Let’s draw Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – Saturday 24th July 2021

Pen & ink sketch of the Olympic Park by Nick Kobyluch

[Sasala Wickramasinghe writes]

PLEASE NOTE, BOTH THROWDOWNS (at 1pm and 3.30pm) WILL NOW TAKE PLACE BY THE AQUATICS CENTRE (#1 on the map) 

In anticipation of full easing of restrictions on the 19^th of July, this will be our first sketchcrawl since the pandemic started. It’s been a long time coming!

However, since COVID-19 and its variants are going to remain even after the restrictions are lifted, it’s prudent to take all the necessary precautions to make ourselves and fellow sketchers safe throughout the event. The risk of infection is low for outdoor events but basic rules do still apply - please don't attend if you're feeling unwell, wear a face covering if close to others, give people space and practice good hand  hygiene. There is also the option of self-testing before the event. (you can get home testing kits through this link). 

Our theme for July is sculpture and we’ve chosen QE Olympic Park in Stratford, East London. 

The famous ArcelorMittal Orbit is probably the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think of the Olympic Park, but since the 2012 London Olympic Games, this place has become a bit of a treasure trove of modern sculptural art! The orbit is only one of nearly 30 different art installations; some are functional and others serve as time capsules. More information and a map here: Art in the Park – a field guide.

If you prefer to sketch at home or locally to where you live, please feel free to interpret the theme as you wish – they could be monuments which celebrate the history of your local area, sculptures made by local artists or even art installations that have specific functions. 

'Please be Seated' installation at Kew - Watercolour sketch by Sasala Wickramasinghe

At home, it could be a souvenir you brought back from your last holiday (remember those?!), a treasured gift you received or even something you are working on yourself. 

Whether you join us in person in Stratford, sketch locally in a smaller group or sketch at home, please don't forget to share your sketches on the USk London Facebook Page, or on social media (Instagram/Twitter) with the hashtags #urbansketcherslondon #usklondon #urbansketchers to help us find your drawings. Also, please send your location drawings to us via email to be included in the Our London interactive sketch map.

Plan for the day

11 am

Meet at QE Olympic Park, by the London Aquantics Centre (#1 on the map). The main entrance is just across the road from the Westfield Shopping Centre. This is a big open space with the Aquatics Centre on your left.

1 pm and 3.30 pm 

Both throwdowns and the final photo, by the London Aquatics Centre (#1 on the map). For the benefit of those who may join later and/or rain tomorrow, the throwdowns and the photo will take place by the Aqualtics Centre, same as the original meeting point. 

There are plenty of facilities dotted around the park; they’re clearly marked on the map in Art in the Park - A Field Guide. There are quite a few cafés and restaurants in the East Village and in the Westfield shopping centre if people want to gather for lunch or stay for a drink afterwards. 

The meeting points (magenta) and toilet facilities (orange) are marked on the map below.

See you at the park!

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Let’s draw Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – Saturday 24th July 2021

Drawing Attention - June 2021

The official zine of the Urban Sketchers organisation

Drawing Attention April 2021

Open in ISSU

Drawing Attention, the official zine of the Urban Sketchers organization, communicates and promotes official USk workshops, symposiums, sketchcrawls, news and events; shares news about USk chapters; and educates readers about the practice of on-location sketching.

To subscribe to Drawing Attention click HERE .

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Drawing Attention - June 2021

Let's draw Water - Saturday 26 June 2021

'Naked Ladies' fountain by John Swanson

An individual or small-group event with images posted online

June is a month of uncertainty for the organisation of groups, so we are planning cautiously. We are encouraging small scale self-organised meetings for another month despite the likely relaxation of COVID rules. Although we are so keen to be part of a larger sketchcrawl, we are holding off while we take in guidance about new variants.

11am - 3.30pm

Our theme for June is water. Interpret this as you will. Sit by a river and sketch the water, the boats, the bridge, the people walking by the river. Find a pond or a patch of water. Or feature something with a connection to water. Did you know that you can enter keywords in the Urban Sketchers London Facebook page and see how others have drawn water, rivers, fountains? This is how I found the images below. Try out different media and mark making and explain your location and process when you post the results.

As the weather improves we hope we don’t have an immersive experience in the rain.

Dulwich Village fountain, 1877 by Jo Dungey

Walking on Hackney Marshes by Liz McLaren 

If you need to sketch from home, consider vases of flowers, glasses of water, yourself in the bath (keep it clean).

Carnations by Satu Saastamoinen

Bathroom by Julija Svetlova

There will be a virtual ‘throwdown’ on the Urban Sketchers London Facebook page at 3.30pm on Saturday 26th June, but please share your sketches at other times during the month, if that is more convenient for you.

Use the hashtags #urbansketcherslondon #usklondonwater #urbansketchers if you are posting on social media to help us find your drawings. Send us your sketches by email so we can include them in the Our London Map.

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Let's draw Water - Saturday 26 June 2021

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

Historic boat sheds burn at Platt's Eyot - by Nicky Browne

Platt's Eyot before the fire

[Nicky Browne  writes] Platt's Eyot is a small island on the River Thames opposite Hampton Waterworks. It is home to Hampton Boat Shed, and during the Second World War it was significant for building small motor torpedo boats, some of which played a part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. But on Tuesday the 3rd of May 2021 two historic Grade II-listed boat houses on the island caught fire.

Same view at 7 am the morning after, fire crews still at it

According to the London Fire Brigade, the cause was an ember from a small rubbish fire carried by high winds to adjoining buildings.

By the time the fire was spectacularly alight, there was rain as well as high winds, otherwise I would have turned out in the dark to record it. 

Another view of Platt's Eyot before the fire

The next morning I was on the river bank by 7 am, and the firemen were still dousing the last of the fire. The boat sheds had been gutted, and several craft in the area frustratingly inaccessible to me had been destroyed. Sadly, the Dunkirk Little Ship 'Lady Gay' was destroyed in the fire.

Two Grade II-listed boat sheds gutted by the fire

I had drawn Platt's Eyot from a similar vantage point a year or so ago. But this time, even at such an  early hour, there were many people (and their dogs) who had also come to gawp!

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Historic boat sheds burn at Platt's Eyot - by Nicky Browne

Drawing Attention - May 2021

 

The official zine of the Urban Sketchers organisation

Drawing Attention April 2021

Open in ISSUU

Drawing Attention, the official monthly zine of the Urban Sketchers organization, communicates and promotes official USk workshops, symposiums, sketchcrawls, news and events; shares news about USk chapters; and educates readers about the practice of on-location sketching.

To subscribe to Drawing Attention click HERE .

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Drawing Attention - May 2021

My year of COVID, drawing and London

[By James Hobbs in London.] The drawings in any sketchbook inevitably tell a story of the artist who drew them. They say where we were and when, and perhaps who we were with, and as much other narrative content as we care to give away. But looking back at my sketchbooks from 2020 I realise that it is the long gaps when I did not draw that were a large part of the story of my year. 

Between the end of March 2020, when I posted the view from our front window as lockdown started (top image), and the start of May, I barely drew at all as I succumbed to the virus. I had no energy to think about drawing: my focus was simply on breathing and getting through. By the end of April I picked up the sketchbook again, but the false dawns of recovery that are typical of Long Covid meant the extended gaps between drawings lasted through the summer and into autumn. 

Views from my isolation bed and out of the window came first, and later, when some strength had returned, I drew from the top of the house (above) and in the park at the end of the road. It’s odd to remember just how exciting and triumphal it was to walk to and draw somewhere so familiar and close at hand.

As time when on and fitness grew my subjects expanded: we went camping for a few days when lockdown eased, and later I drew a series on the vast unfinished construction sites of offices in London and pondered whether they would ever be fully utilised in a new age of working from home. (Above, 21 Moorfields, being built over the Moorfields rail and tube stations.)

Medical visits, to donate convalescent plasma (at Westfield shopping centre, Stratford, above), or to undergo scans and tests, provided more opportunities and subjects to draw. It was not as if these were the most exciting subjects, but it felt as if drawing them and marking them in my sketchbook played a part of my glacial creep to recovery from the virus.  

As part of my recovery I took to cycling into the largely deserted City of London to experience it during its silent days (above, Threadneedle Street on a Tuesday afternoon, and below, Bank). Even in the middle of a working day its pavements and streets were calm and quiet. One day in broad daylight I followed a fox as it trotted down the middle of a street close to St Paul’s. 

During this time I have connected with the city in a way I haven’t before. I have felt – ridiculously – as if I have had it to myself, despite the security staff, other essential workers and skateboarders who stayed on. The empty, gleaming towers and echoing historic backstreets were all mine for a bit. Now I can see it coming back to life post-lockdown, I am mildly resentful at having to share it with other people as normality returns. 

I’m glad to say that last weekend I met with some fellow artists to draw together in central London for the first time since 2019. My health is much better, thank you, and there’s lots to be positive about and look forward to in the coming months. Drawing has helped me through this past year, so I’m looking forward to meeting the wider Urban Sketchers group in a joyous London face-to-face reunion – when the time is right. 

There’s more about my Long Covid recovery on my website. And see more of my images on Instagram. 

My year of COVID, drawing and London