Urban Sketching Tells The Story of Our Surroundings

USK Chicago SketchCrawl at Blick Art Materials, Evanston, IL: 
In case some of you missed the story behind this sketch, this great old 1958 Triumph TR3 was sitting across from Clark's on Clark Street in Evanston. Thank you Lee Solock for pointing it out to me smile emoticon. 

I met the owner of the car, a woman named Amanda, when I was about halfway done with the sketch and she and her friend came out of Clark's. As they loaded into the car, I thanked her for letting me sketch her car. Surprised, she asked to see the sketch (which was only halfway done at the time) and she told me that this car has always been in the family and it was most recently her late father Chuck's. In her words "I'd really rather have my dad, but at least I get to drive his car around." He also loved to eat so now she honors her dad by driving this car out to eat someplace. 

I told her that now I was honoring him by sketching his car. Actually leaving the scene required a can of starting ether from the glove box and undoing the hood latches. Isn't it nice when a lady knows her way around a vintage car like this?

After I had finished this sketch, I scanned it and sent a copy to Amanda and she told me the rest of the story. It turns out that this little car was recently shipped in a U-Haul from Wisconsin (because a normal car carrier is too wide) and that I happened to capture this car on its maiden voyage since that trip. She said that the trip to Clark's was intentional and she had no idea that I would be there to artistically record this special day. 

Urban Sketchers Manifesto (from UrbanSketchers.org)

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.
4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
6. We support each other and draw together.
7. We share our drawings online.
8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

August 2015 Sketch Meet: Blick Art Materials, Evanston

August 15th Sketch Meet - Group Photo © Kordt Larsen

Each month, Urban Sketchers Chicago meets at a different location to sketch as a group.   On Saturday August 15th, we had the unique opportunity to partner with Blick Art Materials in Evanston for this months event. 

Veterans to the group and many new comers alike gathered inside Blick for a brief introduction to Urban Sketching by Wes Douglas.  We were thrilled to see so many new faces.  Thank-you to Blick Art Materials for promoting the event and our group in their Evanston store location!

Wes Douglas introduces Urban Sketching to new participants © Alex Zonis

© Alex Zonis

Per usual, we dispersed throughout the local neighborhood to sketch for a few hours.
After sketching, everyone re-grouped at Blick to share their work with one another.  Blick was kind enough to let us take over one of their long glass display cases where everyone
laid out their sketchbooks.  

© Kordt Larsen

© Andrew Banks

© Andrew Banks

© Andrew Banks

I have been participating with USk Chicago since 2013 and have never seen so many sketchbooks laid out together at a monthly event like this before.  Since I began participating with USk Chicago and the Urban Sketchers movement, it has been fun to see our Chicago community grow to the 400+ member group we are today.  Each month's event seems to attract a larger and larger group each time.

At the end of the day, Blick hosted a raffle drawing where three lucky winners recieved gift cards, each valuing $25, $50 and $100.  Thank-you to Blick for thier generosity and congratulations to the raffle winners!

Evanston Blick Art Materials Manager and raffle winners

After sharing our sketches, many of us walked over to World of Beer for food, drinks and conversation.

If you are interested in joining us at our next event in September, keep an eye out for an announcement which will be made on September 1st.

If you have any questions about Urban Sketching or our Chicago chapter, feel free to email us at urbansketcherschicago@gmail.com.  If you live in the Chicago area and are interested in joining our group, find us on Facebook and request to join.

Lastly, you can also find USk Chicago on

Twitter: @USk_Chicago
Instagram: @USkChicago

Look forward to seeing everyone at September's event!

-Andrew Banks