Urban Sketching Symposium

[Dragonsreach]

Guys/Girls;

For the next few days I'm a Volunteer at the 7th International Urban Sketching Symposium in Manchester.
So I might not be as "Visible" as usual, I'll still be checking Pictures and Comments, just won't have a lot of time for other stuff.
Please don't think I'm ignoring you, I'm just going to be up to my 'Cuddly Butt' dealing with delegates from All Around The Globe.

If anyone's interested in what this is head over to WWW.URBANSKETCHERS.ORG where pictures should be appearing all through this week.

 

[Dragonsreach]

1st Volunteer day over, 500 goodie bags packed by hand with a lot of artsy stuff.
Some of our sponsors have been VERY GENEROUS INDEED.
View attachment 50852

Production line packing.
And a tired crew.
View attachment 50853

 

[Zab]

that is very cool. one of my fave youtube artists is doing a series of urban sketches

 

[Bailey03]

Very cool! Too bad I'm no where near there, that sounds like something I'd enjoy

 

[Dragonsreach]

Very cool! Too bad I'm no where near there, that sounds like something I'd enjoy

David, There is an L.A. Urban Sketchers Group.
Look them up on the main site, it's very good for building up your observation skills.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Well talk about "Herding cats", 500 delegates, 10 volunteers and a few others, including our youngest delegate who is 9 years old.
Photo taken via 'selfie stick' by my friend Hakym, on Saturday at the traditional close of the symposium.

It's been a BLAST, but I have to admit to being Knackered.
12 hour days and using 45 year old schoolboy French, a little German, Italian, and what tiny Spanish I know was serious fun.
(OK so as it turns out I was able to direct Ladies to the Female toilets on the first floor {Second to you Americans})

Made some new friends, had a Damn good laugh at being compared to Tom Selleck by two people at the same time (?).
Even managed to get a couple of sketches done. ( Those I'll post tomorrow).

View attachment 50990

 

[Dragonsreach]

View attachment 51029

The Salutation a much drawn and favoured pub.

View attachment 51030

Tina Koyama a luminary in the Seattle Urban Sketchers, caught by me while she was in deep concentration.

 

[Zab]

cool! love the toned paper

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

Have you considered making the oil painting plunge? Your sketches indicate that you may be very skilled at alla prima, loose and painterly style portraiture, figure, or scenic painting. See John Singer Sargent.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Have you considered making the oil painting plunge?
B.O.K. The quick line sketch of Tina Koyama was done with 'gifted' brush pens, the Salutation pub with Watercolour pencils. I've not painted "Plein Air" with oils, only in a Studio environment both Bob Ross classes and more traditional Oil structures.


Your sketches indicate that you may be very skilled at alla prima, loose and painterly style portraiture, figure, or scenic painting. See John Singer Sargent.
Thank you.
However Urban Sketching doesn't really lend itself to Oils, being a very speedy practise and is much akin to Impressionism at times, which is something I'm more comfortable with using watercolours towards.
My problem is that my "Mindset" is very detail orientated, which for oils would tend to propel me into the high detail Pre-Raphaelites school and methodology.
(My pencil work tends to get very detailed rather than sketch based, but it's not a big issue)

.

If you want to see the loose style of watercolours I'm aiming towards look up Mark Taro Holmes at Www.citizensketcher.com


Oh and if you want an idea of what the symposium was like and a quick interview with me:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYGuiiH0zpA
I'm embarrassing myself around the 12 minute mark, and I really have a face which is best suited to the back of a camera.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

If you want to see the loose style of watercolours I'm aiming towards look up Mark Taro Holmes at Www.citizensketcher.com


Oh and if you want an idea of what the symposium was like and a quick interview with me:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYGuiiH0zpA

I'm embarrassing myself around the 12 minute mark, and I really have a face which is best suited to the back of a camera.

Nonesense! You film quite well! Great interview...

I am a member of the Art and Design Society of Fort Walton Beach. A couple weeks ago, we got a nude model in and she posed for 1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, etc and then had a 2 hour pose at the end. I was surprised at how much "sketching" lends itself well to oils. They blend themselves quite well, so little attention need be paid to half tones and transitions.

I I very much prefer a half finished, sketched look to my oil paintings. It is actually a challenge to discipline yourself to leave things and not add too much detail. Very often I paint the face with a moderate level of detail and then simply scratch in a background and outline the clothing without painting it in fully. The Tina sketch above somewhat reminds me of this. You captured what was important in the figure and left the rest to our imagination. I love this...I love the spectral highlights on her glasses, the rather austere looking face that looks pensive from its lack of details. You say so much by NOT saying more.

John Singer Sargent is the greatest oil painter. Ever. Next is Rembrandt. The former has always been loose, the latter adopted a loose style over time. Take a look at some Sargent sketches...I think you'll be impressed with what he accomplished in short order.

 

[Dragonsreach]

BOK; (Which by the way is Portugese for BYE. I found out at the symposium)
Really going to have to disagree with you about the greatest Oil Painter. :smile-big:
Singer is amongst the greatest without a doubt, but having seen Rosetti, Rembrandt, Holman Hunt, Titian, and Singer, in the Canvas (so to speak) I couldn't claim any single one of them to be the The Greatest.
(The UK has some fantastic Art Collections and Galleries, hence my fortune in seeing these.)

 

[freakinacage]

Looks like fun, some good work

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

BOK; (Which by the way is Portugese for BYE. I found out at the symposium)
Really going to have to disagree with you about the greatest Oil Painter. :smile-big:
Singer is amongst the greatest without a doubt, but having seen Rosetti, Rembrandt, Holman Hunt, Titian, and Singer, in the Canvas (so to speak) I couldn't claim any single one of them to be the The Greatest.
(The UK has some fantastic Art Collections and Galleries, hence my fortune in seeing these.)

Extremely jealous that I haven't had a similar opportunity. As such, I will defer to your experience. That is some good company there...love Titian and Rembrandt especially.

BOK!