Team Sketching - A Panoramic Party!

Team Sketching – A Panoramic Party! 

with Don Colley and Peggy Condon

Interview by Wes Douglas, Urban Sketchers Chicago

I had the chance to talk with Don Owen Colley, who is a premier illustrator, demonstrator and the co-instructor with Peggy Condon for “Team Sketching – A Panoramic Party!” workshop during the 2018 Chicago Sketch Seminar. 

Here is one workshop that you really should consider.

Wes: Don, it’s good to talk with you again this year and I am interested in this Team Sketching workshop you are leading with Peggy Condon. What should people know and what can they expect?

Don: This Team Sketching workshop is all about the magic of everyone looking at the same scene, the same objects and bring out their own unique vision in sketch form. We take all of these wonderfully individual diverse sketches and arrange them into one large, collective ensemble. This is what I call “The Panoramic Party.”

Wes: Panoramic Party? That sounds like a three-dimensional sensory experience of some kind.

Don: "The Panoramic Party" is what we are calling this workshop. Think of it like the sketchers' conga line. Everyone has a role and is connected to the rest of the group but each person brings their individual interpretation to the sketch. All who sign up for this party are going to have fun, play with new ways to sketch, and discover a whole new way of seeing an urban setting. Others will be jealous when they hear what we're gonna do. 

Check out this example:

Wes: It seems to me that if I am working on a sketch that is part of a bigger, collective sketch, I would need to make sure that all of my lines match up to the next person’s sketch. Is there any concerns about the sketches not matching up or tiling together perfectly?

Don: No, not at all. In fact if you think of some of the pieces you know from David Hockney, where hundreds of individual photos are laid out to create a collective image, but nothing matches up perfectly, that is what we are attempting to do with the Team Sketches. There is perfect in the imperfect.

Did you know that mistakes happen when you are trying too hard to be perfect? So why sweat it? Mistakes are where the best learning happens anyways. This workshop is a safe learning environment where everyone is learning from each other and there is no judging.

Everyone is learning new tips and tricks from each other and bringing their individual experiences and perspectives to the party. That's what makes a team strong. And in this workshop, every team member is important and is needed.

All skill levels are welcome and encouraged. If you are a seasoned artistic professional, a hobbyist or just learning how to draw for the first time, we need you to be part of our team. You have life experiences that no one else has and we need you to make this team work.

If you go to the website https://chicagosketchseminar.wordpress.com and click on the “registration” tab, then click on the “BOOKWHEN” type, it will take you to the list of workshops. The Team Sketching workshop is WS 16 on Saturday morning from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and Sunday afternoon 2:30 pm to 5:30pm.

So what do you say? Will you be part of the team?

An Urbansketching Field Guide

TIPS AND TRICKS TUESDAY - By Angie Hauch

I LOVE to draw in nature. When I'm outside, I never run out of inspiration.  The solitude and tranquility of the outdoors allow me the luxury of close observation.  And when I'm not satisfied with my reference or imagination, I turn to a nature field guide to fill in the gaps and give me some background behind the beauty of what I'm drawing. 

In the past couple of years, I've expanded my sketch-cersizing to urban settings.  Traffic, commotion, claustrophobia, and the anxiety of drawing in public can quickly cloud the beauty the city has to offer.  It's not always easy to experience the same natural peacefulness when drawing in an urban setting.  When I feel the frustrations of urbansketching setting in, I've found it helpful to mimic my outdoor art-making rituals.

Field Notes # 1  Getting Started

Often I start by... simply starting!  I walk around a bit, but I don't let myself get caught up seconding guessing the location, scenery, or problematic perspective... I just start. In this image, I drew the house "blindly" if you will, not thinking about what was important.  After looking at the sketch postmortem, I wanted to know more about the meter reader.   On the following page, I zeroed in on my subject of interest and tried out a few texture techniques.

Field Notes # 2  Challenge Yourself with a Close Up

When my sketch starts to develop, there's usually something; an object, or person, or area on the page that I keep coming back to.  Sometimes I overdevelop it, sometimes under... not knowing exactly how to translate the imagery into my book. Subconsciously in almost every sketch, there is something my brain is forcing my eyes to re-examine.  Instead of overworking an area, work out your curiosity on a new page, or utilize the blank space of your page to create a collage of close ups.  Field guides often revisit an idea multiple times on one page showing different sizes, angles, and levels of detail.

Field Notes # 3  It's art, not science.

If you haven't picked up a field guide in a while, go check one out at the library.  

  

The detailed line work and accuracy of field guide sketches are simply amazing, but don't let them intimidate you!  These books are meant to be factual and scientific.  As urbansketchers, we have the liberty of interpretation.  Don't miss out on the potential for growth because you want your page to look pretty or professional.  An artist's sketchbook/field guide might include things like color palettes, ink splats, texture try-outs, and value scales.  

In this image I needed to see the palette literally right on the page.  Even after drawing 8 tomatoes, I still wanted to show something even more bulbous. 

What would be in your field guide? Comment below and share your sketches!

Why and How of the Waterbrush

Tuesday Tips & Tricks:

Have Brush, Will Travel

There are countless little things to be thankful for every day. One of the little things for me is the waterbrush. I don’t know who invented the waterbrush or remember who introduce it to me, but I owe them a debt of gratitude! It is my go-to-brush whenever I’m traveling or sketching on location. In the studio, I use a variety of brushes, but out-and-about, it’s a waterbrush for me. There are quite a few brands out there. They all work in the much the same way, similar, though not exactly, to a fountain pen.

How to Use a Waterbrush 

The brush has three main parts:

1. The plastic barrel that contains the water reservoir.
2. The screw on ferrule connects the bristles to the water supply
3. The cap keeps the water from leaking.

Need more water to moisten the paint in the pans, to make the paint run, or to wet the paper to paint wet-on-wet? To increase the flow of water to the brush just squeeze the plastic barrel! It’s that simple. Want to change colors and clean your brush? Squeeze the barrel and wipe the brush on a tissue or paper towel. I use the cuff of an old white sock. I wear it on my wrist. With a little practice controlling the flow becomes second nature.

Filling the brush varies a little from brand to brand. Some you just unscrew the barrel and hold it under running water. Others use the suction principle. Squeeze the barrel, submerge the opening in a glass of water and release. Easier yet, hold the barrel under running water, squeeze and release. It’s surprising how much water the barrel holds and how long it lasts.

Benefits of the Waterbrush 

“Keep it simple” is one of my mantras and when you’re sketching on location you can’t beat the convenience of the waterbrush. I don't leave home without it. There's no need to carry around an extra water supply for clean water. The cap protects the bristles and fits on the end of the barrel to lessen the chance of losing it. Waterbrushes are available from art supply stores including Dick Blick, Cheap Joe’s, and Jerry’s Artarama.

Do you have an art supply that you’re really thankful for? Tell us about it!

Time for Details

TIPS AND TRICKS TUESDAY - By Angie Hauch

In my urban sketching practice, there is one common theme to almost every drawing I make...

I didn't have enough time to put in all the details! 

Sound familiar? That unfinished feeling can steal the fulfillment of flipping back through your sketches and cause you to dwell on the anxiety of incompletion, instead of remembering the moment in time or the scene you chose to record.  Here's a couple of hacks I use to cheat time and use details sparingly in order to get a finished look, because let's be real, will we ever allow ourselves enough time to draw? I hope so, but in the meantime...

1.  Contours for the Complicated

Contours, or outlines, are a great hack for complicated things you don't have time to draw (i.e. leaves, trees, blades of grass, strands of hair etc). Suggest what is happening in one area by adding details. I find it effective to do this in the immediate area surrounding your focal point, and then hint at it as you work your way away from the subject.

In this drawing I knew it would take me all day to draw those trees so I worked in just a few details by the house, 

and with a quick contour, added a fully wooded dune in the background. Presto woods-o!

2.  Contours for Composition

Another tricky way to use contours, is to accentuate your composition.  Before you start to draw, ask yourself what (or who) is most important. Build in detail from the inside out.  In this setting there were 3 women drinking coffee and computing... I was really limited on time, and I could tell the farthest woman was already packing up. I chose to focus on the central character whose face I could study the closest, and used contours to capture the other characters.

The contours of the other women become a frame, and force our eyes right to the focal point.

Are you an urban sketcher over achiever?  I definitely was in this drawing and was far from finishing,
I decided a quick contoured skyline is so much nicer than a floating building.

3.  When all else fails... sign your name and turn the page.

When this couple got up and left mid-sketch, and then a waiter moved all the chairs, and then someone sat right in front of me... I figured this sketch was doomed.  Perspective is my enemy, and faking four chairs and table legs was simply not happening.  I tried the contour trick but even then, some lines and a big blank spot under the table left that bitter unfinished taste in my mouth. It was time to move on. I blocked out some boxes big enough to "finish" the drawing, and used what was left on my palette to date, initial and plug Panera. Try it! And then tell everyone it was intentional ;)