban sketching is not.

1. Urban Sketching is not a super hip retail clothing and apparel chain based out of Philadelphia, PA.

2. It is not a crowd-sourced, online dictionary of common slang words and phrases

3. It is not a line of sneakers and athletic shoes popular with skateboarders

4. It is not the name of the current head football coach for The Ohio State Buckeyes

5. And finally, Urban Sketchers is not the country male vocalist who once lived in Australia.

Urban Sketching is the activity of capturing a scene from an urban setting, whether that be architecture, nature (such as parks and forest preserves), people going about their lives (there is a whole list of urban activities that people can be caught doing that are just made for the urban sketcher), modes of transportation and any combination of all of these. We sketch with pencil, markers, watercolors, chalks, or anything else we have in our tote bags into our sketchbooks (although I have yet to see anyone sketch in lipstick). The best thing is that Urban Sketching is a group activity where companionship and sharing of technique is a big benefit to belonging with this group.

Urban Sketching (USk) is a global community of artists that practice drawing on location in cities, towns, and villages in which they live, work or have traveled. It is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to raising the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing, promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location. 

USk Chicago (USk Chicago) is the local community of diverse artists united by a passion for sketching, discussions, socializing and sharing their unique visions of the world around them with others. In fact, the Urban Sketchers motto is "we see the world, one drawing at a time."

I hope this helps explain the movement in which I am involved. I hope this helps your understanding of it but if you still have questions or comments, please reply to this post and I will be happy to clarify anything for you. 

Wes Douglas, Urban Sketchers Chicago

"Weird Time"

"Weird Time"

There is a phrase in the user experience world that describes how people interact with their electronic devices when they have "nothing better to do"--at least they think they have nothing better to do. Checking the electronic device is, afterall, an efficient use of time, right?

Take for example this guy in the sketch I made above (at the Brown Elephant Resale Shop in Andersonville, suburbs of Chicago, IL). While I did not have a conversation with this guy, I know that he was doing the good-husband thing by "shopping" with his wife. The way it works is the happy couple enters the shop together and then they somehow get split up--the wife goes to the clothes and knick-knacks and the husband says he is going to check out the furniture.

After a few seconds, when the husband sees that his better half is safely out of range, he pulls out his smart phone so that he can quickly check text messages, Facebook posts, or in this case the Chicago Bears football score. He does this while standing, or hiding, behind the big cabinet in the background. When more and more time goes by, now the husband feels that his wife is really distracted by the cute dress that she found on the rack and a few other items. She gets caught in the tough decision mode. He has now moved onto the couch and the scores of other football games because he is invested in a Fantasy Football league and wants to see how he is doing overall.

I see this kind of behavior at the train station, airports, long cashier lines at the store, waiting for a ride at DisneyWorld and, God forbid, at a signal light with moving traffic. The term "weird time" is meant to describe how the person with the electronic device feels when they are in the company of strangers and feel awkward about looking stupid or striking up a conversation. I understand because I am the same way except that I will pull out my sketchbook to comfort those "weird" feelings of awkwardness. I must add that I never sketch while sitting at a stoplight and my sketches are a longer lasting feeling than those filler moments of checking to see if I am still relevant to the rest of the digital world. 

So what happened with our couple above? Eventually she returned to find him on the couch with his phone and gives him the signal that she is done and ready to go. So he gets up and they leave together laughing about the fun things they had both found in The Brown Elephant.

Add Some Life to the Drawing

One of the most rewarding things about Urban Sketching and the USk community is the culture of sharing, critiquing, teaching and learning that happens here.

If you look at my sketches, you'll notice that the majority of what I draw is Architecture.  I draw it more than anything else simply because I really enjoy it.  I'm also more familiar with architectural forms because this is what I got a degree in.  I guess you could say it's my go to subject.

It makes sense too, right?  You can hardly escape drawing architecture in an "urban sketch."  If you are sketching people in a coffee shop for example, you're most likely going to draw the coffee shop you are in to give some context.  Or if you are walking around on the street and decided to sketch oh I don't know, a street festival that happens to be going on, it's going to be really hard not to include some of the architecture that's all around you.

So I sketch Architecture.  But a huge part of urban sketching is capturing a sense of life in a given sketch. Who is there?  How many are there?  What are they doing?  How are they using the space?  Are they having a good time?  Not only does including people bring your sketch to life, but it also add's a real nice sense of scale and proportion.

In theory, I know all about these things and how to use them, but actually including them in my sketches has been a different story.  Figure drawing is difficult for me, but I've been challenged and inspired by other sketchers to add more "life" to my sketches.

I took the advice and really liked how this last sketch of mine turned out.

Sunshine and Sketching – An Urban Sketcher's Delight

Lincoln Park: Today was the perfect day to sketch outside. There was more than a touch of fall in the shade but the sun was golden and warm. Time flew by! I usually don't sketch the architecture. People and other living things are what catch my attention. Today, I think, I had Urban Sketchers Chicago's next Sunday's architectural sketch crawl on my mind and so the Conservatory caught my eye. It's a little over worked but I had a fun doing it and that's what urban sketching is about for me!

I'm down to the last pages in my Stillman and Birn hardbound Beta Series sketchbook. I really love the hardbound book but no one seems to carry them around here. If you know where I can find them please let me know!