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From Buenos Aires to BCN

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Hello everyone! greetings from Buenos Aires.
I am very excited for the experience that will we live together in BCN!
Thanks to all who kept tireless organizing the symposium.

I'll be in charge of the workshop Dynamic Ink (non waterpfroof ink and watercolor) And just I leave this drawing I made a few weeks ago. All with a Lamy M with non waterproof ink.

Varela is a neighborhood that is postponed, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. It is one of the first social housing units in this city.
When I walked through the streets I found Davíd, one resident of the neighborhood. He likes to get old and rare cars and fix them. It is a somewhat expensive hobby, which is why the re-run cars over a long time.   This car has about two years in front of his house.
Maybe in 2014 we hear his engine again.
Do you draw with this type of ink? What problems you have found to use it?
Post by ND  in Flickr


Symposium Sponsor Profile: Sennelier

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We are excited to announce that Sennelier is a sponsor of the 2013 Urban Sketching Symposium in Barcelona! Sennelier is a French brand originally started in 1887 that produces many types of art supplies, including oil paints, watercolors, gouache, india ink and other mediums, and they invented the oil pastel!

For our Symposium they are providing each attendee with a USKbook, a handmade book great for pencil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, gouache and even oil. Sennelier is also providing other materials and additional information about their brand and products.

We are happy to be working with this renowned brand, and hope to continue our collaboration of promoting the art of on-location drawing.



Greetings from Sydney, Australia

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Hi,  I’m Alissa and from Sydney, Australia

I am very excited to be travelling to Barcelona in just a few weeks to learn, meet and sketch with so many names and faces .Some I I know from the online art community and there will be lots of new people too. I am not sure how I am going to fit it in only 4 days ! The thought is a little overwhelming. But please say hello , even it is just a 5 minute conversation.
 
Chris, Liz & I are the Sydney contingent (that we know of) We met on Saturday to discuss the finer details of travel , Barcelona , sketching and life, as well as eating lunch and drinking tea. (Liz is not really that short, she was sitting in low arm chair)
 
Chris, Liz, Alissa (me)
 
I have been drawing on and off all my life, but in the last five years I have been sketching daily, and get an itchy mind and fingers if I do not put pencil to paper for more than a few days.
I sketch with watercolour pencils & my Lamy Safarai Joy ink pen – sometimes one or the other, some both together. I carry my Moleksine watercolour sketchbook (20 x 13 cm) with me everyday – you never know when you will get the chance to sketch . I am involved in a variety of  online groups – Everyday Matters (where it all began for me) , Kate Johnson’s Nature Sketching, Urban Sketchers of course and a few others . I have a variety of interests and styles.

We have a fairly active Urban Sketching group in Sydney (led by Liz Steel). I am also very fortunate to live in Sydney city and pass by some amazing sites and buildings everyday on my way to work.

National Maritime Museum and Young Endeavour tall ship
City skyline in Sydney from Darling Harbour

 

I am looking forward to learning so much in the Workshops I have enrolled in. There were so many wonderful instructors to choose from but I ended up choosing workshops to assist me to grow in what I already do, rather than push boundaries to explore in a different directions .  I am enrolled in workshops about perspective and  people. I'll see some of you at them !




a very quick sketch on the Pyrmont pedestrian bridge as people stopped for the Bridge to open and let a boat through.  
 

Some of you may remember that I had signed up to go to Lisbon two years ago and had to cancel due to a medical emergency . At the time many of the instructors and participants  sketched in a special little Moleskine that Liz Steel organised and handed around. You may not remember sketching in it ,, but it meant a  lot to me at the time and still brings tears to my eyes when I look at it. It was a big time in my life. I hope to meet some of you this time.

And this Urban Sketchers Symposium is a big adventure too . It is a long way from Australia !
I post everything to flickr, a little to facebook and I have a new blog, which I am still figuring out .


I am so excited that I drew my travel adaptor as part of my "trip prep" drawings.......
 

Greetings from France. Just one month left !

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Barcelona-taxi

Hi, I'm Emily Nudd Mitchell, French sketcher, and happy to meet you there next month. Here's a sketch of something typical from Barcelona.

This week-end was the first France Urban Sketchers meeting. And guess what we spoke about all time long ? Cheers !

usk-lyon- Plans for this summer

Symposium Sponsor Profile: Cretacolor

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This year we have another new sponsor, Cretacolor! Cretacolor is an Austrian manufacturer of pencils and a variety of other drawing and writing materials including woodless Graphite Monolith and Aqua Monolith pencils.


Cretacolor is providing each Symposium attendee with a sample card containing one each of Cleos graphite pencils, Marino water-soluble colored pencils, and Aqua Stic oil pastels (which are also water-soluble!), as well as one Primo drawing set containing six fine art pencils.


It will be such a treat to try out all of these sketching materials as we’re sketching our way through Barcelona! Thanks, Cretacolor!

Follow Cretacolor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cretacolor and on Twitter @Cretacolor.











Sketcher. Urban Sketching Magazine. Special Barcelona

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Here it is the second edition of Sketcher a zine devote to drawing on location and sketchers community. In this last issue Barcelona is the main subject with drawings and interviews. Enjoy it before you come to the Symposium!!!


Practical tips: Eating out

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On a summer day in Barcelona, you just want to spend it outside and enjoy the sunny weather. For breakfast, you will usually go to a cafeteria and order a "cafè amb llet" (latte), which is 1,50€ on average, although that price varies considerably depending on the place and the area, or a "tallat" (macchiato), which is specially popular among Catalans.


You can also have an "entrepà" (a sandwich), for which you will normally pay from 1,50€ to 5€, again depending on the bar or restaurant, the size or the ingredients. There are plenty of good places to try. This one is Silvia Xicola's favourite, a "must" hidden in the heart of the city. But there are plenty of them as you can see in "En Ocasiones veo Bares" (taken from the famous"Sixth Sense" movie's quotation "I see dead people"), the website is in Spanish.

At lunch time, usually from 1 pm to 3 pm, you can easily find a good healthy menu from 10€ to 15€. Go for local cuisine: it is the best.
 
You will normally find the menu both in Catalan and Spanish, as well as in other languages (English, French, German...) for tourists. This double marking -Catalan and Spanish- applies to almost everything -signs, labels, placards, ...- since both are official languages in Catalonia. You will also hear them both in the streets, and will probably notice a difference in their pronunciation. Below you will see an English and Spanish version of a menu, with some handwritten Catalan equivalents:




Finally, and regarding food again, for dinner you can try "tapes" (small portions of food served as snacks), usually taken at the bar counter with some drinks. They are a delicious choice. Food is served until late at night, but make sure you check the kitchen closing times in case you want to book a table in a restaurant.

Bon profit!

By Sílvia Xicola & Swasky

Have Fun Expressing Yourself

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130603_TiongBahru Hello all, I can't wait to meet all of you in Barcelona! So excited!
Paul and I will be conducting a workshop together under the category of "Express Yourself".
We hope participants in our workshop will achieve the following objectives:

•To explore ways of creating a strong focal point in our sketches.
•To experiment with alternative drawing tools and mediums during the sketching process.
•To create a bold & fluid exchange between sketching, mark-making and painting.

The key words are "focal point", "experimentation" and "mark-marking" which I did in my sketch posted here. I have been sketching the same view a few times and no two sketches are the same in terms of these three key words. At the end, it is to enjoy, have fun and express myself!

Size : 250mm x 250mm
Medium : ink and watercolour
Technique : splashing, blind contour, scribbling.

Human Landscape (Lecture A)

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Speaker: Lluïsot

Inspired by Tintin and Corto Maltese, He threw himself into travelling in order to see the world.

In his travels, more than the architecture, rather than the landscapes, what really draws his attention is human beings, their cultures, their ways of dressing, their features, their ways of understanding life and of living it, their markets, their shops, their religions...  All that evokes humanity excites him.

As a result of this fascination it became necessary for him to draw anything that He found surprising. When he started drawing he did not know about sketching, about this need of filling up a sketchbook. His influences stem from his childhood, from the sticker albums that were his small windows through which He could discover animals from distant lands and people with diverse cultures. He was also inspired by the scientific illustrations of Cook and Darwin’s expeditions, and by Napoleon’s archaeologists in Egypt.

However, as a cartoonist, his graphic style is a bit far from the scientific view of reality.

In 1983 he began publishing in the humor magazine "El Jueves". He has published in various newspapers and magazines, as well as in many children's books, young adult books and textbooks.

He has received awards such as the following:

Apel·les Mestres (1987) for the book "Vull una medalla" (I want a medal).
Bologna Regazzi Award (2002) - Best Illustrator, nonfiction category, for the book "A Season in Calcutta", a collection of drawings from my experience as a volunteer in the centers of Mother Teresa.
Serra d'Or (2003) - Best Children's Book for the book "Contes Terrorífics de Fantasmes"(TerrifyingTalesofGhosts)
Cavall Fort (2008)  for the comic "L'Illa misteriosa" (The misterious island).
Lazarillo (2010) for the book “El sueño del viejo marinero” (The dream of the old sailor).

Travel to India

Travels

Greetings from Los Angeles

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Hello, I'm Shiho Nakaza, and I am one of the Los Angeles correspondents for Urban Sketchers. I finally booked my flight and hotel and am doing further preparation for the trip - I can't believe it's only a month away! I am so excited because this will be my first time ever in Barcelona, and this city has been on top of my list of places I'd love to visit - and the best way to experience it is by sketching!

I have attended the first Symposium in Portland and the third Symposium in Santo Domingo. Going to the workshops and meeting other sketchers from all over the world was so much fun - and I learned to push beyond my usual ways of sketching by thinking about capturing the scene. Here are two sketches, top one from Portland and bottom one from Santo Domingo.

Shiho Nakaza Portland Oregon Sketch watercolor pen "Urban Sketchers"

Shiho Nakaza "Santo Domingo" "Dominican Republic" Sketch watercolor pen "Urban Sketchers"

I'm looking forward to sketching La Sagrada Família when I'm in Barcelona - let me know if anybody is up for sketching there as a group! Another favorite subject (you might say it's a hobby within a hobby) is sketching people selling street food. And, yes, I plan to explore some food options with sketchbook in hand while I'm in Barcelona! Looking forward to meeting some of you soon!!

7 Tips For The Symposium

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View from la Pedrera rooftop

Are you ready for the 4th International Urban Sketching Symposium? Here are a few tips that the attendees should keep in mind in order to make the most of it:
  1. Get involved wherever you can, in order to make new friends and learn new things. Take part in as many events as possible and enjoy them: the symposium is only 3 days long, but you can turn them into a lifetime experience.
  2. Immerse yourself in another country. It is a good opportunity to expose yourself to a new country and new ways of doing things. Open your mind to local traditions and do not be afraid to try them out. You can also practise a foreign language.
  3. Be prepared to be more flexible about your drawing. You may have to try new techniques at the workshops, or you might be influenced by the work of others. Be prepared to adapt yourself to new ways of doing things.
  4. Do not be afraid to ask for help. If you are not sure what to do about a particular issue, ask a Symposium coordinator. We are here to help you with anything we can.
  5. Seize every opportunity available to you. Be ready to make new contacts, and have your business card prepared- or whatever you create to promote yourself among colleagues. Be original!
  6. Have fun! This may seem rather obvious, but at times the stresses of drawing in a new environment, with people you do not know, might get you down. Remember though that the time for you to enjoy it is now! Have all the fun you can, too, but...
  7. Do not forget to draw. The social opportunities can certainly be great, but they can prove to be a big distraction when it comes to drawing. Do not put your sketchbook down!
Adapted from http://www.aprendelo.com/news/nine-tips-for-erasmus-students.htmlby Sílvia Xicola

Greetings from Israel!

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Hello fellow sketchers, greetings from Israel! One month left until the USk Symposium starts, and I can’t wait to meet you all in Barcelona! 
Two years ago I've participated in 2nd Symposium in Lisbon, and came back totally overwhelmed by its wonderful experience. Sketching among more than 200 sketchers from all over the world, finally meeting in person people behind the sketches, exploring together the beautiful city of Lisbon, chatting & eating together, switching tools & sketchbooks and, again, sketching, sketching and sketching...
I feel privileged and very excited to be one of instructors at coming Symposium, and together with Ea Ejersbo, look forward to sharing our approach to sketching. At our workshop we’ll focus on looking for stories in everyday situations by opening our eyes wider, finding our heroes, trying to figure different ways to tell stories though our sketches and, maybe the most important, on enjoying the process!
Sketching for me is first of all a way to enjoy the pleasure of drawing for its own sake and a very fun way to go to a journey every day without getting far. It’s great to sketch in exotic spots, but finding stories in everyday places and situations – that’s what I love most about it! 
Here some sketches from the place I live – maybe general views are very different, but we also have beaches:

colorful markets:
and people enjoying themselves in coffee shops:
I can’t wait sketching beautiful and effervescent Barcelona together with you all! See you soon!

Symposium Sponsor Profile: Stillman & Birn

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Stillman & Birn has been a generous sponsor of Urban Sketchers for years, and is again sponsoring our annual Urban Sketching Symposium. This year they are providing us with a Gamma Series sketchbook with ivory paper. The sketchbook is embossed with the logo for the Barcelona event!

Visit Stillman & Birn on Facebook and on Twitter @stillmanandbirn!




My first Zine!

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Inspired by Omar's posting from a while ago, I started making an 8 page Zine to give away while in Barcelona.
It was a whole lot of fun and I made about 60 - hope it's not too little or too much.
Now I have to get packing to fly out on Tuesday.

See you all next week!


reminder of santo domingo's symposium

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a few day before the opening of the 4th urban sketching symposium in barcelona, it's time to share the sketches I made last year as the 2012 symposium correspondent, for you to remember the mood of the past edition. this are all the drawing I sketched from july 9th to july 16th with fellow urban sketchers.
I get ready to do my best next week as the local correspondent…

Getting ready...

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Finally preparing brochures for our workshop: Rhythm in the city

...Getting ready for BCN. See you soon

Whats in YOUR sketch bag? And, Hi from San Jose, California!

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After quite a bit of drama with getting a Schengen Visa to be in Barcelona, I finally got one today, so yay!, it's official, I'm coming to Barcelona!! ( Thank you so very much Gabi... but that's another story, ask me over Drink & Draw some night...) See you all on the 10th, when I arrive from California.

What's in YOUR sketchbag? Mine is pretty simple. It took a while to figure what colors to bring along. I've dropped some greens, inspired by so many of you that carry no greens, but mix them as you go. And, I'm leaving one little pan in my palette empty: who knows, I just might discover a new color I just cannot live without. It'll be my color-of-Barcelona :) And I'm sure I will come back with a LOT more supplies than I left with. My Stillman & Birn Beta books come along, but I'm holding them at 2 books, since there will be so many more to try and to bring back with me. 


Packing for Barcelona

Those countless trips to the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco? Painful, yes, but I did get some sketching done. Here are some Painted Ladies of San Francisco, sketched along Geary street, between the parking garage and the Spanish Consulate. I did that walk a few times!

Painted ladies, San FranciscoPainted Ladies, San Francisco 
Houses, San FranciscoHouses, San Francisco

See you all very very soon. Looking forward to being there as correspondent!

Greetings from Ourense/Spain

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So many of you are traveling to Barcelona at the moment or have already arrived. But before leaving myself I wanted to say hello to you all and leave a quick introduction. My name is Isabell and I live in Ourense/Galicia in north western Spain. I contribute to the spanish USk-blog and I´m a member of the spanish admin group. I attended the symposium in Lisbon two years ago and have enjoyed sketching in company of like-minded people ever since. Besides teaching german at Vigo´s University I do some illustration work and have led creative workshops for some time. My favorite medium is watercolor and lately colour pencils. Last weekend many of us spanish and some portuguese sketchers, too, had the opportunity to "warm up" at the fifth "De vuelta con el cuaderno" dedicated to "sketchbooks and cinema".  This is part of my leporello from Huesca:

De vuelta con el cuaderno V,I

I also made some watercolors strolling through the city.


In BCN I´ll lend a hand in the bookbinding workshop by Choni Naudín . I say workshop because all of you who have registered for the "demo" will be busy sewing your own sketchbooks. At the moment we´re finishing preparations to make the whole process of a coptic binding fit in a 1.5h frame. =)

I´m so excited to meet you all in person in BCN, sketch and talk and learn a lot!
A warm hug from Ourense!
--
http://isabell-seidel.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/isa-sketches/

Greetings from Stockholm, Sweden

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Hi everyone! My name is Nina Johansson, I live in Stockholm, Sweden, where I work as an arts, photography and design teacher. This is my third USk symposium. I gave workshops in both Lisbon 2011 and Santo Domingo in 2012, this year I am going as a participant, to enjoy learning from so many skilled sketchers in workshops and demos and whatnot - and of course to enjoy Barcelona, my fav city in Europe!
I have been to Bcn three times before, the last time was in August last year, when I had the opportunity to draw for ten days around the Sagrada Família for a book. I really can´t get enough of this beautiful and inspiring city, and I am looking so much forward to meeting both old and new friends, and spending a whole week sketching there together with you all!

My trip prep has not been too rigorous until now, I have been preparing for an exhibition, and delivered the paintings to the gallery this thursday. Now I can finally get into Barcelona mode, and start packing!

As for art materials, I am bringing my usual pen case with some fountain pens and waterbrushes, and a tiny bijoux box of watercolours. Nothing new there, really. I´ll take my big palette too, that I use for bigger formats and big brushes. But the really exciting thing this year for me (colour nerds - ahoy!!) is a new, limited, five-colour palette that I just started experimenting with.


I read about it a few weeks ago somewhere online, and decided to try it out: cadmium yellow (I never used cadmium colours before), permanent alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, ultramarine and viridian. I´ve been doing some mixing charts with it, to see what I can do with it, and I must say I´m pretty impressed of the range of colours I am getting out of these few!


Anyhoo, I´ll just keep packing then, and see you in a bit! :D

Hello from Switzerland

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My name is André Sandmann, I am a graphic designer and I have my own studio in Zurich. I've always been drawing and painting but I have to confess once (when I started art school and had my first Mac) I thought computer-art was everything and hand-drawn was either for the old-fashioned or for kids. But things have changed - even in Graphic Design. The comeback of hand drawn and handwritten elements is impressive! At work I use sketching daily – as a medium for concept visualization and of course illustrations.

As an urban sketcher I appreciate the community a lot, the exchange and the inspiration that pushes me forward. I've attended the symposium in Lisbon and I was very impressed. Last year I initiated USK Switzerland and it's a pleasure to see it grow and how it helps building up a network of sketchers, connecting the cities and even building a bridge between german and french speaking artists. We had our first national Sketchcrawl in the capital this year and another one is planned in autumn.

I love to work with ink and watercolors and on rather bigger formats. But I use small books when I sketch people on my bus ride to work (my daily exercise). And I love to play with perspective. I've chosen these examples as they might represent some kind of sketched Swissness.
More work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andresandmann/ or http://www.sandmann.ch


Lenk/Simmenthal

Zurich

Engelberg






I am looking forward to join you in BCN and happy sketching!
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