USk Chicago Summer Sketch Seminar 2015

I had a wonderful weekend with the Urban Sketchers Chicago. Each year they host a summer seminar where their members volunteer to teach on a variety of topics about sketching on location, otherwise known as urban sketching. I really wanted to attend because I knew how intense and focused my class at the atelier would be, so I thought it would be good to have a weekend that focused on having fun and enjoying the process of making art in a somewhat faster way. 

The seminar met at the Palette and Chisel on Dearborn St. It was great fun to meet new people who are also interested in drawing, painting, and sketching. The first workshop I took was by the excellent artist and graphic designer, Wes Douglas. He is such a warm, generous, and enthusiastically friendly person that all my anxiety melted away. The topic was on sketching with markers, which is not a medium I have tried before. Wes brought a ton of different markers to test out and showed us a number of techniques in using them. I was fortunate to meet a gentleman from Ann Arbor in the class and I hope that he and his wife and I can get together once I'm back in Michigan to sketch. We sketched in the courtyard of the Palette and Chisel and it was a magical place full of interesting doors, windows, garden, etc. I tested out my Prismacolor markers on an interesting door with brick walls surrounding. It was fun to experiment with the brick textures, as well as the tree/leaves/ivy growing around the door.

I also took a Beginning Urban Sketchers workshop, where I was introduced to using a viewfinder and making thumbnail sketches for assisting with composition problems. I really need to work on that, as I find I don't often start with much of a plan, or any plan. I also attended an excellent color pencil workshop where I was introduced to new techniques that are useful when sketching buildings and windows. The final workshop I attended was a session on sketching like an architect. Again, we focused on using viewfinders and thumbnails and then did a crazy exercise where we drew the same scene faster and faster. As someone who approaches art in a very slow and methodical manner, that really got me out of my comfort zone. Again, that's something I need to practice. A lot. 

The great thing about this seminar was how much was packed into two full days. I attended four workshops, a Saturday night dinner, and received a goody bag full of cool art supplies to test. I will definitely be attending next year. I'd also like to start up a Michigan group of urban sketchers. One thing I like about urban sketching is that you can take as much time, or as little, as you need to complete a drawing. And, the sketch doesn't have to be perfect, either. My marker demo below is far from perfect, but it was fun! That's really the point, isn't it? 

Update on the atelier class: I transferred my drawing to canvas this week and I'm now working on oil painting using really big brushes that feel super-clumsy to me. I have attached a pic of the drawing after I transferred it, as I forgot to snap a pic before transfer. I am not taking pics of the painting in progress, as I feel it is just too awful to look at right now. I'm not sure if it will ever look "right" to me, but fortunately, one of the other artists in the studio, Brett Edenton, has given me a good way of looking at it. He reminded me that in the full atelier program students don't progress to painting until they've finished the 2-year drawing course. I've only done 3 weeks of drawing. All of this is to say that once I finish this class, I will focus on drawing, drawing, drawing. I'll try to always have a painting going on, too, but I think that ultimately, more drawing will help me reach my goals. By the way, do check out Brett's website at the link above. He does brilliant work.