Greetings

[Helen Hayhoe writes] I’d like to say hello as the new third administrator of USK London. It will be difficult to fill Jo Dungey’s small but powerful shoes; she’s a very hard act to follow but I know that the team and the wider group are a source of mutual support.

I’m a lifelong sketcher in a compulsive but informal way. I enjoy using watercolour, fine liners and also love iPad sketching. I’ve had no art training until I did an art foundation last year, when I retired. Urban sketching has been a wonderful discovery and I have enjoyed attending and co-running Sketchcrawls over the last 5 years or so. I love to learn from what I see in others‘ work. The recent ‘Let’s Draw Twickenham’ virtual Sketchcrawl revealed again the creativity and diversity of the group.  I enjoyed the 30 day challenge and am currently having a go at the USK Stoke version.

Where would we be without our sketching? I was sorry to cancel my Airbnb for the Leeds symposium but am looking forward to meeting everyone again. Strangely I feel I’ve got to know people better in sharing our lockdown sketches, just need to match names and faces now. Can’t wait!

A few lockdown sketches

IPad view from the window

30 days sketching concertina

‘Let’s Draw Twickenham’ virtual Sketchcrawl 

                                       

Greetings

I can’t go out urban sketching! What now?

[Jo Dungey and Lis Watkins write] As meeting up and drawing together is off the agenda at the moment, we thought we would draw up a list of other creative activities that you might find interesting as a replacement. We already have plans for a 'virtual' sketchcrawl in May and ideas for a further one in June but here are some other suggestions:

Royal Drawing School

The Royal Drawing School blog provides a series of well thought out drawing activities developed by their art tutors.  Some of these are based on their new book ‘Ways of Drawing’.  They are designed to be done at home, although some require a second person to act as a model. #drawingfromhome

Leith School of Art, Edinburgh

Twice weekly emails from Leith School of Art provide a drawing activity which is explained and can be done at home.  Mostly focussed on observational drawing.  Visit their website and sign up to the mailing list to receive the emails. #leithschoolofart  #wakeupanddraw

Many of London’s major public art galleries have virtual tours, films and other activities:

Royal Academy

Their website includes video tours of exhibitions such as Picasso and Paper.  There are family art activities, short information films and a regular column where artists share their experience of lock-down.

National Gallery

The National Gallery website features information and images of 2,600 paintings in their collection.  Visit their website to sign up for their e-newsletter, visit their YouTube channel which has many films about their exhibitions, gallery talks and films about their conservation work.  Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.  On their Facebook page, there are short videos with art activities for children, based on their collection.

West Dean College

West Dean College in Sussex usually runs many art and craft courses.  Their Facebook page now includes many art projects demonstrated by their expert tutors including botanical painting, ceramics, mosaics, using sketchbooks and other topics.

Tate 
Enjoy art wherever you are: the Tate website includes a wide range of interesting material. Artist A-Z shows the Tate Collection with artists of the past and present. Studying art provides career advice for art students, and coursework guides for students/adults covering a very wide range of ideas from the collection such as assemblage, still life, using news and events, mark making, light and dark, outlines. Create like an artist has ‘how to’ videos for children and adults. Tate Kids has short videos with art activities for children, some of which could be fun for adults too.

Sketchbook Skool, run by Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene, have created a ‘Coronovirus Creativity Guide’ with lots of free resources.

Somerset House now have an cultural programe online with an interesting range of events and activities.

The Other Art Fair are running ‘The Other Creative Challenge’ via their website and social media using the hashtag #TheOtherCreativeChallenge

The blog ‘That’s not my age’ has an article, ‘Armchair Culture: gallery-going from your own front room’ where they have curated a good international list.

The typography magazine ‘EYE’ also has a thoughtfully created page of events.

The Van Gogh House in London has created a podcast “narrating a unique journey that considers Van Gogh’s time at 87 Hackford Road” and “is a free downloadable audio walk that can be experienced and applied to any geographic location.” 

Isolation Art School has free tutorials from artists on Instagram with activities for both adults and children.

Lucy Tiffney is a designer creating fresh and colourful patterns. She is creating easy and inspiring activities on Instagram.

The Drawing Room based in London has a selection of online resources for both adults and children.

And don't forget that international Urban Sketchers are hosting a live chat and setting interesting challenges each Sunday on Instagram Stories. USkTalks is at 4pm GMT each Sunday.

Please let us know in the comments if you have any more to add. Thank you!

I can’t go out urban sketching! What now?

Virtual Sketchcrawl 'Let's Draw Twickenham' 9th May 2020

Welcome to the 'Let's Draw Twickenham' virtual meet up for May 2020. 

We have created a virtual visit to Twickenham in the form of a Google Tour.

Follow the link at the bottom of this post; here you will find links to the places we had intended to visit, so that you can find them online. 

Like the virtual sketch challenge of 25th April: Sketch in Colour, we will meet at 11am on the intended day of the real event, May 9th. We will have a preliminary throw down at 1pm on social media, using the tags #uskathome #usklondon #letsdrawtwickenham and also posting onto the Urban Sketchers London Facebook page. Please continue to work on your sketches and post after that if you would like to, so that we appreciate each others' work.

How to do it:

Click the link below, or copy and paste it into your browser. Once in, click on each of the titles to the left of the page and you will be taken to the map and street view for that place. Home in, explore and follow the links to find out more about these locations.   Choose one or more for a virtual sketch. We invite you to show sketches inspired by this virtual ramble.

Lets do it online until we meet again.

https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/tour/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgIDg2PuilAsM

 The Naked Ladies by John Swanson

Virtual Sketchcrawl 'Let's Draw Twickenham' 9th May 2020

Sketch in colour: A virtual art challenge - Saturday 25 April 2020

You are invited to Sketch in colour: a virtual art challenge on Saturday 25 April 2020, from 11am to 1pm.

We would like to preserve as much as possible the idea of a sketching event taking place at a particular time.  Of course, if this date and time is not practical for you, feel free to do the challenge on another occasion.

This replaces the joint meet-up planned for Urban Sketchers London and Urban Sketchers Cambridge.  Posting on social media, use the hashtags #uskathome #sketchincolour #usklondon #uskcambridge

Summary: The theme of this challenge is colour.  We hope you will experiment and move beyond your comfort zone.  For this challenge, it is suggested you find yourself a subject which you can sketch from observation on the day.  On the day, you will do a preliminary sketch (maybe in pencil), then three quick colour versions of this subject - each will show a different use of colour.  Read through the description below, as before the challenge starts, you will need to prepare three different coloured backgrounds on which to draw or paint.

Materials: You can use any coloured materials for this: paint, coloured inks, coloured pencils, crayons, coloured pens, oil pastels, chalk pastels, collage.

Advance preparation: A few days before the date of the challenge, prepare three different coloured surfaces on which you will paint and draw.  These could be:

·         Paper coloured by washes of watercolour or diluted acrylic ink, or something similar

·         Coloured paper (manufactured): do experiment a bit rather than choose beige, grey and buff

·         Collaged surfaces suitable for your painting/drawing materials

As you will be working quickly to produce three small studies, I suggest these prepared sheets should not be too big.

The aim is to move away from the natural colours of the scene, and experiment.  I suggest you choose colours for your backgrounds as follows:

·         A colour which you find uplifting, which makes you happy

·         A colour which to you is calming

·         A colour which you find warm and energising

These examples are done in gouache on backgrounds of diluted acrylic ink.  Your approach could be quite different, with more emphasis on line drawing with coloured pens, for example.

Choosing a subject to sketch: choose any scene it is practical for you to sketch from observation on the day, inside or outside, a view from a window, a balcony or garden.  Don’t make your subject too extensive or complex – the aim is small colour studies.

What to do on the day:

11-11.10: Make sure your art kit and prepared sheets of paper are ready (10 minutes) 

11.10-11.30: Start with a warm-up sketch, in a sketchbook, perhaps simply in pencil, to clarify your subject and composition in your mind (20 minutes)

11.30-11.40: using your three different coloured sheets, choose a different selection of colours to sketch on each.

Then, do three colour studies/sketches of the same subject from observation (20 minutes each)

11.40-12 noon: Colour study 1

12 noon-12.20: Break (optional!)

12.20-12.40: Colour study 2

12..40-1pm Colour study 3

1pm: Finish.  Congratulations!  Please photograph or scan and post your sketches and enjoy the sketches of others too.

Posting on social media, use the hashtags #uskathome #sketchincolour #usklondon #uskcambridge

Follow-up: Having done the three colour studies, you could choose one of the colour ranges and make a more developed sketch/drawing/painting.

  

Sketch in colour: A virtual art challenge - Saturday 25 April 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

Prudent, Wise and Correct......

(John Webb writes)  The decision to cancel yesterday. Sadly I couldn't sketch at home on the 14th but did the day before at Brentford Community Stadium which is nearly finished - but who knows when we'll be able to use it.  There were to be two 'test events' with reduced capacity in April/May which I would have used for some rapid sketching to conclude the project...will do in due course.  Its been over two years - lots of sketches and a great discipline to keep regularly drawing.

Prudent, Wise and Correct......