British Museum USk workshop review

Demo sketch by Oliver

[by Oliver Hoeller] I had not been to London in 10 years and was very excited when the opportunity arose to come back for a few days in December 2018. Last but not least, I was to hold London’s first official Urban Sketching workshop! In the British Museum of all places!

The 4 hour class “10 tools: How to combine weak elements into a strong sketch” was sold out – attracting participants from as far away as Oxford and Brighton – and, I tried my best to provide a lot of useful information and “tools” for the sketchers. The workshop focused on ways to combine disparate elements into a coherent sketch and the Museum’s artifacts were more than suitable to choose from. The atmosphere was light hearted, yet the structured exercises gave everybody a chance to practice the approaches. In the second part participants assembled larger and self guided sketches in the museum. I gave feedback throughout as best as I could and once again was happy about the handout I had prepared ahead of time. It makes teaching much easier for me and provides the participants with a useful resource for future reference. Truly a win-win situation.

Group shots from the Great Court

 I am grateful for the feedback I received:
“Thanks for a great session. Well structured with perceptive and useful observations.”

“The day whizzed by and the venue with the big tables was excellent. Loads of subject matter there. It was fun and educational.” 

Work by Michael Moran

Work by Peng Lee

Looking at the results of the workshop

All in all the workshop proved to be an excellent break from the pre-Christmas madness for Urban sketchers. And if you could not make it this time, I have a little sketching tip from the workshop for you:

“Don’t be stuck with your view, if you only like one particular element in front of you. Turn your head and look for other elements you like. Combine them in your sketch by overlapping and connecting. This way you will create your personal spread of a place.”

I’d love to see you (again?) soon at a sketching gathering! Oh, and If you are interested in information about any upcoming workshops, get in touch via hoelleroliver@gmail.com and I’ll keep you in the loop!

Happy sketching in 2019,

Oliver Hoeller

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British Museum USk workshop review