DRAWING
Attention
The official zine of Urban Sketchers JANUARY 2020
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 Editorial Assistant: Pedro Loureiro Mailchimp layout: Jane Wingfield Issuu layout: Anne Taylor Social Media Designer: Rita Sabler Writers: Mark Alan Anderson, Jane Wingfield Proofreader: Leslie Akchurin Contributors: Parka, Amber Sausen, Lucia Baccini, Ivan Jerônimo, Russell Petcoff cover image: Suhita Shirodkar Subscribe to Drawing Attention. Read the December 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. © 2019 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.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Urban Sketchers, This is my last President’s Message. I’m feeling quite wistful as my term comes to an end, but I also feel so very, very thankful. It’s been an incredible experience to serve Urban Sketchers. Meeting and corresponding with so many sketchers around the world, and now being able to call many of them friends, is definitely the best part of volunteering for Urban Sketchers. It’s been a great honor to help our global community show the world, one drawing at a time. Thank you! I will continue on the board as Past President through 2020. You can reach me at pastpresident@urbansketchers.org. Please
join me in congratulating Richard Alomar as he steps into the role of President for the Urban Sketchers Executive Board. Richard has served as Vice President since 2017, and I’m delighted that he will continue to bring his skills and passion to serve Urban Sketchers in this new role. It’s been such a pleasure to work with Richard on the Board and to know that USk is under excellent leadership moving into 2020. You can send him a welcome message at president@urbansketchers.org. Thank you, Richard, for volunteering to serve Urban Sketchers! Happy Sketching, Amber Sausen, USk President
MANAGING EDITOR’S MESSAGE Happy New Year, Sketchers! In this first issue of the year we hear what USk instructors Suhita Shirodkar and Paul Wang have been up to, catch up with USk Events Director Peggy Wong, and visit with chapters in Brazil, Italy and the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Did you meet your significant other while urban sketching? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Email your stories and pictures to drawingattention@urbansketchers.org for possible inclusion in our Valentine’s Day feature next month. An enormous thank you to the fantastic team of Drawing Attention writers, contributors, proofreaders, graphic and social media designers making this publication happen every month. If you’d like to join our team, send me an email! Enjoy our latest issue! Patricia Chow, Managing Editor, Drawing Attention drawingattention@urbansketchers.org
CONTENTS 4
USK NEWS & EVENTS
5
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
8
USK FLORIANÓPOLIS
12
USK NORTHERN VIRGINIA
26
SUHITA SHIRODKAR
34 PEGGY WONG
18
USK ITALY
38
PAUL WANG
48 REVIEWS | ENDNOTES HOW TO READ DRAWING ATTENTION AS AN E-ZINE FOR EASIER READING ON ISSUU.COM SELECT FULL SCREEN.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ISSUU APP FOR IOS DEVICES CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ISSUU APP FOR ANDROID
JANUARY 2020 3
USk News & Events
WELCOME, RICHARD!
PLACE YOUR AD HERE
Urban Sketchers would like to welcome Richard Alomar to the role of USk President. Richard is an urban sketcher from New York City and has been serving USk in the role of Vice President. You can contact Richard at: president@ urbansketchers.org.
10X10 WORKSHOPS
and reach
16,000+
artists & art lovers
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.
For more information about ad placement, sizes and costs for corporate sponsors, email Raylie at
THANK YOU, AMBER! Urban Sketchers would like to thank Amber Sausen for her exemplary leadership during her tenure as President of Urban Sketchers. We wish her all the best in future endeavors. You can contact Amber at: pastpresident@ urbansketchers.org.
raylie@verizon.net SUBSCRIBE TO THE USK YOUTUBE CHANNEL 4 DRAWING ATTENTION
SUBSCRIBE TO DRAWING ATTENTION – IT’S FREE
USk News & Events
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Urban Sketchers Leicester meetings have become the highlight of my month, and I laugh gaily at my feeble procrastination during sessions so have written the attached poem for beginners which our group did think funny and worthy of your opinion. Gill Thomas, USk Leicester On Joining the Urban Sketchers Frame your chosen urban scene to fit your chosen paper And groan and sigh and wonder why you chose to start this caper Unfold your brand new canvas chair then move it twice a minute Postpone the start until your heart and soul are sort of in it Get out your pens and pastel sticks old crayons plastic mac Boards brushes rubbers breakfast lunch a foil-wrapped home-baked snack And several jumpers put them on and take them off and fold them If people ask to see some pictures tell them that you sold them
SKETCH, ILLUSTRATE, AND COLOR Blick Studio Artists’ Colored Pencils feature brilliantly balanced shades for superior blending. The highly pigmented, fade-resistant, long-lasting cores offer smooth color laydown. Choose from a wide selection of 91 artist-quality colors.
Sketch the skyline swoon and do some stretches maybe vape Beat artist’s block by 4 o’clock and buildings might take shape With wrong perspective crazy angles paint in lumps and runny Don’t cry with shame perhaps exclaim gosh this one turned out funny You’ve made a thing that wasn’t there fantastic make another And share it way beyond your favourite cousin and your mother The sketchers say your work is art your facebook friends won’t mock it Your hand and eye need practice but your bottom needs a rocket.
USK BLOG
b
USK SYMPOSIUM 2019 ON INSTA
BLICK DickBlick.com
®
800.828.4548
JANUARY 2020 5
Urban Sketchers - August 2019 - 75mm x 207mm - No Bleed - CMYK.indd 17/1/19 10:06 AM
USk Symposium News
6 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Symposium News
FOLLOW USK ON TWITTER
FOLLOW USK ON FACEBOOK JANUARY 2020 7
USk News & Events
USK FLORIANÓPOLIS NAILS ITS FIRST EXHIBITION
8 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk News & Events
AFTER THREE YEARS OF URBAN SKETCHERS FLORIANÓPOLIS, WE DECIDED THAT IT WAS TIME TO SHOW WHAT WE DO. BY IVAN JERÔNIMO
“C
ounting all the people who came to draw with us since May 2016, it adds up to almost a thousand drawings. We have been recording historical places, hidden gems and interesting architecture for three years in almost 50 outings.
Our exhibition appeared on nine news portals and two TV channels – our best media coverage to date. And, even better, the closing date was extended for at least two weeks, one of the reasons being the positive reaction from visitors.
The opening of the exhibition was astonishing: we had much more people than the average for the gallery, which is located inside the largest culture center in the city. 140 people signed the guest book on the first day alone. We entitled the exhibition “Ilha em Linhas,” which means “Island in Lines” (Florianópolis, the capital of the State of Santa Catarina in Brazil, is an insular city of half a million people).
CASARAO DE 1914 BY DI BATISTA
From the 11-year old Valentina Kauling Laus to already retired colleagues, we had 29 participants in the exhibition. They were not selected by the administrators, but rather responded to an open invitation made earlier this year. The only rule was to have participated in at least three USk Florianópolis meetings. The 56 works filled up the wall and two panels. When deciding where to hang the drawings, we tried to preserve the diversity of the movement. We put watercolors near pencil drawings, India ink beside colored pencil, and so on. Yet, many visitors said that the body of works had a unity. Other people commented that after viewing the exhibition, they felt that they too can draw with us. JANUARY 2020 9
ESCOLA SILVEIRA DE SOUZA BY AUDREY LAUS SKETCH BY JONY COELHO
TUNOQUI - MARATONA CULTURAL PALÁCIO CRUZ E SOUSA BY ANTÔNIA RIBEIRO 10 DRAWING ATTENTION
TIPS FOR ORGANIZING AN EXHIBITION: • FIND A WELL-KNOWN VENUE. • REMEMBER TO PRINT PAMPHLETS OR POSTCARDS. NOTHING REPLACES THE ACT OF HANDING THEM OUT PERSONALLY. • COUNT ON THE PARTICIPANTS FOR HELP. • KEEP THE BUDGET LOW, BUT PROFIT FROM THE FACT THAT, WITH MORE PARTICIPANTS, THE COST PER PERSON IS DILUTED. • REMEMBER THAT THE OPENING IS A SPECIAL EVENT FOR MANY. PLAN SNACKS AND BEVERAGES. • HIRE A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE OPENING DAY. NOBODY REMEMBERS TO TAKE PICTURES WHILE HAVING FUN. • WRITE A PRESS RELEASE, GATHER SOME DRAWING IMAGES, AND SEND THEM TO THE LOCAL PRESS.
CONNECT WITH USK VANCOUVER
W
f
LINKS FOR THE NEWS VIDEOS (PORTUGUESE): • UFSC TV (THE FEDERAL STATE UNIVERSITY CHANNEL) • NSC TV (THE MAIN LOCAL TV CHANNEL)
RIBEIRÃO DA ILHA BY MICHELLI ZIMMERMANN SOUZA JANUARY 2020 11
USK IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
12 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Vancouver
URBAN SKETCHING WAS THE CENTER OF A RECENT EXHIBIT, FEATURING WORKS FROM 11 LOCAL URBAN SKETCHERS, AT AN ART GALLERY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA. BY RUSSELL PETCOFF
“O
ne Sketch at a Time” ran at the Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory in Manassas from November 6 through December 9, 2019. “The purpose of the exhibition was to introduce the global community of Urban Sketchers to our local community,” said gallery director Jordan Exum. “Our primary goal was introducing the movement to the local community, hoping to spark interest in the local Manassas and Prince William County area to create our own local chapter. We have exceeded our expectations concerning feedback from the community,” Exum added. The idea for the exhibit came from an art instructor at the center, the director said. “One of our art instructors, Michele Frantz, introduced Urban Sketchers to me last year, and we have been discussing the idea of an Urban Sketchers exhibition since then.” Frantz said the exhibition was “an opportunity for artists to share their work and maybe get more people into urban sketching.” “That part worked out better than I had hoped,” Frantz said. “The people who were (at the exhibition) were deeply interested. They had a lot of good conversations with passionate people.” Exum and Frantz enlisted the help of Todd Cumpston to reach local urban sketchers. Cumpston, who is a member of the Baltimore, Washington, DC and Fredericksburg chapters, has been an urban sketcher since 2016. “I feel that the exhibition was an impressive show – a good variety of media and styles,” said Cumpston of his first
ever show. “Patrons enjoyed being able to look through artist’s sketchbooks and examine the day-to-day process.” As part of the exhibition, in mid-November Cumpston taught a beginning urban sketching class that attracted 20 interested sketchers. After explaining the process of urban sketching, Cumpston led the students outside to produce sketches. Another first-time exhibitor at the show was Russell Petcoff, who said speaking to the visitors was very encouraging – for himself and hopefully for the visitors. “The people whom I spoke with were deeply interested in the process of urban sketching,” said Petcoff, who has been urban sketching since 2017. “They asked about pens, watercolor kits and sketchbooks. They were very interested.” “Whenever possible, I encourage people to try urban sketching. I tell them to not worry about whether or not they like the sketch and to post their work online. Didn’t like many of my early sketches because of wonky lines. Fortunately, the welcoming USk community encouraged me and taught how those wonky lines are actually part of my personal style.” Besides Frantz, Cumpston and Petcoff, the other urban sketchers in the exhibition were Judy Boyle, John A. Hancock, Amy Mann, Yik Chek Phan, Elissa Poma, Paula Raudenbush, Christine Raymond and Antonia Tiu.
JANUARY 2020 13
Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY PIC YIK CHEK PHAN
14 DRAWING ATTENTION
SKETCH BY RUSSELL PETCOFF
USk Northern Virginia
SKETCH BY TODD CUMPSTON
SKETCH BY PAULA RAUDENBUSH
SKETCH BY ELISSA POMA
JANUARY 2020 15
Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY ANTONIA TIU
SKETCH BY JUDY BOYLE
16 DRAWING ATTENTION16 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Northern Virginia
SKETCH BY JOHN HANCOCK
SKETCH BY MICHELE FRANTZ
JANUARY 2020 17
URBAN SKETCHERS ITALY AT THE TERME DEL CORALLO ON 5 OCTOBER 2019, ON A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY, AROUND FORTY SKETCHERS OF THE URBAN SKETCHERS ITALY GROUP GATHERED TO SKETCH THE SINUOUS AND ELEGANT FORMS OF WHAT REMAINS OF AN OLD BATHS COMPLEX THAT STANDS AMONG THE MOST INTERESTING IN ART NOUVEAU STYLE IN ITALY: THE “TERME DEL CORALLO” IN LIVORNO. BY LUCIA BACCINI
T
he sketchers came from various parts of Italy (mainly Florence and Grosseto, but also Rome and other places in Tuscany), with some members of the association “Autori Diari di Viaggio” from Ferrara. A set of buildings, now almost ruined, which witnessed an extraordinary history, started in the second half of the nineteenth century when in this area, still taken up by farmlands, a few water springs with healing properties were discovered. The presence of these springs, combined with the pleasant and healthy climate of the city of Livorno (at the time the most important seaside resort in Italy), in 1904 led a group of Genoese investors to create an imposing baths complex, called “Acque della Salute” (i.e. “Waters of Health”), designed by the engineer Angelo Badaloni. The entire decorative apparatus of the buildings was in Art Nouveau style, also enriched by depictions in painted ceramic.
18 DRAWING ATTENTION
After the Second World War the structure began its decline, the baths complex closed and the premises were used for other purposes, until they were completely abandoned after a fire destroyed most of the buildings in 1968 . Since then, there are only crumbling and ruined buildings , also disfigured by the construction of an elevated viaduct that today brutally shields the view on the entrance to the old baths, while around part of the garden was fortunately restored and opened to the public. The idea of this day of sketching came from Silvia Menicagli, who has been working for years with great passion to try to save the baths, preserving their memory and transmitting its value with research, publications and initiatives, as well as with the Facebook page “Salviamo le Terme del Corallo” (“Let’s save the Terme del Corallo”).
DECEMBER 2019 19
Featured Chapter
During the sketching marathon it was not possible to enter the buildings, today unfortunately unfit for use and therefore protected by barriers, so the group of urban sketchers distributed between the square in front of the main buildings and the surrounding garden, which offers a good view on some secondary buildings, including the charming building with loggia that originally housed a number of shops. Rarely in other sketching meetings I felt within but also around me such a silent concentration, a similar state of rapture. It was due to the magical atmosphere of this place and perhaps, as someone has dared to suggest, even to the mysterious beneficial influence of the waters of the springs that still exist around there… Silvia spent the whole day with us, welcoming the sketchers on arrival but also inviting to participate the curious passers by, attracted by the gate of the baths unusually open, which she had prepared sketchbooks and drawing kits for! At the end of the day, the sketchbooks were given to Silvia to be exhibited from the next day in the TST Art Gallery, in the center of Livorno. The exhibition has been open for two weeks and a catalogue will soon be produced and sent to all participants. Many of the sketchers donated their sketchbooks to the “Terme del Corallo” Association, which was created to save the baths from ruin, and of which Silvia is
20 DRAWING ATTENTION
President. An auction will soon be announced, in which the public will contribute to the protection of the baths by purchasing the sketchbooks. I attended the vernissage with the Florentine sketcher Roberto Malfatti. Let me say that it was a wonderful emotion finding our works displayed, all together they formed a passionate and nostalgic story, a tribute full of authentic warmth to the old baths and to the dream of those who designed and built them more than one century ago. A dream that, hopefully, thanks to this contribution of ours, will come back to life with new ideas and functions, starting a new chapter in this fascinating story. SKETCH BY PIERA CAVALLO
SKETCH BY MANUELA SPAGNOLI
SKETCH BY ANTONIO ROSSI
JANUARY 2020 21
Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY ALESSANDRO MELILLO
SKETCH BY STEFANO MARCOVALDI
SKETCH BY TEONA IMNASHVILI 22 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Italy
JANUARY 2020 23
Featured Chapter
SKETCH BY ROBERTO MALFATTI
24 DRAWING ATTENTION
USk Italy
CONNECT USK TUSCANY
f
CONNECT WITH USK ITALY
f
b
SALVIAMO LE TERME DEL CORALLO JANUARY 2020 25
f
FACES OF RECOVERY – SKETCHING AS CARING SUHITA SHIRODKAR HAS LIVED THE BETTER PART OF 20 YEARS IN SILICON VALLEY, WHERE THE INCREASE IN THE COST OF LIVING HAS GONE UP SO QUICKLY THAT A MAJOR UNPLANNED EXPENSE CAN LEAVE PEOPLE WITHOUT A HOME. AS AN URBAN SKETCHER, DRAWING ON THE STREETS BROUGHT HER IN CONTACT WITH MANY PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. BY JANE WINGFIELD
S
uhita Shirodkar has lived the better part of 20 years in Silicon Valley, where the increase in the cost of living has gone up so quickly that a major unplanned expense can leave people without a home. As an urban sketcher, drawing on the streets brought her in contact with many people experiencing homelessness. “For those like me, fortunate enough to never have had to live with the threat of poverty and homelessness, it is easy to subscribe homelessness to a stereotype that involves falling off the track, doing drugs, not working hard... and much more. We [the more fortunate] know of addiction and homelessness through statistics and reports—no names, no faces, no real people: the sort of knowledge that makes empathy, understanding and kinship difficult.” Suhita has wanted to tell some of their stories for a long time, so she wrote up a proposal of what she wanted to 26 DRAWING ATTENTION
do: interview and draw people capturing their stories on paper and putting a personal face to homelessness and addiction, But it wasn’t until this summer when she met Lisa and learned about Recovery Café, that she found a partner for her project. Still, she wasn’t sure the project would work. She knew what she would get out of the project – real stories about real people -- but she wondered, “What’s in it for them?” As soon as she started, she learned the answer. Those whose portraits she has sketched say that “it means so much to them to be listened to, to be seen and heard…to be drawn. When you are poor, sick, on the streets and homeless, you become invisible. Everyone averts their eyes…being seen and heard is a gift the rest of us take for granted.” When Suhita does a portrait, she sits with each participant for about an hour, listening, drawing and taking copious notes. “I’ve learned to stop voicing my anxiety about how
Suhita Shirodkar
JANUARY 2020 27
Sketcher Spotlight
a piece is going, or constantly comment on something thatdidn’t quite work out…it isn’t about me and my drawing, and it isn’t about how technically correct something is. A portrait will work if I can stay present and capture character, and that means listening to the story I’m being told, not just drawing facial features.” She has sketched over a dozen portraits for the project and wants to continue as long as there are willing participants. True to Suhita’s style, the images are brimming with vitality and energy. The personal stories, written around the faces, are poignant and difficult, shocking at times. There they are so vulnerable and real. So brave. “The project is immensely rewarding and eye-opening for me. The
28
stories are not easy to listen to, but most of all I am amazed by the grit and determination in the stories I hear. The details? They are hard. Very hard.” Suhita’s vision for the portraits is a traveling exhibition, hanging in places where people don’t encounter poverty in their everyday life. “Each portrait invites you to step in, to read a story, to know a person.” She’d like to see them in corporate offices, so many people can read the stories and see the faces of homelessness. “Through these individual stories, I hope a different narrative emerges. One in which we feel a connection, one in which we will be astounded by the human spirit and its ability to overcome what seems insurmountable.”
Suhita Shirodkar
JANUARY 2020 29
Sketcher Spotlight
30 DRAWING ATTENTION
Suhita Shirodkar
JANUARY 2020 31
Sketcher Spotlight
32
Suhita Shirodkar
SEE MORE OF SUHITA’S STORIES & SKETCHES
b
JANUARY 2020 33
MEET USK EVENTS DIRECTOR PEGGY WONG PEGGY WONG OF KUCHING, BORNEO, CURRENTLY HOLDS THIS ROLE, AND ONE OF HER MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES IS TO OVERSEE THE COMPLEXITIES OF OUR ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM, INCLUDING BALANCING ORGANIZATION, PLANNING, FACILITATION, AND BUDGETING. BY MARK ALAN ANDERSON
“T
he position wasn’t actually new to me,” she shares. “Previously I was working on the Symposium team with the preceding Events Director. Because I was the Executive Board Secretary, I kind of learned all the different rules and what each party was bringing to the table, along with the objectives and deliverables.” An active urban sketcher herself with prior experience facilitating a variety of both large and small events, Peggy Wong has a “boots on the ground” appreciation for well-organized events. Plus, she learned a lot of tricks of the trade planning those earlier events. The unexpected events surrounding the 2020 Symposium in Hong Kong created an unlooked for opportunity to begin drafting plans for ways to support local instructors. “We’re exploring ways to give more platforms to hone their craft, practice, or workshop proposals…for growing new instructors – because Urban Sketchers is also about education.” 34 DRAWING ATTENTION
“We’re also looking to develop a regional events guideline,” she continues. “How can we collaborate with local chapters for more accessibility to events?” The idea of the guideline is to facilitate something in between the Symposium and ongoing local chapter events. She is actively researching examples Urban Sketchers can learn from. Asialink, with four successful years under its belt, is a good example. Asialink is structured differently than the Symposium, but with similar programming and run entirely by a local organization. “In France they have enough chapters to host a regional event of their own in their own country, so we are looking forward to talking to them to understand their structure.” Long-term planning of regional events was initiated a couple of years ago in an effort to better ensure access to instructors, workshops, and opportunities to participate. Every region has its own planning challenges in terms of culture, people, geography, and logistics. Wong is interested to see what can be learned about the challenges
Peggy Wong
SINIAWAN
JANUARY 2020 35
Meet the USK Board
that groups have encountered, and how they were resolved, so we can learn from each other. “We’re looking for examples of how existing regional chapters have run regional events to help us develop guidelines and examples.” If you have any ideas, share them with Peggy at events@urbansketchers.org.
36 DRAWING ATTENTION
Peggy Wong
SKETCHES OF DELHI
CONNECT WITH PEGGY JANUARY 2020 37
ROOTS AND WINGS:
Paul Wang’s philosophy of balance URBAN SKETCHER PAUL WANG HAS A VERY DISTINCTIVE STYLE AND APPROACH TO WATERCOLOR, HIS PAGE OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY LARGE WHITE AREAS, ACCOMPANIED BY MINIMALIST MARKS OF COLOR. EVERY MARK SEEMS DELIBERATE, INTENTIONALLY MOVING FORWARD A NARRATIVE OF LINE AND COLOR...BY MARK ALAN ANDERSON
38 DRAWING ATTENTION
Paul Wang
JANUARY 2020 39
T
his purposefulness is, in fact, one of the things he considers most challenging about urban sketching: when to stop? “You have to stop when you are finished telling a really great story. It’s not so much about covering every square inch of the paper as it is telling a story with your lines and colors.” After a pause, Wang continues, “I think it has a little bit to do with how Asian art has evolved…much is conveyed with one big brushstroke, where white spaces are as important as where the stroke has been put down.” An art and design educator since 2001, Wang works with college-aged students of interior, retail and landscape design. He lives and teaches in Singapore where he has been an active member of the local Urban Sketchers chapter since 2010. Wang has also served on the USk Board as part of the membership team, and has been a member of the USk Advisory Board for the past five years. He also teaches urban sketching in Singapore and throughout Asia. With such a full schedule, one wonders how he manages to fit sketching time in for himself. “The routine is that I go out on a Saturday to meet the other sketchers. It’s a time I block out. My weekends are at least a couple of hours spent sketching.”
40 DRAWING ATTENTION
Paul Wang
JIAK CHUAN ROAD, SINGAPORE JANUARY 2020 41
Sketcher Spotlight
Because urban sketching and teaching are very complimentary, he also uses this time to prepare for his lessons. “I try to use my examples to teach, so I’m using firsthand information. How I struggle – was it successful or useful for me? – before I share it with my students. So, I kind of ‘workshop it’ with myself first: how much time is involved and what are the materials?” Paul Wang considers himself to be an explorer. Urban Sketchers resonates with him because he loves to get out and see the world. Singapore, for instance, is a tiny place and crossing a border – even for a few hours – means an opportunity to see and do something different. “I think urban sketching combines that ‘explorer’ part of me with getting to meet other people who share the same desire to get out and draw from observation.” Constantly developing new concepts and approaches, his early inspirations came from such books as Breaking the Rules of Watercolor by Shirley Trevena, spurring him to explore the boundaries of “what if?” and “why not?”
CONNECT WITH PAUL WANG
W
42 DRAWING ATTENTION
“As an educator, we’re trying to teach our students to develop independence,” he says. “One of my teaching philosophies is to have roots and wings at the same time. Some students are too rooted (in formula). They need to fly. Experiment.” Other students might benefit from grounding in principles and concepts and theories… When you have the balance of both, you’re going to be stable, yet adventurous at the same time. So today… should we fly? … or take roots?” This balance becomes clear in his own work, where he tries to stretch the ideas of element and movement and design to create energy, and to express a sense of exploration, while striving to create visual interest – what makes something worth looking at over and over and over again? “It comes across in my art. There are fundamentals and some things taking flight – you must have fun, and at the same time you must do what you like.”
Paul Wang
FLAT IRON BUILDING, NYC JANUARY 2020 43
Sketcher Spotlight
44 DRAWING ATTENTION
Paul Wang
LISBON, PORTUGAL JANUARY 2020 45
Sketcher Spotlight
WINDOWS AT HAMILITON ROAD SINGAPORE
46 DRAWING ATTENTION
Paul Wang
SHOPHOUSES AT DICKSON ROAD SINGAPORE
JANUARY 2020 47
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.
A CALL FOR CREATIVE SOLUTIONS BY MARK LEIBOWITZ It’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere and many sketchers are dealing with cold weather. Do you have a cool solution you’d like to share? We’d also like to start gathering rainy weather creative solutions. Please write a short paragraph about your idea and supply a photo or two (or a drawing or two) and share your brilliance by sending an email to Mark Leibowitz at markleibowitz810@gmail.com.
48 DRAWING ATTENTION
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 Pentel Touch & Sign Pens (with watersoluble ink). Check it out!
JANUARY 2020 49
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