Notes from the USk Symposium, Porto

I can't believe it has been a month since the 2018 Urban Sketchers Symposium in Porto, Portugal. It was the first time I have attended a Symposium, but I hope it's not the last. It was amazing to be so immersed in sketching and surrounded so continuously by sketchers! I am posting just a few sketches here, but more are on Instagram. I am Sue.Heston on Instagram.



This is one of the drawings I did in Jose Louro's workshop. I also took a workshop with Joao Catarino, and both of these guys stretched the way I think of urban sketching.



What? A watercolor? Charline Moreau demoed a monochrome watercolor underpainting technique that was all about values!



This was the scene at the Final Sketchcrawl - sketchers as far as the eye could see (over 500!).



And one of my personal favs from an earlier sketchcrawl to wrap up a picture-heavy post.

Urban Sketchers Seattle 10x10 classes in 2018

For the second year, USk Seattle is taking part in 10x10, the worldwide initiative to offer educational workshops wherever sketchers live. Launched in celebration of Urban Sketchers’ 10th anniversary in 2017, the program brings a variety of courses on urban sketching techniques taught by talented local instructors in their home cities. All workshops are on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration begins Sunday, March 4, 2018, 9 a.m. The cost is $60 each. A free Program Kickoff Event will be held March 3, 4:30 p.m., at Daniel Smith’s Seattle store. (Although the kickoff is free, registration is required.) Meet the instructors, see their sketchbooks, and learn about the workshops before registering. The kickoff will be followed by an unhosted, informal “drink & draw” at a nearby location, which will be another opportunity to talk with instructors who attend this optional event. Hope to see you there!

A Little Scattered...

As usual, January was a mixed bag...



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I am still drawing in the Stillman & Birn Nova (tan) book. In fact, I have started my second one. I like the paper a lot. It has a little texture, but is very compatible with fountain pens. The paper is very opaque and most everything I have tried on it works well.

Inktober 7-13

Still on track for #inktober2017 with 13 ink drawings on the 13th! My rules (since everyone can customize this challenge to suit themself) are:
1. I can draw from photos, which I do not usually do. But 3 of the sketches above were done from photos, and I think I learned things from each one.
2. I can do more than one drawing to catch up if I miss a day. But I am not letting myself do extra drawings for upcoming days. Arbitrary, yes. But the idea is to get in the habit of drawing more regularly, using small bites of time in my day.
But all of the drawings below were done from life. The windbreak at Steamboat Rock State Park was so absorbing to draw that I lost track of time!

A Grumpy Sketcher

The USk Sunday meeting was at Ballard Locks this month, and I was feeling contrary. It was the first day I had to put on a raincoat since June, and I wasn't in a "scenic" mood. So I sat on one of the benches, with no view of the locks at all, and drew what was in front of me!

Perspective Practice: Beacon Hill Light Rail Station

A recent outing with the Urban Sketchers at the Beacon Hill Light Rail Station gave me a good opportunity to practice basic one point perspective. It was hard to spend a sunny August morning underground, but I am hoping for a few more weeks of outdoor sketching this year!

Seattle Urban Sketchers 10th Anniversary Workshop Series

     Urban Sketchers are celebrating their 10th anniversary (!). To celebrate, the local Urban Sketchers chapters in 26 different cities around the world will each be hosting a series 10 workshops on sketching their city.

I am so excited to be presenting one of the workshops in the series which the Seattle Urban Sketchers have put together. This is an amazing group of instructors, many of whom have taught at the annual Urban Sketchers Symposiums. An informational lecture will be held on January 28 at the Daniel Smith Seattle store and a schedule of the classes with the dates, instructors and planned locations can be found here, along with information on how to register:

http://www.urbansketchers.org/2017/01/10-years-x-10-classes-in-seattle.html

The meeting on Jan. 28 will be a great time to meet the instructors and see their work. But registration has started and some classes are filling up fast! So my advice is not to wait if there is a class you know that you want to sign up for.

Where Did June Go?

Well, I went camping - and the van did not break down.



I drank coffee, and I sketched my fellow caffeine addicts. And I went sketching with Seattle Urban Sketchers at Fisherman's Terminal. I have been dabbling with collage in this gray Strathmore sketchbook, and I used that in the sketch I did there.

May Sketches

King Street Station with Urban Sketchers.



Went to New York City. Ate at the Pastrami Queen TWICE.



Hello, contour line drawing.

Fast Sketches at the Mall

I am getting behind posting sketches, so here are a couple of the ones I did when the Seattle Urban Sketchers met at Westlake Center a couple weeks ago. The food court there has some great views of downtown Seattle, but it is also a great place to practice sketching people.

Click on the Flickr link in the sidebar to see the rest of the sketches from this trip.