Let's Get the Party Started!

Let’s Sketch

Inspiration Collection

Sunday, January 3

12 PM - 3 PM

 Hosted by Joann Harling, Gail Dokucu, and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

Tour your home or environs and find a grouping of things that are meaningful in some way to you. A little space somewhere in your daily wanderings that inspires you.

• You may just be drawn to this little area and not really know why. 

• You don’t need to explain unless you want to. 

• Visually describe and share your post for this week’s “Top of the Year” prompt.

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.

Banner sketch by Joann Harling

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Out with the Old and In with the New?

Let’s Sketch

Old and New

Sunday, December 27

12 PM - 3 PM

 Hosted by Kris Van Stockum, Gail Dokucu, and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

When a new year approaches, we often reflect on the year as it comes to a close and look forward to new possibilities ahead. 

• Let’s draw something we’re leaving behind –something old, and something we’re looking forward to in the new year – something new. 
• Or maybe it’s a juxtaposition of old and new. 
• Is there something you’re letting go of to make room for the new?
• Maybe you have something new you’ve been waiting to try – a new art supply, a new gift you received, a new skill you want to learn.

However you want to interpret “Old and New” . . . it’s up to you!

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.

Our Sponsor Spotlight this week is Hahnemühle.

They have generously offered five 9”x12” watercolor paper blocks of their new The Collection fine art paper. Anyone who posts on the USk Chicago group Facebook page from Wed. 23- Wed. 29th 5 p.m. deadline will be entered to win 1 of the 5 raffle items. Winners will be chosen at random Dec. 31st and announced on our Facebook page in addition to receiving a message via FB Messenger. **

Banner sketch by Kris Van Stockum

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Fa La La La La!

 

Let’s Sketch -

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

Sunday, December 20

12 PM CST – 3 PM  CST

Hosted by Anna Rapport, Gail Dokucu, and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Welcome to our first week of guest hosting, with volunteer host Anna Rappaport! 

Details

Here's the theme Anna has chosen for us:

Often the winter holidays mean going to religious services, decorating inside or outside our homes, going to look at the decorations in our communities, cooking special foods, making cookies to send as gifts, shopping, writing greeting cards, connecting with friends and family and maybe traveling. They may include visiting Zoolights, a Christmas market, etc. They may include providing toys or clothing to a drive for the needy. 

2020 is a challenging year and many of us will be doing something different than usual. Some will be staying at home and thinking of different times.

Please share something you are doing connected to getting ready for and celebrating the holidays in 2020.

Be sure to include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.

Banner sketch by Anna Rappaport

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yum!

Let’s Sketch!

 FOOD

Sunday, December 13

12 PM CST – 3 PM  CST

Hosted by Alex Zonis and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details:

 If this was a normal year, we would have had our Holiday Potluck Party this Sunday.

But this is 2020, so things are different. So...

Let’s sketch our food this Sunday and share it with each other through our drawings. 

Show us what you are cooking or eating

• ingredients that you are planning to cook
•  your prep area
• people with whom you are cooking or eating. 
• If you were too hungry and ate it before sketching, show us the leftovers or the crumbs, just tell us what it was - we’ll understand!

Let’s make a virtual potluck!

See you at our virtual throwdown! Please post your foodie sketches from 12 noon and until whenever!

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.

The banner sketch by Barbara Weeks shows chef Rick Bayless giving a demo at at the Good Foods Festival.

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

On Notice

                                   

Let’s Sketch!

Stop, Look, and See

Sunday, December 6

12 PM - 3 PM

Hosted by Barbara Weeks and Urban Sketchers Chicago

One of my favorite books The Art of Noticing  by Rob Walker. It’s a study in seeing not just looking. There is a difference.

Details:

Find a place inside or out and for 5-10 minutes just observe your surroundings.

No sketching, just seeing! Time it.

The first minute or two you’ll probably see what you usually do. 

Indoors:

• Maybe in a room there’s the bookcase in the room. It’s dusty.
• Observing longer you may notice the upright and tilted books, or the colors, or photos,  etc. 
• Eventually you may discover what makes that bookcase unique, a bowed shelf or a chip on the edge.

Outdoors:

• Buildings (windows- clean, dirty? signs)
• Streets (curbs, litter, sidewalk cracks)
•  Cars (license plates, tail lights)
• You may notice the lamposts.                                                 (This was inspired by a game my grandsons play “I spy with my little eye something...”.I said, “Is it the lampost?” Hudson asked, “The black one or the silver? But the lamposts are silver, no wait the one on the corner is black! Now I notice not only the color of Chicago lamposts but the incredible variety of designs.)

Ten minutes are up!

Now sketch what you SEE.

See you at the virtual throwdown!

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.

The Banner Sketch was done by Barbara Weeks at the very first USk Chicago sketch meet.

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Thanksgiving Everyday

Let’s Sketch Chicago!

Gratitude 

Sunday, November 29

12 PM - 3 PM

Hosted by Evelyn Brody and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

In this exhausting and distressing year, Thanksgiving celebrations have also been upended. But this weekend you hopefully will find time to reflect on things in 2020 to be grateful for. If what has gotten you through this crazy era can be expressed visually from direct observation, we’d like to see it!

Ideas

• Perhaps you are especially thankful for one or more household companions – or a family member or friend you visit with, masked, from a safe 6-foot distance. 

• Perhaps you’re grateful for the cozy (and rearranged?) confines of your own four walls – or the ever-changing view from your window. 

• Perhaps Zoom or Netflix has kept you connected, or indeed opened up new worlds. (If you do sketch your screen, remember to include the surrounding context!) 

• Or maybe you have renewed appreciation for what you used to take for granted – the routine tasks of essential workers; package or local-restaurant deliveries; or a new or improved domestic skill.

We follow USk Global’s guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos. When outside your home, be sure to socially distance and wear a mask to help everyone stay safe. All skill levels welcome – happy sketching! If you post to  Facebook and Instagram please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts.

We gather for our virtual throwdown on our group Facebook page on Sunday, November 29, between noon and 3pm, but always welcome late entries. 

Bonus incentive! 

Everyone (except Admins) who posts between now and 5:00 p.m. Sunday will automatically be entered into a raffle to win one of four 2020 titles generously donated by Quarto! 

We will select four names at random to receive one of the following books:

• The Complete Urban Sketching Companion
• Drawing with a Tablet
• Techniques for Beginners
• Drawing Expressive People

Please email evelynbrody@iCloud.com if you have any questions. The banner image by Evelyn Brody

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

A Cushy Challenge!

                                                                              Featured artwork by Alex Zonis

 Let’s Sketch Chicago!

Your Favorite Couch 

Sunday, November 22

12 PM - 3 PM

Hosted by Paul Ingold and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details:

For this week’s #uskathome prompt, let’s sketch your favorite couch or other furniture used to relax during the quarantine. 

With indoor sketching season just getting underway, this will be a great way for us to kick it off (but at home).

Please create your own on-location urban sketch in your style and medium.

A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos. To help people find your sketches, use the tags #uskchicago and #uskathome.

Please share your sketches on our group page by Sunday 11/22 12-3 pm (no pressure, please post when you can). We look forward to seeing your sketches!

If you post to  Facebook and Instagram please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts.

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

You Choose a Hue

Let's Sketch

Color Accent

Sunday, November 15

12 PM - 3 PM

Hosted by Gail Dokucu and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details:

 This week’s prompt is brought to you by my old Canon PowerShot. One of my favorite effects on that camera was called Color Accent. It was similar to B&W mode, except that one color could be chosen to show up. So for instance, if red was chosen to photograph a street scene, the photo would be B&W except for any red objects, which would show up red. 

I thought it would be fun to do some sketches along the same lines - greyscale sketches, with one added color. But you can choose the color you want! If you want your trees to be purple, go for it! But just ONE color. Choose any subject and medium you like, as long as USk guidelines are observed.

Remember to include the tags #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram if you want your post to be searchable. Post and share your sketches with us from 12 noon to 3 p.m. or whenever is convenient. See you at our virtual throwdown!

Banner sketch by Kris Van Stockum

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Spin the Wheel!

Let's Sketch Chicago!

Unlikely Wheels 

Sunday, November 8

12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Hosted by Wes Douglas and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

What we will explore:

• Take a look around you. You may not realize it but there are many things that have wheels beyond the cars and trucks and your mission is to capture them in an urban sketch for this week. 

• Think and challenge yourself to find other things with wheels. Look at your furniture, your power equipment, look around your office and art studios. 

• See how many less obvious items you can find that have wheels and be sure to include their surroundings in the true context of urban sketching.

Post and share your sketches with us from 12 noon to 3 pm or whatever is convenient. A reminder that we are following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos.
To help everyone find your sketches, when you type in your caption, please include a description of the subject and location plus the tags #uskchicago and #uskathome .

Banner Sketches by Wes Douglas

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Be Brave!

                                                                                                                  Sketch by Mary Jo Ernst

Let’s Sketch Chicago!

BOO! What are you afraid of?

Sunday, November 1

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Hosted by Mary Jo Ernst and Urban Sketchers Chicago

DETAILS

Let's face it, we all have something holding us back creatively, 

• it can be fear of what others will think,
• nervous about trying a new type of medium or technique 
• a complicated composition and perspective 

One of my biggest struggles is details, due to a short attention span I rarely take the time to do a detailed sketch. With my sketch in the event banner, the location that I was sketching required quite a bit of pattern and detail so I took the time and captured our trip to collect fossils.

This week we are facing our fears and taking the leap forward. 

If your biggest fear is posting your work, then here is some incentive! 

EVERYONE that posts their sketch on our group facebook page from now until Sunday, Nov 1, 5 pm will be entered into a raffle to win one 9x12” spiral bound sketchbook and a mini companion sketchbook generously donated by Legion Paper, our Sponsor Spotlight this week. Please check our facebook page to learn more about Legion.

The raffle winner will be chosen by random and Administrators are excluded from this giveaway.

Questions: Email MJ at ernstmaryjo@gmail.com

See you at the virtual throwdown!

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. 

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Seeing Red

 

Let's  Sketch!

Color Red

Sunday, October 25 

12 pm - 3 pm

Hosted by Alex Zonis and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

It is not news to artists that colors carry emotional meaning. Painters have been cleverly using this to infuse emotion into their paintings for centuries. Color Red appears to carry heavier and more varied load of meanings than other hues. Today red is the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, rage, love, and joy. Historically it connected with sacrifice, war, danger, and courage. And of course it is a color of blood. Just a one paragraph into color theory here...

We will explore using red color in our sketches in any form that appeals to us and see a collection we make together. It is can be a depiction of something big and red, like CNA building or a street of red brick structures. Or something small as a contrast or point of interest, like a Kit-Kat wrapper that didn’t make it to the refuse bin. It can be a sketch on red paper, or a sketch in red ink. Or you could just sign your sketch in red, a.k.a. J. M. W. Turner.

Post and share your sketches with us from 12 noon to 3 pm or whenever is convenient. Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. See you at our virtual throwdown!

Sketch on the banner by Alex Zonis is of Amsterdam canal drawn on 96* day during 2019 Symposium. "I chose to use red ink so the sketch would remind me how hot it was and how much I loved the experience regardless."

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Seeing Autumn

“Nature gives to every season a beauty all its own.” Charles Dickens

 

Let's Sketch!

Autumn

Sunday, October 13 

12 pm - 3 pm

Hosted by Barbara Weeks and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

It’s hard to belive it’s October and almost Halloween! If I’ve learned anything during this Covid experience it’s to look for and appreciate the little things that mark the good, even, or especially, in this strange time.

What to you see that tells you it’s Autumn?

• Leaves are changing?
• Birds a migrating?
• Halloween decorations?
• So many kinds of Gourds?
• Fire pits in the early evening?
• And?

Show us in your sketches what tells you it’s Autumn.

See you at the virtual throwdown!

Please include #uskchicago and #uskathome on your posts to Facebook and Instagram. 

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Eye Knows

Let’s Sketch

ICONIC 

Sunday, October 4

12 PM – 3 PM

Hosted by Gail Dokucu and Urban Sketchers Chicago 

Details

This week, let’s sketch scenes that are iconic: 

those things that are immediately recognizable as being associated with your place.

What do you think of when you think ‘Chicago?’  Wrigley Field, Chicago hot dog stands, the L, the Chicago bungalow? 

What about our friends who live outside Chicago? Show us the iconic scenes of your town. You may even want to refine the prompt further by showing us things that are closely associated with your own neighborhood. 

Let’s take our group on a virtual tour, hitting the highlights with our sketches.

A reminder that we are back to following USk Global’s posting guidelines of sketching live on location and not from reference photos. To help people find your sketches, use the tags #uskchicago and #uskathome   As always, post any time from noon on; most conversation tends to happen after 2:30.

Banner sketch of one of Chicago’s iconic bridges and bridgehouse by Rus Blemker

Want to keep up to date by email? Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.

Keeping It Simple

Sunday,  September 27

12 PM – 3 PM

 Let's Sketch

An Oversimplification

Hosted by Wes Douglas and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details:

This week's #uskathome challenge will be another "break out of your comfort zone" challenges for many of you. We are asking you to find an urban setting that speaks to you and sketch it in the most simplistic (even abstract) way you can. How much you break down your urban sketch into its essence will be your challenge (see the header created by urban sketcher Zuoz).

Referring back to the USK Manifesto, #5 states that "We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles." If abstract is not your style, this is the perfect opportunity to explore a different, simple style for yourself. Above all, have fun with it.

Please keep in mind the urban sketching guidelines https://www.facebook.com/notes/urban-sketchers-chicago/posting-guidelines/483492225026522/ and include the #uskchicago and #uskathome hashtags in your posts on Facebook and Instagram.

Posting time is Noon - 3:00pm  on Sunday September 27, 2020. If you can't post then, share your sketches when you can but, be sure to use the hashtags!

Want to keep up to date by email?

Fill in your email address in the place provided in the upper right corner under the banner. We look forward to hearing from you.