Drawing Attention February 2020

DRAWING

Attention

The official zine of Urban Sketchers FEBRUARY 2020

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Drawing Attention Mandate 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.

Thanks to this month’s Drawing Attention contributors: Managing Editor: Patricia Chow Mailchimp layout: Jane Wingfield Issuu layout: Anne Taylor Social Media Designer: Suzala Writers: Mark Alan Anderson, Pedro Loureiro Proofreader: Leslie Akchurin Contributors: Parka, Richard Alomar, Samuel Berner/Hua Wang, Christine Bechameil, Cindi Foreman, Jenny Ho, Suzala cover image: Tomas Pajdlhauser Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the January edition of Drawing Attention.

Circulation: 13k+ Readership: 16k+ Web: urbansketchers.org Urban Sketchers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing. Click here to make your tax-deductible contribution via Paypal. © 2020 Urban Sketchers.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication, including accompanying artwork, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Urban Sketchers organization.

This is my first President’s message.

Thanks to the past president and the executive and the advisory boards for the confidence and simple transition. I’m lucky to work with a very talented and dedicated group of sketchers who make service easy and enjoyable.

The coming year will present plenty of opportunities and challenges, all of which we will meet together with our community’s characteristic enthusiasm and resilience. Urban Sketchers know how to sketch, plan, organize and have a lot of fun in the process.

I’d like to encourage instructors and chapters to apply for the Community

Workshops Grants. Last year’s awardees did a wonderful job of bringing workshops to people who had not had the opportunity to enjoy urban sketching. Also stay informed of USk news, regional and chapter events, workshops and other announcements through our social media, Drawing Attention and website.

Feel free to contact me (president@ urbansketchers.org) directly if you have any ideas or suggestions on how to better fulfill our organization’s mission.

Sketching together, Richard Alomar, USk President

MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Greetings, Sketchers!

In this issue we catch up with renowned urban sketcher Captain Tom Pajdlhauser, Toronto subway sketcher Marek Badzynski, and USk Education Director Rita Sabler. We also hear from USk Copenhagen, celebrate USk Portugal’s 10th anniversary, and share two Valentine’s Day stories of couples who met while urban sketching. This month we welcome Richard Alomar to his new role as USk President. You can read more about Richard in last October’s issue of Drawing Attention.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to our incredible team of Drawing Attention writers, contributors, proofreaders, and graphic and social media designers who make this publication possible each month. If you’d like to join our team, email us at drawingattention@urbansketchers.org!

Enjoy the latest issue!

Patricia Chow, Managing Editor, Drawing Attention

CONTENTS 4

USK NEWS & EVENTS

6

USK PORTUGAL

12

USK COPENHAGEN

20

TWO VALENTINES

22

RITA SABLER

32

MAREK BADZYNSKI

38

TOMAS PAJDHAUSER

50

REVIEWS | ENDNOTES

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USk News & Events

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USk News & Events

USK BLOG

b

USK SYMPOSIUM 2019 ON INSTA FEBRUARY 2020 5

10 YEARS OF USK PORTUGAL

PEDRO LOUREIRO FINDS OUT MORE ABOUT HOW USK PORTUGAL HAS MARKED THEIR IMPORTANT MILESTONE.

6 DRAWING ATTENTION

USk Portugal

U

rban Sketchers came into existence in Portugal in 2009 as a national chapter rather than as a city chapter, mostly due to the small size of the country, both in area and population. A group of sketchers who already met often to sketch together launched a blog that was to become – and still is – the main sharing platform for Portuguese sketchers to showcase and comment on each other’s work.

Last September, the Portuguese sketchers held a weekend-long sketching festival in Lisbon “to celebrate the 10 years since the founding of the blog, as the official inception date of the chapter,” Fernanda Lamelas (above) explains. Fernanda, the event coordinator, is one of the ten urban sketchers that make up the admin board of the Urban Sketchers Portugal Association (USkP), a non-profit organization founded in 2014 to back the community, catering to all the organizational needs of the many regional and city chapters that have since emerged in the country. She is a

veteran sketcher, an architect by trade, and recently, she turned her sketches into a line of branded products that she manages from her hometown of Lisbon.

“The event’s hub, an old downtown marketplace converted to a multipurpose venue – Mercado das Culturas – was generously ceded by Lisbon’s parish of Arroios,” Fernanda notes. Eduardo Salavisa’s boots sketch (see page 11) was the central feature on merchandise and posters for the event. “It’s an important landmark: it’s one of the first sketches posted on the 10-year-old blog,” she recalls, and a testimony to the long trail the chapter has walked since its inception.

“On Saturday, attending sketchers spread out amongst four different sketching routes in downtown Lisbon,” Fernanda tells us. “Each route had a veteran sketcher guide for the morning, and another for the afternoon.”

Most of the routes included steep climbs to one of the city’s hill vantage points. All 150 participants received a FEBRUARY 2020 7

Featured Chapter

plentiful goody bag supplied by a well-known local art store. “Those who didn’t want to get wet from the untimely rain could hang out at the hub.”

Fernanda herself stayed indoors, making sure the event ran smoothly. There, participants had set up tables to sell their art and other sketchrelated items. On one table, sketcher Dilar Pereira received unused or secondhand art supplies from donating sketchers, to resell to participants, benefitting the USkP and the anniversary organization, “an initiative that people adhered to very actively, and was so successful that it exceeded our expectations,” Fernanda rejoices.

“Many official and non-official regional chapters from north to south of Portugal were represented,” she recalls, and speakers from the regions of Leiria, Porto, Évora and the Azores proudly showcased their chapter’s activities. “Also speaking in the afternoon lectures was none other than Gabi Campanario, the founder of the Urban Sketchers!” Fernanda exclaims. He gathered with the participants, local representatives, and a few art manufacturers’ reps, together in the hub for a silent auction, dinner, and one last evening sketch.

On Sunday morning, the founders of the USkP blog, accompanied by Gabi, led the 150-plus participating sketchers in a major sketch meeting in Terreiro do Paço – Lisbon’s riverside monumental square – a sight reminiscent of the final meeting of the 2011 Symposium. The sketchers spread out both in the sun and under the shade of the central equestrian statue. “The USkP have been surfing in the forefront of the Urban Sketcher wave,” Fernanda says, as attested by the organization of two USk symposiums in Portugal and by this 10-year celebration of its history.

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“E

DUARDO SALAVISA’S BOOTS SKETCH WAS THE CENTRAL FEATURE ON MERCHANDISE AND POSTERS FOR THE EVENT.... “IT’S ONE OF THE FIRST SKETCHES POSTED ON THE 10-YEAR-OLD BLOG” ...

AND A TESTIMONY TO THE LONG TRAIL THE CHAPTER HAS WALKED SINCE ITS INCEPTION.

SKETCH BY PAULA CABRAL

USk Portugal

FEBRUARY 2020 9

Featured Chapter

SKETCH BY EDUARDO SALAVISA

CONNECT WITH USK PORTUGAL

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10 DRAWING ATTENTION

f

USk Portugal

SKETCHES BY ANDRE DUARTE BAPTISTA

12 DRAWING ATTENTION

USK COPENHAGEN

USk Vancouver

CHRISTINE BECHAMEIL CHARTS THE GROWTH OF THIS SKETCHING HUB IN DENMARK’S CAPITAL.

C

openhagen Urban Sketchers joined the Urban Sketchers movement in 2016, but has existed since 2008 under the name Copenhagen Sketch Crawl. Currently we are more than 1,000 members. We arrange monthly events exploring our city that we love.

Copenhagen has been ranked one of the most liveable cities in the world, but it is also changing very fast.

A lot of construction and development is happening throughout the city. We try to keep up and sketch the new neighborhoods, but also focus on the places that are likely to disappear.

In our Urban Sketchers chapter we discuss what characterizes Copenhagen – we talk about it online and when we meet in the city, and then plan the sketching locations accordingly.

Copenhagen is a lively city with a lot of pockets of non-commercial havens such as small boat clubs, kolonihaver (allotments with small summer houses), the commune Christiania and meadows close to the city center.

Tivoli, the famous amusement park, lies at the center of the city and is full of lights and playfulness.

It is somewhat emblematic of Copenhagen, that there is this huge playground at the core of the city. It is, of course, also the city of bikes with many bike lanes and bridges criss-crossing the channels and waterways that are a feature of the city. We even have a floating deserted island for swimmers and kayaks to conquer.

Through sketching we develop an awareness about what we love about our city and a conscience about what we should protect. We help each other to discover places that would otherwise be overlooked and we ask the members of the group to arrange events in places that they have access to through their profession, like building sites, closed backyards, TV studios etc. Asking members to host an event that they have inside knowledge about provides a new perspective and awareness of the location for the sketchers.

An example of this was exploring the engine room of one of the huge ferries that departs from Copenhagen sailing to Oslo. We were all familiar with these huge ferries towering over the city but none of us had ever been inside the engine room of one of these ferries. It was an intriguing experience to look at all the jumble of pipes and electrical cables, rather like being inside the stomach of a great beast.

LEFT: COPENHAGEN MEMBERS SHARE THEIR ‘NOTAN’ SKETCHES JANUARY 2020 13

Featured Chapter

You can look at a city in so many ways – an archaeologist would notice other patterns than an architect, a landscape architect looks at the dynamic between the organic and the constructed, an ornithologist would know where birds nest in a city, a taxi driver would know the roads, a captain, the waterways and where the dangers are lurking underwater. We all have different insight and visual knowledge and it is interesting to focus on this through sketching.

Urban Sketchers Copenhagen also practices sharing sketching techniques. Sometimes we start a sketching event with a little workshop. If someone in the group has been introduced to a new sketching technique, or has developed a skill, he or she can share this with a short introduction. We have for instance made sessions with Notan sketches, black and white thumbnails of the location, and also 360 degree playful perspectives moving around and perceiving the location in a dynamic way.

We enjoy learning something new, as well as meeting up to sketch together. We all have skills to share.

CONNECT WITH USK COPENHAGEN

f

Meetups have included experiments such as sketching at night, several people sketching on the same big sheet of paper at the same time, or moving through the city speed sketching at different locations. It is also interesting to sketch the exact same framing of the location and see how different the interpretations are.

We are fascinated by the hidden and the overlooked – we believe our sketching is an act of paying attention, of uncovering, exploring and appreciating the changing aspects of the urban landscapes of our city. Last but not least we welcome visitors with open arms. If you are ever visiting our city, you can write to our group on Facebook.

We will try to set up an event so you can join us and experience the city from a different angle together with our enthusiastic sketchers.

“S

OMETIMES WE START A SKETCHING EVENT WITH A LITTLE WORKSHOP....WE HAVE MADE SESSIONS WITH NOTAN SKETCHES, BLACK AND WHITE THUMBNAILS OF THE LOCATION, AND ALSO 360 DEGREE PLAYFUL PERSPECTIVES MOVING AROUND AND PERCEIVING THE LOCATION IN A DYNAMIC WAY.... WE ALL HAVE SKILLS TO SHARE.”

SKETCH BY JOAO ALBERGARIA 14 DRAWING ATTENTION

USk Copenhagen

JANUARY 2020 15

“Y

SKETCH BY TOMAS BJORNSSON

Featured Chapter

OU CAN LOOK AT A CITY IN SO MANY WAYS – AN ARCHAEOLOGIST WOULD NOTICE OTHER PATTERNS THAN AN ARCHITECT...AN ORNITHOLOGIST WOULD KNOW WHERE BIRDS NEST IN A CITY, A TAXI DRIVER WOULD KNOW THE ROADS, A CAPTAIN, THE WATERWAYS AND WHERE THE DANGERS ARE LURKING UNDERWATER...”

16 DRAWING ATTENTION

SKETCH BY CHRISTINE BECHAMEIL

Featured Chapter

SKETCH BY MARTIN ERIK ANDERSEN

18 DRAWING ATTENTION

SKETCH BY STEEN MALBERG

SKET

TCHING ON THE ROOF OF A LOCAL THEATRE

USk Copenhagen

“T

HROUGH SKETCHING WE DEVELOP AN AWARENESS ABOUT WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT OUR CITY AND A CONSCIENCE ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD PROTECT. WE HELP EACH OTHER TO DISCOVER PLACES THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE OVERLOOKED...”

FEBRUARY 2020 19

TWO VALENTINES TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY THIS FEBRUARY 14TH, WE SHARE TWO STORIES OF INTERNATIONAL COUPLES WHO MET WHILE URBAN SKETCHING: JENNY HO AND JAKOB HANSSON, AND HUA WANG AND SAMUEL BERNER. JENNY &️ JAKOB Jakob, a native of Denmark, belongs to the USk Copenhagen chapter (see story page 12) and Jenny, originally from Hong Kong, is part of the New York City chapter.

Jenny says, “We first met in 2017. My girlfriend and I were traveling at the time, and visiting Kassel, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. I contacted the Copenhagen USk group to see if they had an event while I was in town. Jakob was one of the coordinators and he replied back. I met and sketched with the group for one day, then we said goodbye. We became friends on Facebook afterwards but we didn’t talk much. Coincidentally, we met again in Porto at the USk Symposium and unbeknownst to us, we signed up for the same workshop. We clicked and the rest was history. I am still amazed at what had happened. It was a happy blur.

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“We’ve been together for more than a year but known each other for 2+ years. We have been visiting each other, alternating between each visit. Eventually, I’d like to live in Copenhagen and yes, we are actually getting married this April. I am learning Danish and Jakob is learning Chinese.”

HUA & SAM Hua, originally from Taiyuan, China, “a city famous for noodle making,” is a member of the NYC chapter, while Sam, from Zurich, Switzerland, “the land where milk and money flows,” is a member of Urban Sketchers Switzerland.

“Sam and Hua met in July 2017 in Chicago, while both attending the Urban Sketchers Symposium. On the opening day at the Symposium, Sam was showing his Moo sketcher cards to another Swiss sketcher. A sketcher from New York called Mel got curious about these cards and joined the conversation.

“Later Sam joined Mel and some other New York Urban Sketchers for dinner. One of them was Hua, who initially believed Sam was another New Yorker. At dinner they were doing blind contour drawings next to the deep dish pizza. Hua and Sam soon got closer by sharing their learning and outcomes from workshops. Later the two found they have the same hobbies (drawing/ painting), same interests (technology, programming, machine learning, etc.), and the same occupation (software engineer).

“Sam and Hua have been together for two and a half years, and got married in May 2019, after a sabbatical traveling together and visiting each other’s families. Sam will move to New York sometime this year. We are both looking forward to more travelling and making more art together.”

Best of luck to both couples!

PICTURED ABOVE RIGHT ARE HUA AND SAM, WITH THEIR MATCHMAKER MEL IN THE BACKGROUND FEBRUARY 2020 21

Every picture tells a story, don’t it?

“I THINK MY OWN WORK IS ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF A STORY. FOR ME, DRAWING IS AN EXTENSION OF CURIOSITY ABOUT THE WORLD, IT HELPS ME BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING” – RITA SABLER

BY MARK ALAN ANDERSON

KALAUPAPA 22 DRAWING ATTENTION

Rita Sabler

Prison in Paradise Kalaupapa in DRawings

by R ita Sa b ler

JANUARY 2020 23

Sketcher Spotlight

L

ast year urban sketcher Rita Sabler made a lifeand career-changing decision: to dedicate herself fully to teaching urban sketching and developing a niche as a reportage artist. Formerly the creative director for a nonprofit and a freelance designer, Sabler is also a musician, playing and arranging music for an Argentine tango band. Raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and coming to Portland as a teen, she has lived in Barcelona, California, and Montana, and traveled broadly – a diversity of places and people that tend to inform her thinking about urban sketching.

As the Urban Sketchers Education Director, Sabler’s role is to help set the organizational course for the overall vision of educational programming. Workshops that fall under the Urban Sketchers umbrella are reviewed by a dedicated Education Committee with members from around the world who ensure every proposal meets our standards.

“I would really love to bring more young people into urban sketching by developing specific programs that are designed with younger people in mind.” Rita Sabler is enthusiastic about ambitious goals for the Urban Sketchers Education Committee, including expanding diversity. She acknowledges the substantial local engagement required, because “having a more diverse chapter in Portland probably means something very different in 24 DRAWING ATTENTION

Hong Kong.” It also might involve talking to regional leaders to consider not only how we can diversify, but also what that means or looks like in each community.

Sabler reminds us that “Urban Sketchers was conceived as a very democratic art form – it’s not a membership, it’s open to anybody who wants to be a part of it.”

“I feel like there is a resurgence in reaffirming storytelling, in our original mission of each drawing telling a story.”

As a reportage artist herself, Sabler is interested in and curious about the world that surrounds us, and the way that urban sketching can be an extension of those observations. “Urban sketching is never one moment,

Rita Sabler

because it takes a while to make a drawing and when you draw, you’re creating a kind of time-lapse of what is happening over one or two hours and recording it on paper. You have to think about what you are trying to say and show, and the meaning you’re trying to share.”

ST PHILOMENA CHURCH, KALAUPAPA SUNSET

Prison in Paradise Kalaupapa in DRawings

by Rita Sabler

“In November of 2018 I spent a week in the Kalaupapa National Park as the settlement’s first artist in residence. My work consisted of documenting the daily life of the former leprosy settlement in sketches. Most of the drawings were done on the spot from direct observation.

This reportage is a concurrent snap-shot of the community consisting of the surviving patients, the staff of medical professionals brought here by the State of Hawaii to administer medical care, and the work of the National Park’s staff and volunteers who are here to conduct land management and preside over the cultural resources related to the history of the settlement.” Read the full reportage here.

FEBRUARY 2020 25

Sketcher Spotlight

26

“W

Rita Sabler

HEN YOU DRAW, YOU’RE CREATING A KIND OF TIME-LAPSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING OVER ONE OR TWO HOURS AND RECORDING IT ON PAPER. YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY AND SHOW, AND THE MEANING YOU’RE TRYING TO SHARE.”

TALLIN FEBRUARY 2020 27

Sketcher Spotlight

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE 28 DRAWING ATTENTION

“I

Rita Sabler

FEEL LIKE THERE IS A RESURGENCE IN REAFFIRMING STORYTELLING, IN OUR ORIGINAL MISSION OF EACH DRAWING TELLING A STORY.”

FEBRUARY 2020 29

Sketcher Spotlight

CONNECT WITH RITA

f 30 DRAWING ATTENTION

Rita Sabler

PORTO, PORTUGAL FEBRUARY 2020 31

FUDE PEN GURU MAREK BADZYNSKI ON LIFE AND SKETCHING TORONTO SKETCHER MAREK BADZYNSKI TALKS TO NEW YORK CITY SKETCHER SUZALA ABOUT THE SKETCHING LIFE AND ITS DANGERS, WHICH INCLUDE GETTING ARRESTED!

SZ: What “draws” you to urban sketching? What’s your favorite thing about it?

MB: Sketching on location has been a favorite since university, when I was selling postcard-size watercolors to tourists in Italy. You end up meeting people of great character! Sitting on my stool and sketching the view, I met the owner of Baci Perugina, the chocolate magnate whose grandfather invented the Bacio; a musical conductor from a major opera house; and many others. I am still friends with some of them today.

SZ: Is there a new technique or subject that you are currently focusing on or excited about?

MB: When urban sketching, I prefer busy scenes with complex line work, hence the many sketches of European churches and castles on my feed. Most are inked directly with a fountain pen, then washed with watercolor or watersoluble graphite, all still while on location. The one necessary tool is a bent nib (fu-de) pen – it lays such expressive lines.

My rule number one: Don’t go anywhere without a fude!

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I taught a fude pen workshop at the 2019 Chicago Sketch Seminar, and did a demo for the USk Toronto chapter. In Amsterdam, I held an impromptu demo for some Symposium participants gathered in front of the pub after the Drink and Draw. It turns out that urban sketchers are not familiar with fude nibs, so I answered fude questions multiple times only to find out that the next arrival had exactly the same inquiry. The solution?

I threw in a show-and-tell session for all those interested, otherwise I would have never made it home. In 2020 I am hoping to teach in Chicago and Toronto.

SZ: Has anything really weird happened to you while you were urban sketching? Like getting arrested?

MB: In the early 80s, I was selling watercolors to tourists in Italy, to make money for further travel. One day the local police came up to my clandestine stand, grabbed my passport and my paintings, and took me in for questioning. Not good…until I told them that, according to Luigi, my sketches are, “not really true merchandise.”

Marek Badzynski

FEBRUARY 2020 33

Sketcher Spotlight

34 DRAWING ATTENTION

Marek Badzynski

Who’s this Luigi, they ask? As soon as I tell them, the official lifts a phone to check my story – and I did not give him any phone number! A few minutes pass, and they returned my passport and artwork, and pushed me outside saying, “tomorrow’s another sweep, so don’t show up!” So, who’s Luigi? He was the accountant in charge of paying the local police their salaries, and also a patron of my artwork. He had told me, “if they ever question you, give them my name!” Grazie, Luigi!

SZ: I heard you were on the radio in Ontario because of your drawing. Can you tell me about that?

MB: I submitted sketches of fellow passengers on Toronto’s subway, done in transit, to the company running advertising. A few of them got turned into posters. For months Torontonians saw them hanging inside trains. As a result, I got interviewed on a local radio station. I was concerned about the challenge of talking about artwork that wasn’t being seen by the listener but it turns out many listeners were very familiar with my sketches – from all the times they had stared at it while being stuck in traffic jams!

SZ: Do you have a useful hint of tip to share with our readers?

MB: Stay away from Suzala, she’s Trouble!

CONNECT WITH MAREK

FEBRUARY 2020 35

Sketcher Spotlight

36 DRAWING ATTENTION

Marek Badzynski

FEBRUARY 2020 37

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MEET CAPTAIN TOM

TOMAS PAJDLHAUSER IS AN URBAN SKETCHER, ARTIST AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR BASED IN OTTAWA, CANADA, AND CO-OWNER OF BIRLING, A LOCAL SKATEBOARD BRAND AND SHOP. BY CINDI FOREMAN

FEBRUARY 2020 39

B

y day, Tom works as an art director for animated TV shows and movies, and it was his early work as a background artist in animated movies where he developed his practice of sketching on location. This attention to perspective and precise details on location forms the foundation for Tom’s signature, expressive sketches.

Tom believes that if you “mess up perspective ... proportions ... it tells your audience that you really don’t understand what you are drawing.” In his workshop “Effective and Expressive Urban Sketching,” Tom emphasizes that to be “effective,” you must fully understand the fundamentals first before “warping and exaggerating.”

Whenever Tom can find time, he travels extensively and hosts workshops around the world (Eastern Europe, South East Asia, India, Canada, USA, etc.) and always shares his urban sketches online.

Most recently, Tom spent five weeks in Palestine as part of a small group of international volunteers to teach skateboarding at an after-school program led by the UK-based organization SkatePal. Tom used a muted, earthy palette to sketch the vibrant people he met and the surrounding architecture. He 40 DRAWING ATTENTION

Tomas Pajdlhauser

FEBRUARY 2020 41

Sketcher Spotlight

is currently working towards publishing an art book of sketches, photos and stories from this experience, which will be available in spring 2020.

Sketching locally, Tom says, “Centretown in Ottawa is defined by its red brick buildings, yellow ochre traffic lights, sap green trees, as well as hydro lines, satellite dishes, etc...” and Tom wants to capture it all in his sketch. It’s what he loves about his city!

Tom uses only a number 10 watercolor brush and a simple watercolor palette of nine colors: ultramarine blue, turquoise, neutral tint, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and

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alizarin crimson (used rarely). He believes that anyone (with practice) “can make magic with just that.”

Tom believes that making mistakes is part of urban sketching and he leaves the ink splats and pencil lines in his sketches, and encourages others to embrace their mistakes and “let your humanity show through your sketches.”

In all that he does, Tom believes that skill sharing and community building is key. It’s what attracted him to the urban sketching community. Look for him at the Symposium in 2021!

Tomas Pajdlhauser

FEBRUARY 2020 43

Sketcher Spotlight

44 DRAWING ATTENTION

Tomas Pajdlhauser

LISBON, PORTUGAL FEBRUARY 2020 45

Sketcher Spotlight

46 DRAWING ATTENTION

Tomas Pajdlhauser

FEBRUARY 2020 47

Sketcher Spotlight

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Tomas Pajdlhauser

10X10 WORKSHOPS USk 10x10 Workshops are an excellent opportunity to learn new sketching skills from a top USk instructor and to meet a new community of sketchers in a location near you. To see the list of 10x10 classes around the world click here. To add your chapter to the list, contact education@urbansketchers.org.

CONNECT WITH TOM

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f FEBRUARY 2020 49

Reviews | Endnotes

SHARE YOUR CHAPTER’S NEWS WITH OUR READERS Contact us to share your chapter’s news, special events, joint meetups, and exhibitions with our readers. You don’t need to write the story yourself. We will assign a Drawing Attention writer to cover your story!

Contact us at: drawingattention@ urbansketchers.org.

COOL GEAR

BY MARK LEIBOWITZ Marie-Hélène Brohan Delhaye sketches with the the Dublin Urban Sketchers.

I think she hit on a nearly universal problem and maybe the best solution. The universal problem is that if you sketch enough you’ll eventually get rained on.

It’s never clear what to do. Is the rain temporary? Will it be over in a few minutes? If you pack-up and leave it’s almost certain to turn into a beautiful day.

When Marie-Hélène sent this photo of her sketching under an umbrella, I realized that I have a similar photo, taken by tourists who thought a picture of a guy sketching in the rain was interesting. Do you have a photograph of you – sketching under an umbrella? Have you tried another rain solution you’d like to share? All cool ideas are welcome – send them with a photo and brief explanation to markleibowitz810@gmail.com.

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Reviews | Endnotes

PARKA REVIEWS

BY TEOH YI CHIE

Teoh Yi Chie is an infographics journalist who joined Urban Sketchers Singapore in 2009. He’s probably better known as Parka from Parkablogs.com, a website that reviews art books and art products.

This month Parka video reviews the Etchr Mini Palette. Check it out!

FEBRUARY 2020 51

Our Manifesto • We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation • Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel • Our drawings are a record of time and place • We are truthful to the scenes we witness • We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles • We support each other and draw together • We share our drawings online • We show the world, one drawing at a time.

© 2020 Urban Sketchers www.urbansketchers.org