Urban Sketching 101

Getting all the details

Almost 30 people showed up Saturday morning for our first workshop on urban sketching. It was a chance to get all the details that anyone new to the group might need to know. Judith and the panelists came ready. After getting the basics from Judith, everyone got to mingle and ask questions, look at sketchbooks and examine materials.

Judith and Fahmi answer questions

Carlos and Michael show off sketchbooks, Francisco talks about his favorite pen

There were some familiar faces and some new faces as well as one visitor from out of town. It was a great morning.

After a good lunch, we moved on to the sketching portion of the day. This time we went to a new area in the Heights called TheM-K-T. This new shopping area has been repurposed from an old office park and is located right along the busy Highline walking trail.

My sketch, which you can see in the header, captures the distinctive profile of the building along Shepherd. But I have to admit I was lured by the angry sky and the giant crane. Yes,

our first sketchout dodging rain.

Bruce

Bruce, who likes to work in pen and ink wash, found the area where people were enjoying the comfy rockers outside a cafe.

Michael

Michael was one of several people who drew the bright yellow, classic truck. Michael's work is in gouache.

Sherri

Sherri also got the truck and someone enjoying a rocking chair. Her work is in watercolor and pen.

Francisco

Francisco drew the truck from another angle and used watercolor to fill the surroundings in a simple splash of color.

Michelle

Michelle again chose a different angle for one of her sketches. Nice use of complementary colors to suggest the shadow under  the truck.

Marcella

The black-and-white of the wall art is in contrast to the lush greenery in the planter. Colored pencil, I believe. The linework is very crisp, Marcella.

Jill

Jill was visiting us from Ann Arbor. Welcome, Jill. Her sketch is a study in angles with the same wall as the focal point.

Carlos

Carlos found two people taking shelter under an umbrella. Perhaps from the rain. Carlos generally splashes in his color first and then uses colored pencil or ink for a few lines. The drag of the almost dry brush at the bottom reads "concrete". Great job.

Patty

Patty's sketch is the story of color and  architecture,  and people.

Decha

In Decha's sketch, you can see that same arch at the top, but he is looking through the building to the Highline and the park, just beyond. Everything in this sketch is in watercolor.

Kassidy

Kassidy was sketching in the same general area as Decha and Patty. You can see the highline on the left, but hers was a story of cafe dining under a canopy.

Joel

Joel sheltered from the rain in another of the passageways through the buildings. Several shoppers had the same idea. Nice cast shadows, Joel.

Brittainy

Brittainy focused in on the bright, orange chairs and turned her sketchbook vertically. That conveys the scale of the space.

Barbara

Barbara got all the women with their legs crossed. Tricky to draw. Bright color and the cute dog make this drawing pop.

Judith

A few splashes of bright color and simple lines make Judith's sketch successful. The lush banana plants are the focal point. And the color palette is very limited: yellow, greens and blues mostly. Simple works.

Judy

Judy' cafe scene in black-and-white simplifies a busy scene, but still conveys all the information you need. I see muffins in that display case!

Suzanne

Suzanne also stuck with line work and limited colors. The umbrellas across the page and just the suggestion of the people underneath help this to work.

Rebecq

Rebecq went straight for the back of the shopping center and drew the Highline and the city park beyond.

We came back together for the throwdown.

The throwdown

It seems that our first sketching workshop was a success. We had a great turnout for the class and a record turnout for the sketchout.

Mark your calendars. September 17 is our next sketchout in the Woodlands. Judith is planning some minitutorials and an interesting sketchout. October 1st will be our annual trip to Galveston. Not to be missed!

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