Vote for your favourite design! - The Urban Sketchers London logo competition

Thank you to all those who sent a design for the 

Urban Sketchers London logo competition.

We were humbled by your response to receive more than 20 high quality designs. Out of those, the admin team has short listed three. Now you can decide which design will win.

What is the deadline?

Voting closes at midnight (GMT) on Friday 25 March 2022.

When will the winning design be announced?

The winning design will be announced as soon as practicable. We will contact the winner after the voting closes, and work with them to edit (if required) and/or convert the design to its final usable format. 

The winner will be awarded a cash prize of £100 and a set of brushes from Rosemary & Co.

Which designs were shortlisted? 

These three designs made it onto our shortlist:   

Entry A

Entry B

Entry C

How do I vote?

To vote for your favourite design, specify your choice of A, B or C by using our Google form. 

⬩ You must be an urban sketcher to vote. We therefore kindly request that you don't share the link externally. 

⬩ For purposes of fairness, only one vote is allowed per person.

Thank you for voting!

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Follow Urban Sketchers London on social media

On Instagram use the hashtag #urbansketcherslondon to have your drawings featured!

• Instagram    @urbansketcherslondon
• Facebook    @USKLondon
• Twitter         @UrbSketchLondon 

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Draw London with us in April, May and June

We'll be sketching in St James's Park, Camden and Twickenham in the coming months. Find out more at Let's draw London in 2022.

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Join the Urban Sketchers London mailing list for this blog

To receive all our latest news and events in your email Inbox -- just sign up!

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Vote for your favourite design! - The Urban Sketchers London logo competition

To remind: Deadline 25 February 2022 - Design a new logo for Urban Sketchers London

It's the 10 year anniversary of Urban Sketchers London, and we're on the lookout for a new logo.

Could you be the one who designs it?

In case you missed our original call for submissions, here are the basics.

What's the deadline?

We're accepting submissions until midnight (GMT) on 25 February 2022.

What do we have in mind?

We’re looking for a unique and timeless design which will represent Urban Sketchers London as a community. The winning design will be unveiled at the 10-year celebrations event in London in July, and will become the official USk London logo thereafter. 

Who can submit?

We welcome submissions from anyone who can capture the USk London ethos in a logo. The design should adhere to the parameters specified in the official Urban Sketchers Logo Identity Guide. Please ensure you have read and understood these guidelines before you plan your design.

What are we offering the winner?

The winner will receive a cash prize of £100 and a set of handmade brushes from Rosemary & Co.

Where are all the details?

You'll find everything you need to know -- guidelines, terms and conditions and a link to the Google form for submissions -- in our original call for submissions. 

We look forward to hearing from you!

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St Paul's Cathedral
Sketch by John Webb

Celebrating a decade of Urban Sketchers London

2012 - 2022 

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Find Urban Sketchers London on social media

• Instagram    @urbansketcherslondon
• Facebook    @USKLondon
• Twitter         @UrbSketchLondon 

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To remind: Deadline 25 February 2022 - Design a new logo for Urban Sketchers London

Deadline 22 January: Submit your sketches NOW for our Urban Sketchers London 10th anniversary book

 

The 22 January deadline is fast approaching.

Have you submitted yet?

In 2022 we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Urban Sketchers London. To mark the occasion we're publishing a book of sketches that show London 'one drawing at a time'.

If you missed the call for submissions, you can find all the details in our blog post here.

Adam Jefford - on Instagram @typem2b

Celebrating a decade of Urban Sketchers London

2012 - 2022 

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Find Urban Sketchers London on social media

• Instagram    @urbansketcherslondon
• Facebook    @USKLondon
• Twitter         @UrbSketchLondon 

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Deadline 22 January: Submit your sketches NOW for our Urban Sketchers London 10th anniversary book

Your friendly reminder: Let's draw Squares - Saturday 15 May 2021

Next session coming up!

Let's draw Squares

Saturday 15 May 2021

Led by Lis Watkins

For more details please see the original post right here.

There will be a virtual ‘throwdown’ on the Urban Sketchers London Facebook page at 3.30pm on Saturday 15th May, but please share your sketches at other times during the month, if that is more convenient for you. Use the hashtags #urbansketcherslondon #usklondonsquares #urbansketchers if you are posting on social media to help us find your drawings.

Happy sketching!

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Your friendly reminder: Let's draw Squares - Saturday 15 May 2021

Sketch the history which surrounds us - Saturday 12 September 2020

[By Jo Dungey] For this challenge, we propose you use location sketching to investigate the history of your neighbourhood in London.  Landscape, buildings, infrastructure, street names, monuments, all provide evidence of the past.

Ira Aldridge, 1807-1867, was an African American actor, who later lived in England and was famed for his Shakespearean roles.  Above is Lis Watkins’ sketch of the house where he lived in Upper Norwood from 1861.

As we are unable to meet, the timetable is flexible, sketch and post at a time practical for you.  You could do some initial investigation, then choose one location to sketch on Saturday 12 September 2020.  Post on the Urban Sketchers London Facebook page and/or other social media you use.  We will have a virtual sketchbook throw-down on our Facebook page at 3pm Saturday 12 September 2020. 

Use the hashtags: #usklondon  #sketchhistory

Layers and fragments: the history which surrounds us

Recent campaigns, for example by Black Lives Matter, have drawn attention to the values represented in the historic environment, for example expressed by statues and monuments.  Who is remembered, and what is preserved by the history which surrounds us?

Investigate the history of your neighbourhood.  This could include:

• Buildings and architecture, interiors and exteriors, including museums, public buildings, commercial buildings, religious buildings of any faith.  Buildings which have been converted from one use in the past, to another in the present, such as warehouses into housing.
• Evidence of the economy and industry of the past, transport, infrastructure, parks and open space
• Evidence of people associated with the area, in the past and more recently.  For example, historic figures, architects, scientists, writers and artists, philanthropists.  Look for statues, monuments, murals, blue plaques, information about founders and funders, investigate street names.

Approaches to sketching you could try:

• Choose a theme and make one or more sketchbook pages, with small sketches and fragments of the past and present.  Include text if you wish.
• Sketch a local building which includes more than one style, for example a shop with a contemporary ground floor, but older architectural styles higher up the building façade.
• Incorporate collage into your sketches, perhaps from copies of old maps or historic photographs: look on the internet, or in local history collections run by a public library or museum.

This building in Dulwich is called the Old Grammar School.  The poet George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron, 1788-1824) attended the school in Dulwich run by Dr William Glennie from 1799 – however this building dates from 1841, designed by Sir Charles Barry.

As a child, artist and poet William Blake claimed to have seen angels in a tree on Peckham Rye.  My sketchbook pages show a portrait of Blake, sketches of the trees today, and a recent sculpture on Peckham Rye by Morgan Paton, which includes wings which refer to the vision of William Blake. 

Sketch the history which surrounds us - Saturday 12 September 2020

2020 sketchcrawl programme suspended

(Jo Dungey writes) Given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and the predictions of public health experts about its possible spread, Lis Watkins, Isabel Carmona and I (the group’s named administrators) have decided:

• The proposed sketchcrawl for Saturday 25 April 2020 is CANCELLED.
• In place of this, we will have a virtual art challenge timed for that date, and will publish more details about the proposed activity nearer the time.  This will be something to be carried out at a safe location of your choice.  As our April meet-up was to have been a joint event for Urban Sketchers London and Urban Sketchers Cambridge, Cambridge sketchers are particularly encouraged to take part. 
• The remaining sketchcrawl programme: Let’s draw London in 2020, is SUSPENDED.  We cannot at this point predict when it may be safe to resume these activities.

We are very sorry to have to do this; we would much rather be meeting with fellow sketchers.  We hope to continue with suggesting sketching activities and challenges.  However, this is a group run by a small number of volunteers who share everyone else’s stresses and problems at this difficult time, and I think we need to be cautious about the capacity of the group.

The advantage of having an active interest in art at this time is that there are also many other resources of interest available online: art ideas, virtual tours of galleries and museums, forums for different types of art and crafts.  For example, as the major public art galleries and museums in London are closed to the public, their staff will be developing an extended range of online material. 

So, continue to enjoy your sketching.

2020 sketchcrawl programme suspended

The Thirty Day Indoor Sketching Challenge

The Thirty Day Indoor Sketching Challenge
Urban Sketchers London
#uskathome

Start date: Thu 19 March 2020

In view that we are going to be staying at home for a while and trying to keep sane through sketching we propose an #uskathome challenge for those of you who want to take it up. Let’s see it as an opportunity to get to know each other better through urban sketching from home.

It would be good to follow the list and do one topic a day but it is fine to do them at your own time and we look forward to seeing the shared sketches. Each topic may suggest more than one interpretation or need more than one drawing. It is important than the drawings are done from life as observed in your environment but experiment with media, ways of drawing, using colour, shading, backgrounds and surfaces and so on..

While sketching think about telling us a story of what the situation is like, not just focusing on the object(s) you are drawing - as urban sketchers we show the world around us one drawing at a time - this cartoon from USK HK tells you to focus on the context as well as the object to enrich your story.

Also we would love to see the sketchbook(s) live next time we meet in person so please bring them along when we are able to meet again - we hope very soon.

Here is the proposed list of 30 topics (take them one a day or every two days and share with the urban sketching community for encouragement and to keep in touch).

Use the hashtags: #uskathome #usklondon #30daysuskinside #urbansketchers

Share in Facebook, Flickr or Twitter [tag @UrbSketchLondon]

30 Day Urban Sketching Challenge

1. Hello I am . . . . . . (selfie) - introduce yourself
2. Working (from home)
3. Doing daily chores
4. What are you reading?
5. Keeping entertained
6. Do It Yourself
7. Cooking
8. Collecting
9. Gardening (or balcony gardens or pot plants)
10. Keeping Healthy - exercise

11. Hobbies (other than sketching)
12. Favourite film watching
13. Music listening
14. Looking at the sky
15. Taking stock (objects in the cupboard or assessing our lives)
16. Bird watching
17. Giving or receiving presents
18. Hanging on the wall
19. Spring is in the air
20. How are you feeling? (selfie)

21. Choosing clothes from your wardrobe
22. Watching TV
23. Telling the time
24. Playing games
25. Bug watching
26. Looking out of the window
27. Eating fruit
28. New and old in your life
29. Adding flavour
30. “A day in the life of . . .” storyboard (A three minute sketch every hour composed into a story of your day)

Let’s keep urban sketching from home!

The Thirty Day Indoor Sketching Challenge

Let's Draw Chelsea and Battersea - 10th October 2015

Albert Bridge from Cheney Walk by Swasky

It is going to be difficult to know what to choose this month!
We will be on two sides of the river and two very different areas, Chelsea and Battersea roughly between the two bridges Albert Bridge and Battersea Bridge.

Start Meeting 11:30 Albert Bridge by the river (western end) on the Chelsea side. See map link here for exact location.
To get there use the TFLwebsite, here, as there are various buses that get you there but the fastest route will depend on your point of origin.
In the morning, we suggest:

• Exploring the embankment - there amazing buildings and history along Cheyne Walk  and the Chelsea embankment.
• Sketching Views of bridges and the southern modern Riverside.

Lunch time 1:30 pm at the Battersea Park Buddhist pagoda - Great spot for a group photo.
For lunch - Bring a picnic, grab a tea on the park kiosk or have a bite at The Prince Albert on the Battersea end of the Albert Bridge.
In the afternoon we suggest:
Drawing from Battersea Park and around the Riverside and around the Royal College of Arts 

The end - meet on the Battersea side - at the Doodle Bar- 4pm

note: If the weather is bad we can retreat to the Doodle Bar early and draw there, or visit the Royal College of Arts at Battesea Ground floor Galleries.

Thanks to Swasky for letting us use his image this month!

Let's Draw Chelsea and Battersea - 10th October 2015

London Urban Sketchers 2015 Exhibition + sketchcrawl

In November this year, London Urban Sketchers will be having an exhibition of sketches of London in the third - and brand new - Timberyard in London - and will also have an extra sketchcrawl associated with the opening of the new exhibition.

The Exhibition

Our aim with this exhibition is to include sketches from as many people as possible who have been active within the Group up until now. That means:

• came to sketchcrawls
• posted sketches on Facebook
• posted sketches in the Flickr Group Pool
• generally supported the group in terms of making things happen

Tomorrow we will publish the detailed Call for Entries from active members of London Urban Sketchers and detail how the process will work.  So make sure your Flickr account is up to date with all your best sketches!

This is the wall we will aim to cover with sketches. We're finding out in the next few days how much space we have now the fittings are being installed into this new space.

The exhibition wall - Evelyn is in there for a bit of scale!

We'll be having a Preview Party - probably on 3rd November - and hope that you can all come to that. We'll be confirming the date nearer the time.

The new venue is located at 4 Noel Street so we had a think about what's close and worth sketching....

An Extra Sketchcrawl

...and have arranged a special sketchcrawl associated with the exhibition - starting and and finishing at Timberyard - on Saturday 14th November.  We think we'll make this one a shorter sketchcrawl than usual and will start at 11am and finish at 2pm - but of course you can start even earlier and finish later if you want. So put that in your diaries.

Carnaby Street and Liberty's - in Great Marlborough Street

It is an iconic building, a jewel of Art Deco design, celebrated on its opening as ‘the new Tower of London’ (The Architectural Review) commenting on Liberty's

We've got two sets of buildings right next door to one another which we suggest you might want to have a go at will include:

• the magnificent mock-Tudor building (built in 1924) which houses the department store Liberty's on Great Marlborough Street - which faces....
• the stage door to The London Palladium Theatre which you can find on Argyll Street - which also faces Liberty's

The London Palladium - in Argyll Place

A short walk north of Oxford Street you can find an odd pair of buildings right next door to one another

Broadcasting House

• BBC Broadcasting House at Portland Place London W1A 1AA - that's the old building - (described below and the new extension
• Right next door is All Souls Church, 2 All Souls' Place, London W1B 3DA

All Souls Church

So we hope you like the idea of the exhibition and a sketchcrawl - and we'll fill you in on more details about the exhibition tomorrow.

London Urban Sketchers 2015 Exhibition + sketchcrawl

Let's Draw Blackheath - Saturday 5th September

Hello everyone - here are the details for Saturday's coming sketchcrawl.

Blackheath in London

 The Start

Meet 11.30am - in the car park next to Blackheath Railway Station.

For most people, the train or car will be the best way to arrive into Blackheath, so this seems the easiest meeting spot - it's not normally too busy, but just look for the people clutching sketchbooks.
If you're coming from Central London then it will be immediately adjacent to the platform you alight from. If coming in from further South, then you'll have to go up the stairs to cross over.

What with the bank holiday weekend just gone, I'm sure I don't have to remind you to bring an umbrella, but still, this being England, it's good to expect the worst. It might be rainy, it'll probably be cold and a bit windy.

Blackheath tends to get lumped in with Greenwich because they're so close, but there's actually plenty to explore by itself. However, for those who haven't already seen it, it would be worth the walk over to Greenwich Park on the other side of the heath, for the city skyline view from the Royal Observatory, simply because it is magnificent, and if you're an animal lover, there's also the deer park.

If the weather proves too much, there's plenty of coffee shops, pubs and tea rooms to sit in and sketch some people or interiors.

Braving the elements there's the heath, with lots of interesting views, kite flying, and the dramatic solitary presence of All Saints Church. I also hope to show you some of the less obvious sights, including a few impressive vistas and intriguing architecture hidden down some of the side roads in the area.

Lunch

Lunchbreak will be at the Princess of Wales, overlooking the Heath, at 1.30pm. Family friendly and spacious, with a decent pub food menu, however don't feel obliged to eat lunch here; if you prefer you can find somewhere else or bring your own  to eat on the heath should it be sunny enough, this is merely a gathering point for those of you who want to, with outside and indoor options.

The End

We will end outside All Saints Church at 4pm,  for a chance to show sketches, catch up and take some photos.

As always, the event is FREE and open to all, don't forget your pencils!

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Let's Draw Blackheath - Saturday 5th September

Let's Draw St Paul's to the Thames - 25th April 2015

For our next London Urban Sketchers' Sketchcrawl we're got the scope to draw some big buildings and big views!

St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

• WHERE:  St Paul's to the Thames
• WHEN: Sunday 26th April 2015 CHANGED TO Saturday 25th April 2015 (due to the London Marathon)
• START: 11:00am at the top of the steps (right hand side) of the Main Entrance to St Paul's Cathedral.
• LUNCH: 1:30pm on the Roof Terrace of One New Change (if dry; wet weather venue to be notified)
• END: 3:30pm Paternoster Square - between St Paul's Cathedral Steps and St Paul's Tube Station (if dry; wet weather venue to be notified)
• MAP: A map has been created in Google Maps/Drive of the area and key places
• TUBE: Stations: St Paul's (Central Line); Blackfriars and Mansion House (District and Circle Lines)
• RAIL: Thameslink @ London Blackfriars and City Thameslink; Cannon Street

Last time we were at St Paul's - in August 2014 - we sketched the churches of Wren's London.

London Urban Sketchers on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
at the end of Pete Scully's Wren's Churches Sketchcrawl August 2014

On Saturday 25th April 2015, London Urban Sketchers are going to be sketching the part of the City of London around St Paul's Cathedral - down to the north bank of the Thames.

The view of where we're sketching from Tate Modern 7th floor
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Birds Eye View of the area around St Paul's Cathedral
right click and open in a new tab to see much larger version

Above is a top down view of the area - right click the image and open in a new tab to see what's there. The suggested boundaries of the area are:

• North: Paternoster Square, the London Stock Exchange and Christchurch Greyfriars Garden
• West: Ludgate Hill and the narrow allies between Ludgate Hill and Queen Victoria Street
• East: One New Change - this is a brand new shopping centre which is open on Sunday from 12:00. On the Roof Terrace (accessible via the lifts) there are great views right across London plus a really up close view of the top of St Paul's Cathedral
• South: The north bank of the River Thames and the Millennium Bridge - accessed via Peter's Hill - south of St Paul's - which has lots of views off either side of churches and alley ways.

Here's another view of the area - taken from the map near the City Information Centre across the road from the Main Entrance to St. Paul's

Map of the area around St Paul's Cathedral

What you can sketch

There's masses to choose from whatever type of sketching you like doing. Here are some suggestions

St Paul's Cathedral and Churchyard - lots of architecture from lots of different perspectives around and about. You can find great views of it from:

• Fleet Street and the bottom of Ludgate Hill looking up to the Cathedral

"Ludgate Hill - A block in the Street" by Gustave Doré- from London, A Pilgrimage, 1872
The view caught by Doré of the view up Ludgate Hill to St Paul's Cathdral.
It's a bit different now - but you could try sketching it!

• From Peter's Hill looking up from the Thames and the Millennium Bridge

The view of St Paul's from Peter's Hill walking up from the Millennium Bridge

• From the Churchyard - just looking up
• From the Roof Terrace of One New Change - where you can get a whole new perspective on the Dome.

I created "The Leaning Dome of St Paul's" the last time I sketched it
from the Roof Terrace!

You can also draw people just sitting the people sitting on the steps...

Take a walk down Peter's Hill to the Millennium Bridge

the view down Peter's Hill to the Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern

On the Millennium Bridge take a look at the view east up the Thames of The Shard and bridges over the Thames and, if you're lucky, the exposed shoreline complete with timber sticking up 

The view east from the Millennium Bridge
- of the tidal beach, the Shard and bridge along the Thames

Go below the Millennium Bridge and there's some great views to be had of Tate Modern. Trying to draw the Millennium Bridge is tricky from any angle!

The view of Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge from the north bank of the River Thames
below City of London School
Katherine Tyrrell

PLUS (excitement!!) we're also going to be able to sketch Shaun the Sheep ;) who is taking up residence in various guises in the City of London between now and the end of May. You'll be able to see

• one called 'Out of this World' Shaun at the City Information Centre, (- just to the south of St Paul's Churchyard) designed by Josh and Aimee Williams
• two more - 'Fine & Gandy' by David Gandy and 'Wolly Wiggle' by Zandra Rhodes - at One New Change

AND.....

If people are up for it we may just try a "Draw the Dome in 15 minutes Challenge" over lunch at the Roof Terrace!  You can of course just watch!

After the Sketchcrawl

You can add sketches to the

• London Urban Sketchers Facebook Group - please add them to the St Pauls Sketchcrawl Album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.353603474837411&type=1

OR

• London Urban Sketchers Flickr Group Pool https://www.flickr.com/groups/usklondon-grouppool/

Let's Draw St Paul's to the Thames - 25th April 2015

44th Sketchcrawl - London Portobello Rd

Let me introduce myself on this my first post for USk London. I am Isabel Carmona, architect and artist (watercolour and printmaking) and live in Newbury now although I spent 6 years in London pre 2002 and know it well. I am also part of USk Spain, helped as interpreter at last year's USk Simposioum in Barcelona and have recently organised the Oxford Workshop with Swasky and Miguel Herranz.

Last Saturday 12th July, we spent a great day at Portobello Rd a large group of us as part of the 44th Worldwide Skerchcrawl, an event that occurs every four months.

Special thanks to the group of Urban Sketchers Spain and Oxford that came following on from the Oxford Workshop.
The end of the day at The Castle saw at least 30 or 40 of us discussing and enjoying seeing each other's sketchbooks.

My sketches were quick as the sun was very strong and also I wanted to capture the people and the activity of the street, with street musicians and a great mix of people. I can still here the tune of the odd musician by Starbucks.

 

 

I look forward to future events!

44th Sketchcrawl - London Portobello Rd