It is the Best of Times, It is the...

Let’s Sketch!

Best of Covidtine

Sunday, March 14

12 PM - 3 PM CST

Hosted by 

 Evelyn Brody and Urban Sketchers Chicago

USk Chicago marked the last Ides of March with our first USk Chicago at Home virtual meet-up, and we haven’t missed a themed week since. (Many thanks, admins and guest hosts!) 

As the vaccine rollout brings the promise of a return to normalcy, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on what we’ve accomplished over this crazy year.

Details:

This Sunday, we would like everyone to post their favorite sketch(es?) from the last twelve months. Perhaps staring into your closet early on in the lockdown brought you peace. Perhaps you want to commemorate the summer struggles of a local business. Or did you find solace this fall or winter sketching with a few (masked and socially distanced) friends? Let’s share those masterpieces!

Of course, with this week’s glorious weather, it’s a pleasure to be sketching outside. As always, feel free to also post new work!

And don’t forget to set your clocks ahead this weekend. Yay, later sunsets!

The banner image is a crop of a collage of Evelyn Brody's 2020 Procreate sketches for USk Chicago virtual meetups.

Share your Urban Sketches with us from 12 noon to 3pm on Sunday. 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.

Cozy Up and Sketch!

                                                              

Let’s Sketch

Hygge

Sunday, January 17

12 PM - 3 PM

 Hosted by

 Gail Dokucu, Urban Sketchers Chicago

and Guest Host Rachel Grossman,

Details:

Hygge is a Danish word with no direct translation into English (so what better idea for a USk Chicago prompt?) It’s pronounced “hue-gah” according to Visit Denmark’s website. 

Hygge is similar to our idea of coziness, but with overlaid ideas of contentment, well-being, and living in the moment. Hygge is important in Danish culture as a way of staying happy in the face of long dark winters. And since Denmark always ranks at or near the top in happiness-by-country ratings, they may be onto something.

Scenes of hygge include glowing fires in the fireplace, candles on the coffee table, cups of steaming tea and cocoa, fluffy slippers. But they can equally include taking a long walk in the woods and, in olden times, having a casual dinner party with a small circle of friends.

This week, let’s draw a small everyday moment of contentment and coziness.

Is yours  

• a good book and a mug of mulled wine

• an oversize hand-knit sweater and woolly socks

• a walk through a snowy forest preserve (wear long underwear!)

• a plate of tea cakes

• a board game played with the family

• something cozy that brings a sigh of contentment and warms up our cold and dreary winter?

Banner Sketch by Rachel Grossman

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

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.

Do You Hear What I See?

 

Let’s Sketch

Music to My Eyes

Sunday, January 10

12 PM - 3 PM

 Hosted by

Jason McInnes, Gail Dokucu, and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Details

While it’s a disappointment not to be able to attend and perform our typical music during the pandemic, there’s still plenty of music in the air!

Let your ears be your guide.

• Sketch musical instruments or people playing music.

• Sketch things that are music to you, like chirping birds on a wire, the rumble of the El past your window, or the joyful noise of a full sledding hill.

Include a bit of onomatopoeia if you’re so inspired. Feel free to interpret music as you hear it.

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 Jason McInnes

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.

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.

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.

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.

What Are You Waiting For???

Our next virtual sketch meet is 

Sunday, May 24

12 pm to 3 pm

Here’s the theme for this week’s Virtual Sketch Meet-up:

My Precious

Hosted by Mary Jo Ernst and Urban Sketchers Chicago

Let’s face it , we all have something in our stash that we are saving for .....I don’t know! 

When we get better at sketching? We don't want to ruin good paper, We are scared to use that new pricey brush , the gorgeous sketchbooks that were gifts or something we have coveted ?

If now is not the time to use these “precious “ items then I don't know when it would be.

Let’s indulge ourselves and use something we have all been saving. Feel free to share what you used to create your sketch. If you don't have anything saved then please use your favorite art supply.

Happy Sketching! Peace and Good Health to all!

Please post your sketches to our Facebook group at 1:00-3:00 p.m. 

Please include #USkAtHome and #USkChicago so we can all find them!

See you Sunday!

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.

My Space

Sketch by Wes Douglas

Our next virtual sketch meet is 

Sunday, May 17

12 pm to 3 pm

Here’s the theme for this week’s Virtual Sketch Meet-up:

The Space Where I Create

Hosted by Paul Ingold and Urban Sketchers Chicago

What's your creative space?
 An example of "creative space" may be your desk, kitchen table, studio, or whatever space you use to sketch during self quarantine.

A Challenge? 
This may involve the challenge of stepping out of your creative space in order to sketch it! : )

As always, the event will run from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Posting officially is from 2:45 - 3:00 p.m. but often we spend more time together beyond 3:00!  

Please post your sketches to our Facebook group at 2:45-3:00 p.m.
As always, a description of your sketch is encouraged. 

Please include #USkAtHome and #USkChicago so we can all find them!

See you Sunday!

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.

Sad Day in Chicago

Our July 17-19 2020 Sketch Seminar has been cancelled.

With what we know about the pandemic today the USK Chicago administrative  team concluded that we cannot guarantee health and safety of our participants, staff, and instructors at a 150+ people gathering. 

USk Chicago admins are putting our creativity together and discussing ideas what we can do for our sketchers perhaps in the fall. Perhaps a series of individual workshops (if the pandemic abates), video workshops, sketching along with an instructor on Zoom are some of the ideas we're discussing. How about you? Do you have suggestions? Let us know.

And of course we have hopes for Seminar 2021! 

In the meantime, keep sketching and posting with us at our virtual meets! Be sure to use the hashtags #USkathome and #USkChicago. 

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.

Let’s Make a Mosaic of Celebrations!

Sketch by Robert Cordero

Folks, do please note that this week, due to holidays, we’re indulging in a departure from the USk Manifesto. Going forward, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming of drawing from life and virtually meeting up from noon to 3:00 on Sundays – until we can resume our real-world gatherings!

Let's Sketch 

Google Street View Houses of Worship!

Sunday, April12

12 pm to 3 pm 

Hosted by Evelyn Brody and Urban Sketchers Chicago

This month brings us Passover, Easter, and the start of Ramadan (did I miss any other holiday?). April also brings us tantalizingly beautiful spring weather. Let’s make a mosaic of celebrations!

We’ll pretend to go outside by using Google Street View to sketch the house of worship or place of contemplation of our choice. It could be where you would go in real life (if only . . .) or a local church, temple, mosque, or other structure that intrigues you. Let's try to stay in our neighborhoods so we get a sense of our community around your residences!

Those who are unfamiliar with Google Street View can find information here: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3093484.

Please post your images to our Facebook page by 3:00 p.m. Sunday (and, because this week includes a holiday for many of our members, starting anytime). As always, all skill levels welcome. Please include #USkAtHome and #USkChicago in your caption.

Finally, of course, happy holidays and stay safe!


Many thanks to Robert Cordero for this (cropped) sketch of the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Chapel as our banner photo.

Looking forward to seeing your sketches Sunday!

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.