Isabel Carmona

Delighted to be part of USk- London, I've just realised that I should have introduced myself as part of the "meet the correspondent" series. So here it goes a bit about myself, my work and where I draw and paint...
I am Spanish but have lived in the UK for a long time, having come to study architecture in the early 90s.  I've sketched all through my student and professional life, with colour and watercolour specifically as my main medium - colour is very important to me and it is likely to be the first thing I do in a sketch - although not always.


Sketching/painting and drawing is for me the best way to remember where I've been on my trips and the memories of place and time will always rush back when I see an old sketch - one of my first experiences of drawing on location was a inter railing trip in 91 with a friend. I remember little of the trip except for the places I drew, that is the power of paying that little more attention to things when one sits down to sketch.

More recently, I have taken art more seriously and take part on my local Open Studios Scheme - in Newbury (West Berkshire) where I exhibit locally every year and have taught watercolour classes locally.
As a Spaniard, I joined the Urban Sketchers network in Spain first and attended the Barcelona symposium as a translator.  In 2014, I organised the Urban Sketchers workshop in Oxford with other urban sketchers and was pleased to coordinate the 44th sketchcrawl with the London team.
I leave you here a couple of my view of London done in 2014 - a couple on the Portobello Road sketchcrawl and one from the Thames North Bank looking towards London Bridge and the Shard.

Portobello Road by the Castle pub

Portobello Road at Charlie's cafe

South Bank view from North bank of Thames - Southwark and Shard

My work can be seen in various places:
website - www.isacarmona-art.com
personal blog, mainly about urban sketching - www.isacarmona-sketches.blogspot.com
flickr - issi carmona 

Isabel Carmona

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

Slow crawl through the market - 44th urban sketchers world wide day out

214 Portobello Road W11. Pencil and watercolour 210 x 149 mm Evelyn Rowland

A very hot afternoon down the coolest street in London. The last drawing before the obligatory drink in the pub opposite. I think the traffic lights would have been better off with a coffee.

Slow crawl through the market - 44th urban sketchers world wide day out

Sketchcrawl: Portobello Road on Saturday 12 July

James Hobbs, from the
Old Street sketchcrawl

There's a London sketchcrawl this weekend on Saturday 12 July 2014 organised by Urban Sketchers who are running this week's Oxford workshop.
The plan is to meet at around 11am at Charlie's Portobello Road cafe, at number 58, and finish at the Castle pub (number 225) at around 4pm. It's a great opportunity to meet Urban Sketchers both from London and internationally.
There's more information about the sketchcrawl here, and a plan of the route here.
The weather forecast is looking good for Saturday, so we hope to see you there.

Note: Saturday 12 July is also the new closing date of the London Urban Sketchers show at Timberyard Old Street. Last chance to visit!

Sketchcrawl: Portobello Road on Saturday 12 July