sketching

My story

I learned to paint during a year spent studying Rome. As an architecture student, I spent many hours sketching and watercolor painting in the piazze of Rome and other Italian cities and towns. After, I graduated from college, I dabbled with different media: oil painting, ceramics, lino cut printing. Soon after I moved to Chicago, I saw an exhibit of Winslow Homer paintings at the Art Institute and was amazed by his watercolor paintings. I decided that I wanted to focus my creative practice around watercolor painting. In the years since, I have done a lot of watercolor painting, sometimes painting en plein air (outdoors), in Chicago and when I travelled. In 2018, I attended my first Urban Sketchers meet up and discovered a worldwide community of sketchers. Since then I have been an avid urban sketcher and have enjoyed continuing to develop my skills. I appreciate the pure pleasure and meditative qualities of sketching, as well as the opportunity it offers to chart our course through life, our interests, our evolving abilities.

what is urban sketching?

Urban Sketchers is a community of sketchers, who draw on-location, where they live and travel. I love being a part of the group as a way to learn from and connect with others. The following are the vision and values of the Urban Sketchers organization and the way that I enjoy sketching:

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.


2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live, and where we travel.


3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.


4.. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.


5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.


6. We support each other and draw together.


7. We share our drawings online.


8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

How?

A few years ago, someone asked me if I had any tips for getting started with urban sketching. This is what I said:

1. Carry a sketch kit with you wherever you go. My strategy for this has been to keep my sketch kit as small as possible. Being ready to sketch at any time means that you can squeeze in quick sketches at unexpected times. I made it a goal to learn to sketch more quickly at the beginning of 2019 and was amazed at how much better I got at sketching quickly, just by setting a timer and sketching in a defined period of time.

2. Sketch things or use techniques outside of your comfort zone. Once you've done some sketching you learn some dependable techniques to get results you are happy with and it’s really tempting to just keep sketching that same way. Keep pushing yourself! As an example, I had never used ink regularly to sketch until few years ago, but once I pushed myself I loved the results I could achieve. The USK Talks series is a great ways to find new challenges.

3. Find other sketchers to sketch with. There are Urban Sketchers chapters worldwide. It’s really interesting and fun to see other people’s sketches and you can learn a lot from seeing how they sketch. I've enjoyed attending Urban Sketchers Chicago meet ups as well as the yearly seminar.